Confusion in rotation of ball in sidespin serve

sachintha weerasinghe Asked 10 years ago

Hello Mr. Alois,

In the previous question you told me to brush the ball on its side on the right hand side of the ball to generate sidespin to get the ball to curve during the serve.

When i serve i feel that i generate a lot of spin on the ball (I can see the ball rotating very fast) but the ball just slowly bounces off the board without any curving.

My problem is how will the ball curve on the board during the serve if the motion of the racket just causes the ball to rotate purely on its side horizontally(Since the top and the bottom of the ball are not moving if its rotating purely on its side).

In the link i have given below is a video on timo boll serving.In his first serve in this video  how does he get the ball to curve so much on the table by just purely hitting the ball on the side.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u5_QnsIaZI

*And also here is another link to watch chen weixings secret training if you haven't come across this one.(Just for fun!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgtXWDc_vWU

Thank you.

Sachintha

Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago

Hi Sachintha,

The key to getting it to curve is the forward momentum of the ball.  If the ball is moving too fast forward it won’t get the opportunity to curve.  So if you want curve, you can also come slightly under the ball so that the backspin will hold the ball up and allow it to curve for you.