This inquiry shows that, despite the decline of backspin defence in the world of table tennis, this recession proceeds rather slowly as far as the presence of defensive players on a world-class level is concerned. Besides this, it seems obvious that defensive players were not that widespread on a world-class level in the recent past as suspected. Moreover, it is shown that the proportion of defensive players across different levels of performance is surprisingly stable which argues for the capability of defensive play. To examine this, three studies were carried out totalling 890 players from world-class to leisure sports level. Statistically, there is even a tendency that the proportion of choppers on the highest level is larger than in the categories below. Two follow-up studies including 700 high-class athletes show the same trend. It becomes clear that the number of female choppers among the top 200 of the world is significantly higher than the respective number of male defenders.
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