Ideal third ball

Simon Lewis Asked 12 years ago

Hi Pingskills,

I am a left hander. My regular serves are pendulum short topspin and short sidespin. My forehand is my biggest weapon, but neither serve really complements my forehand third ball. If someone pushes my short sidespin serve, the spin will bring the ball back to my backhand. I would ideally like to have a serve that will make the ball spin the other way, so a pushed ball would come onto my forehand. What serve would be best? I occasionally try a reverse pendulum, but they tend to turn out as no spin serves because I can't get the whip on the service action to generate spin. Is reverse pendulum the best one to try? If so, how is this serve executed?

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Simon,

The Reverse Pendulum is a good one to try.  The other good option is a backhand serve.  Both of these serves will get the ball going into a better angle for you.

To do the Reverse Pendulum correctly think about getting your bat to start near your left hip and have the finish pointing at the far netpost.  Use your wrist flicking it backwards.

We cover this serve in our lessons on Serving Secrets.