A Better Serve

Ashish Unknown Asked 16 years ago

I play table tennis with my friends. They take advantage of my serve and start hitting topspins. Can you tell me a better way to serve?

Jeff Plumb Answered 16 years ago

Hi Ashish,

Take a look at our lesson on the placement of the serve. Placing your serve well is the best way to stop your opponent from using a stong attacking stroke. A short serve that will bounce twice on the table if left untouched by your opponent makes it really difficult to attack because your opponent cannot take a big swing at the ball.

We recommend as a rule of thumb, that you serve 80% of your serves short on the table. Then use the other 20% to surprise your opponent by serving long and fast to the corners or into their middle. Your opponent may be able to attack these long fast serves but it is important to use them as it keeps your opponent on their toes and stops them from waiting over the table for all your short serves.

Once you are varying the placement of the serve, the next step is to vary the spin. Serve some serves with sidespin, some with backspin, some with topspin. And then vary the amount of spin by serving one heavy backspin serve and then one light backspin serve. All these variations are the key to a good serve. It is the variations that will make it hard for your opponent to receive your serve.

We cover all of these topics in our Serving Secrets Revealed DVD which you can buy through our online store.

I hope these tips will help you develop a better serve. Good luck!