Inverted rubber – Rubber that contacts the ball with its smooth surface, and is glued to the rest of the bat with its pimpled surface. With a larger contact area, this type of rubber generally produces more spin than pimpled rubber, although some rubbers are designed to have the opposite effect.

buglyblog comment: It’s no surprise that table tennis is not often discussed in public. I feel uncomfortable typing the phrase “inverted rubber”.

Pimples – Rubber that contacts the ball with its pimpled surface. Produces different effects on the spin compared with inverted rubber due of the reduced contact area and flexibility of the pimples.

buglyblog comment: Terrible term, equally terrible definition. As a group, we ping pong players are not the most attractive assemblage of folks*. So why throw gas on the fire with this term? Couldn’t it have been called Spinners or Bespeckles (found this using the ole thesaurus biznatches)?

* For perspective, ping pong players are not as narly as those guys from Best Buy’s Geek Squad, but still a little more trollish than your average Chess enthusiast.

Third ball – The stroke hit by the server after the opponent’s return of the serve. Because the serve can be used to make attacking difficult for the opponent, the third ball is frequently the first strong attacking stroke in any table tennis rally.

buglyblog comment: Third Ball. It’s two more than my buddies college roomate.