Friction plays a large role in any sport, but especially
in table tennis. Friction wasn't a large aspect of the
game in it's infancy player's didn't put spin on the ball
they would just hit it straight, which works but in order
to fool the opposing player one can use friction to put
spin on the ball and take advantage of the aerodynamic
effects like the Magnus
Effect. Different forces and frictions applied to
the ball by the paddle give a variety of different spins
making the ball harder to return. The figure below depicts
a few of these spins.
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