Which is harder to loop; backspin or sidespin?

with backspin you have to achieve a certain bat speed in order to create topspin... inverted rubbers don't continue the spin on the ball, they work as a trampoline and reverse a part of the spin back. this means if your loop movement is slow enough you could achieve a no spin ball, since the spin that wants to get reversed would be roughly the same as the spin you're trying to put on the ball with your slow movement.

however, the thing that you got going for you is the speed of the ball. backspin balls are slow so it's easier to work your magic on them and focus on spinning the hell out of them.

side spin balls are usually faster, but you get the trampoline effect working for you. there is no backspin on the ball so you don't have to work very hard to put top spin on it. also, the fact that it's changing direction usually isn't that hard to deal with unless it's really extreme.

to explain in easy terms... if a top spun ball hits your bat and you don't do anything with it the ball will still rebound with a bit of top spin. if a back spun ball hits your bat and you don't do anything with it the ball will rebound with a bit of back spin.

For me sidespin is much more difficult to deal with than backspin.  I think this is probably just a matter of practice as I've practiced a lot against backspin (pushes, chops) but the only sidespin balls I see are in matches.  So many, many fewer over the years.

Originally posted by JKC You have to be careful with sidespin as it depends where the axis of spin is.

 Spot on, thats why its best to steer clear of sidespin when playing Long pips.

I think he means it's best not to use sidespin when playing against lps.  The problem is that the long pips player will send your side spin back to you *plus* a small amount of top or under spin and it will be very difficult to tell which it is.

Originally posted by wingspan I think he means it's best not to use sidespin when playing against lps.  The problem is that the long pips player will send your side spin back to you *plus* a small amount of top or under spin and it will be very difficult to tell which it is.

Ok, sorry for the misunderstanding.

I tought Wiggy talking about "Dear Long Pips User, Please refrain from using side spin.".

BeGo