Длинные шипы изменили отскок мяча.

Because шипы is plural, and the adjective has to agree with the noun.

• singular masculine: длинный шип
• plural: длинные шипы

So длинные шипы means long spikes / long pips.

Literally, шипы can mean spikes, points, studs, or thorns, depending on context.

In a sports context, especially table tennis, длинные шипы often means long pips — a type of rubber surface on a paddle/bat. So this sentence is probably talking about sports equipment affecting how the ball bounces.

Because the subject is plural: длинные шипы.

Russian past tense agrees with the subject in gender and number:

• изменил = he/it changed
• изменила = she changed
• изменило = it changed
• изменили = they changed

Since шипы is plural, the verb must be изменили.

Изменили is:

• past tense
• plural
• usually from the perfective verb изменить

That perfective sense suggests a completed change or a result: the long pips changed the bounce.

The imperfective partner is изменять. If you saw изменяли, that would suggest an ongoing, repeated, or less result-focused action.

Because отскок is the direct object of the verb изменили.

The verb изменить normally takes the thing changed in the accusative case:

• изменить что? = to change what?

So:

• изменили отскок

Now, отскок is a masculine inanimate noun, and for masculine inanimate nouns, the accusative singular looks the same as the nominative singular.

So:

• nominative: отскок
• accusative: отскок

That is why its form does not visibly change.

Because мяча is in the genitive singular.

Here, отскок мяча means:

• the bounce of the ball
• or more naturally in English, the ball’s bounce

This is a very common Russian pattern:

• крыша дома = the roof of the house
• цвет машины = the color of the car
• отскок мяча = the bounce of the ball

So мяча answers the question отскок чего? = the bounce of what?

Yes, but it would mean something different.

• изменили отскок мяча = changed the ball’s bounce
• изменили мяч = changed the ball

The first means the ball is still the same ball, but its behavior changed. The second suggests replacing or altering the ball itself.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English because case endings show grammatical roles.

The neutral order here is:

• Длинные шипы изменили отскок мяча.

But you could also see:

• Отскок мяча изменили длинные шипы.
• Изменили отскок мяча длинные шипы.

These alternatives may sound more emphatic or stylistically marked, but the core meaning stays the same. The original order is the most straightforward for learners.

Look for two things:

1. Verb agreement
   The verb is изменили, which is plural, so the subject should be plural.

2. Case/form
   Длинные шипы is nominative plural, which is the normal subject form.

So длинные шипы is the subject: the long pips/spikes.

Then отскок мяча is what was changed.

A natural stress pattern is:

• дли́нные шипы́ измени́ли отско́к мяча́

Approximate pronunciation:

• DLEEN-ny-ye shi-PY iz-me-NEE-li at-SKOK mya-CHA

A few notes:

• ы is a Russian vowel with no exact English equivalent
• я in мяча sounds roughly like mya
• stress matters in Russian, so it is useful to learn it together with the word

Yes. In some sports contexts, especially table tennis, длинные шипы is almost a set expression meaning long pips.

So even though word-for-word it looks like long spikes, a learner should be aware that the real meaning may be technical or sport-specific rather than purely literal.