A strange serve
Receiving
Tevia Sapire Asked 14 years ago
Hi Pingskills,
Could you verify what happened when Schlager did the serve at 4:33 in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbjcyS8Mmys&feature=related . The serve seems to have reverse side topspin and yet the motion clearly suggests straight backspin. A player did this exact serve to me once and i tried to flick it as light backspin, and it went miles from the table! So can you tell me what he is doing, how to recognise it and even how to do it.
I hope you can see it its difficult cause he does it so fast and the angle to see what he is doing isnt the best.
Its a cool video in anycase, its nice to know that even the world's best have a fun game in the garage every now and again :)
Thanks and Happy Holidays
Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago
Hi Tevia,
This is definitely a topspin serve.
If you watch carefully he actually goes up with his bat before he goes down. He hits it on the up swing and therefore generates topspin. In our upcoming video on Receiving Secrets, we will show you that watching the serve really carefully is one of the keys. It is easy to be deceived by the extra actions of the server. You need to watch the exact contact point by tracking the ball really carefully.
Recommended Video
Judging the Length of a Serve
A really important skill in table tennis is to be able to judge if a serve will be short or long. If it's short you won't be able to take a full swing at the ball and hence will need to use either a push or a flick to return the ball. However, if it is coming long then you can make a topspin attack. In this video we give you some tips to help you judge the length of the serve and hopefully this makes you a better returner.
Watch NowThoughts on this question
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andrew brand Posted 14 years ago
do you have a guess as to when the dvd will be released? i think this one will be popular. who doesnt want to improve their return of serve?
Tevia Sapire Posted 14 years ago
Thanks Alois for the answer. Am really looking forward to the receiving secrets DVD.
I could distuingish that the chopping action was fake but i cant seem to see the topspin motion. I have looked over the serve a few times but cant see the point when he actually generates the topspin, but I will definitely keep looking.