Chop serve & Ovtcharov's racket holding style

Lovish Issar Asked 12 years ago

Hey!!

I want to know about Dimitrij Ovtcharov's bat holding style. I found it different than others. So just wanna know if it really is different than others.

Secondly, I'm really bad at doing the chop serve. I just cannot put enough spin on the ball. In fact, not even sufficient spin for it to be called the chop serve. Every serve goes like a no spin serve. Please help me with these.

Thanks!!

Jeff Plumb Answered 12 years ago

Hi Lovish,

I believe Ovtcharov uses a fairly standard grip.

The first thing to check with regards to your chop serve is whether your rubber still has any grip. You can do this by rubbing your finger over the rubber. If your finger grips, then the rubber would also grip the ball. However if you finger slides over the rubber it is probably time to get a new grippy rubber.

If the rubber is OK, then you need to focus on 2 things to generate spin.

1. You need a fast contact and;

2. You need a brushing contact.

These 2 factors will let you get a lot of spin on the ball. I find it best to first practice generating spin away from the table. See if you can hit the ball with backspin and make it come back to you. Once you can do this consistently, then you can move back onto the table and start work on your serve.

Good luck!