Spin is a very fun aspect of the game of ping-pong. The ability to have the ball change directions once it hits the table is one of the hardest things for your opponent to return. Elite players have many types of spin that you will learn after viewing the video and this page. Make sure to take your time when attempting to put spin on your shots and make sure it is worthwhile and not just for looks.
Source: www.killerspin.com
Spin changed the way table tennis is played
Modern table tennis games are dominated by the need to put spin on the table tennis ball. Before the introduction of "rubber sponge" paddles, table tennis was played with "hard bat" racquets which could only put a relatively minor amount of spin on the ball. Rubber sponge paddles have high friction surfaces that allow players to put a huge amount of spin on the ball. This brought about fundamental changes in the way competitive table tennis is played.
The effect of spin depends on the direction of the spin relative to the direction in which the ball is traveling. The two main forms of spin are topspin, where the front of the ball is rotating from top to bottom, and backspin, where the front of the ball is rotating from bottom to top. In addition to either topspin or backspin, a ball can also have either right or left sidespin where the ball is rotating to the left or right relative to the direction of travel.
All spin is added by brushing a side of the ball. The direction the ball is brushed and the side of the ball contacted relative to it's direction of travel as it leaves your bat determine the type of spin.
Using topspin to attack "low" balls
Without spin, balls hit at high speeds will travel in a straight line until gravity slowly pulls the ball down. So the only way a player can hit the ball hard without using spin and have it hit the opponent's side of the table is to have a straight line of sight from the ball to the table that is not blocked by the net. This type of shot is known as a Smash. But generally your opponent will return the ball low enough to prevent a smash. In this case, the main attack weapon is the Loop. A loop stroke puts a heavy topspin on the ball that causes the ball to arc over the net, then curve downward as it moves thru the air. The downwards pull of a heavy topspin is much stronger than gravity, enabling the looper to put more speed on the ball and still have it curve down fast enough to hit the opponent's side of the table.
Other effects of ball spin
Topspin is the dominant weapon of the offensive table tennis player, but backspin, sidespin, and corkscrew spin also play important an important role in the game.
Backspin on a ball makes a ball more difficult to attack, so players will often put backspin on a ball if they are not in a position to attack the ball themselves. As an extreme form of this, defensive Choppers put enormous amounts of backspin on the ball when they return loops from their opponent, and by varying this spin try to force their opponent to make errors in their attacks.
Sidespin and corkscrew spin are most often used during serves and during loop strokes to make it more difficult for your opponent to safely return the ball.
Effect on ball trajectory
Topspin
When a spinny topspin ball hits the table, it will kick forward, gaining speed as some of the spin changes to forward velocity, and bouncing off at a lower angle than an non-spinny ball. If you're not ready for this, the fast kick can cause you to react too slowly and/or cause the ball to go below your paddle position. This effect is particularly noticeable with slow-looped balls, because the slower the speed of the ball, the more spin effect occurs when the ball hits the table.
Backspin
Conversely to the effect of a spinny underspin ball, a spinny backspin ball slows down when it hits the table and bounces upwards at a higher angle. This causes the notorious "hanging in midair" effect that choppers frequently use to frustrate loopers. It's easy to swing too soon when attacking these balls. The best way to handle a heavy backspin ball is to carefully watch the bounce of the ball so as to avoid misanticipation. Fortunately, backspin balls are typically slow, so the key is to avoid rushing.
Sidespin
A ball hit with sidespin initially can behave two different ways when it hits the table, depending on whether it's the first or second bounce (e.g. during a serve where the first bounce is on server's side and the second bounce is on the receiver's side). On the first bounce, the table itself should have little effect on the ball's motion, other than the fact that the slight decrease in speed of the ball will allow the curve effect of the sidespin in air to affect the ball's trajectory slightly more. The second bounce can be much more unpredictable, however, because sometimes on the second bounce, the axis of the spin's rotation may have changed on the ball so that what was initially a sidespin is now a backspin or a topspin (typically this change in trajectory is caused by corkscrew spin, see below for more details). This can result in some very funny ball trajectories, so be careful when receiving a bouncy sidespin serve (bouncy balls are more likely to change their spin axis than non-bouncy ones).
Corkscrew Spin
Corkscrew spin balls rotate around an axis that is parallel to the table and points in the ball's general direction of travel. A ball with corkscrew spin will jump to the left or the right when it bounces on the table. This unexpected change in direction will often lead your opponent into either a weak return or an outright miss.
Corkscrew versus Sidespin
Because there is so little literature about corkscrew spin in table tennis, and because I believe it has profound importance, I've created a separate page to discuss the differences between corkscrew spin versus sidespin. A firm understanding of the differences can give you a significant advantage in a match against an opponent who's not aware of the differences, especially in serve and serve return, because during service it's very easy to vary the type and amount of spin imparted to the ball.
Spin changes the way the ball bounces off the paddle
When your opponent puts sidespin on the ball, it's important to know in what direction that spin will tend to make the ball travel when you return his shot. This can be determined by examining where on the ball your opponent strikes the ball and the direction in which he moves his paddle during the stroke.
Generally, your opponent will be striking the "back" of the ball (the side of the ball closest to him). In this case, the ball will tend to rebound from your paddle in the same direction as your opponent's paddle moved when spinning the ball. For example, if your opponent creates sidespin with a left to right motion of his paddle , the ball will tend to rebound to the right when it hits your paddle . If the opponent brushes upward when hitting the ball (imparting topspin), the ball will tend to bounce more upwards when rebounding from your paddle .
In very rare cases, mainly during service, sneaky opponents may actually add spin by striking the front of the ball instead. Because the spin is being placed on front of the ball instead of the back, the rotation is opposite to the typical case. So if the opponent brushes upwards on the front of the ball, backspin rather than topspin is created, and the ball will tend to bounce downwards rather than upwards when it rebounds from your paddle.
Source: http://pingpong.syncad.com
Modern table tennis games are dominated by the need to put spin on the table tennis ball. Before the introduction of "rubber sponge" paddles, table tennis was played with "hard bat" racquets which could only put a relatively minor amount of spin on the ball. Rubber sponge paddles have high friction surfaces that allow players to put a huge amount of spin on the ball. This brought about fundamental changes in the way competitive table tennis is played.
The effect of spin depends on the direction of the spin relative to the direction in which the ball is traveling. The two main forms of spin are topspin, where the front of the ball is rotating from top to bottom, and backspin, where the front of the ball is rotating from bottom to top. In addition to either topspin or backspin, a ball can also have either right or left sidespin where the ball is rotating to the left or right relative to the direction of travel.
All spin is added by brushing a side of the ball. The direction the ball is brushed and the side of the ball contacted relative to it's direction of travel as it leaves your bat determine the type of spin.
Using topspin to attack "low" balls
Without spin, balls hit at high speeds will travel in a straight line until gravity slowly pulls the ball down. So the only way a player can hit the ball hard without using spin and have it hit the opponent's side of the table is to have a straight line of sight from the ball to the table that is not blocked by the net. This type of shot is known as a Smash. But generally your opponent will return the ball low enough to prevent a smash. In this case, the main attack weapon is the Loop. A loop stroke puts a heavy topspin on the ball that causes the ball to arc over the net, then curve downward as it moves thru the air. The downwards pull of a heavy topspin is much stronger than gravity, enabling the looper to put more speed on the ball and still have it curve down fast enough to hit the opponent's side of the table.
Other effects of ball spin
Topspin is the dominant weapon of the offensive table tennis player, but backspin, sidespin, and corkscrew spin also play important an important role in the game.
Backspin on a ball makes a ball more difficult to attack, so players will often put backspin on a ball if they are not in a position to attack the ball themselves. As an extreme form of this, defensive Choppers put enormous amounts of backspin on the ball when they return loops from their opponent, and by varying this spin try to force their opponent to make errors in their attacks.
Sidespin and corkscrew spin are most often used during serves and during loop strokes to make it more difficult for your opponent to safely return the ball.
Effect on ball trajectory
Topspin
When a spinny topspin ball hits the table, it will kick forward, gaining speed as some of the spin changes to forward velocity, and bouncing off at a lower angle than an non-spinny ball. If you're not ready for this, the fast kick can cause you to react too slowly and/or cause the ball to go below your paddle position. This effect is particularly noticeable with slow-looped balls, because the slower the speed of the ball, the more spin effect occurs when the ball hits the table.
Backspin
Conversely to the effect of a spinny underspin ball, a spinny backspin ball slows down when it hits the table and bounces upwards at a higher angle. This causes the notorious "hanging in midair" effect that choppers frequently use to frustrate loopers. It's easy to swing too soon when attacking these balls. The best way to handle a heavy backspin ball is to carefully watch the bounce of the ball so as to avoid misanticipation. Fortunately, backspin balls are typically slow, so the key is to avoid rushing.
Sidespin
A ball hit with sidespin initially can behave two different ways when it hits the table, depending on whether it's the first or second bounce (e.g. during a serve where the first bounce is on server's side and the second bounce is on the receiver's side). On the first bounce, the table itself should have little effect on the ball's motion, other than the fact that the slight decrease in speed of the ball will allow the curve effect of the sidespin in air to affect the ball's trajectory slightly more. The second bounce can be much more unpredictable, however, because sometimes on the second bounce, the axis of the spin's rotation may have changed on the ball so that what was initially a sidespin is now a backspin or a topspin (typically this change in trajectory is caused by corkscrew spin, see below for more details). This can result in some very funny ball trajectories, so be careful when receiving a bouncy sidespin serve (bouncy balls are more likely to change their spin axis than non-bouncy ones).
Corkscrew Spin
Corkscrew spin balls rotate around an axis that is parallel to the table and points in the ball's general direction of travel. A ball with corkscrew spin will jump to the left or the right when it bounces on the table. This unexpected change in direction will often lead your opponent into either a weak return or an outright miss.
Corkscrew versus Sidespin
Because there is so little literature about corkscrew spin in table tennis, and because I believe it has profound importance, I've created a separate page to discuss the differences between corkscrew spin versus sidespin. A firm understanding of the differences can give you a significant advantage in a match against an opponent who's not aware of the differences, especially in serve and serve return, because during service it's very easy to vary the type and amount of spin imparted to the ball.
Spin changes the way the ball bounces off the paddle
When your opponent puts sidespin on the ball, it's important to know in what direction that spin will tend to make the ball travel when you return his shot. This can be determined by examining where on the ball your opponent strikes the ball and the direction in which he moves his paddle during the stroke.
Generally, your opponent will be striking the "back" of the ball (the side of the ball closest to him). In this case, the ball will tend to rebound from your paddle in the same direction as your opponent's paddle moved when spinning the ball. For example, if your opponent creates sidespin with a left to right motion of his paddle , the ball will tend to rebound to the right when it hits your paddle . If the opponent brushes upward when hitting the ball (imparting topspin), the ball will tend to bounce more upwards when rebounding from your paddle .
In very rare cases, mainly during service, sneaky opponents may actually add spin by striking the front of the ball instead. Because the spin is being placed on front of the ball instead of the back, the rotation is opposite to the typical case. So if the opponent brushes upwards on the front of the ball, backspin rather than topspin is created, and the ball will tend to bounce downwards rather than upwards when it rebounds from your paddle.
Source: http://pingpong.syncad.com