Deceptive Tomahawk

Ji-Soo Woo Asked 16 years ago

Hi Alois 

I find that the tomahawk is the serve that allows me to most easily put maximum spin on the ball.  However, it is also the hardest serve to deceive opponents with.  Maybe it's just the way the contact between the racquet and the ball is so clearly presented to the opponent.  The sidespin is always in the same direction the it is pretty obvious whether you are adding a bit of topspin or backspin.  I was wondering whether you had any pointers on how to deceive opponents with the tomahawk.

Thanks

Ji-Soo

Alois Rosario Answered 16 years ago

Hi Ji-Soo,

As you said the Tomahawk is very open, but I think it is a serve that can be used effectively.  Because it isn't used as mcuh as the Pendulum, players are not as used to returning it.

For deception with the Tomahawk, try to get the contact for the sidespin swing as close to the top of your swing as possible. that is the point where the bat stops going up and starts coming down on the arc.  If you hit it as the bat is going up you will get topspin and if you hit it when it is coming down you will get backspin.

The other thing to do is make th swing as fast as possible to give your opponent the least amount of time to see the contact, however this is still difficult to disguise.

Give this a try and let me knwo how it goes.