Illegal serves

Receiving

Georgi Terziyski
Georgi Terziyski Asked 10 years ago

Hello Alois, Jeff,

It is very often that illegal serves are used, mainly hiding the ball with the other hand or with the body and it is very difficult for the umpire to spot, however for the oponent  the contact with the bat is not visible and it makes it really hard to read the spin. What I try to do is determine the spin by the type of bounce of the ball and the speed (a bit slower and lower is more likely to be backspin and a bit higher and faster-a top spin). Do you recommend any other ways? Also, if not sure about the service spin at all, what is the safest stroke to play-a long push or a top spin drive?

I would really enjoy your analysis on some of the top players game, what makes them champions and some comments on their play and tactics during some great matches they had 

Regards,

Georgi

Alois Rosario
Member Badge Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago

Hi Georgi,

You are right a lot of players hide the serve on contact.  It is good that you are also watching the flight of the ball because this can give you a lot in information as well.

If the serve is long then use a topspin stroke making sure you get a lot of spin on your topspin to counteract the spa on the ball already.  If it is short then you need to control the ball with a push to start with.  The key here is to get the angle of your bat correct to ensure the abel goes back onto the table.

Back to Questions
PingSkills Application Olympics and China

Recommended Video

How to Return Spin Serves in Table Tennis (and Stop Misreading Them!)

Struggling to return spin serves? You're not alone! In this video, we break down how to read spin, adjust your bat angle, and return serves effectively—so you stop giving away easy points.

What You'll Learn:

🔹 Skill Breakdown: How to identify different types of spin and adjust your return technique.
🔹 Common Mistakes: The biggest errors players make when returning spin serves—and how to fix them fast!
🔹 Viewer Q&A: Answering your top questions about handling tricky spin serves.
🔹 Train Smarter: Drills to help you practice and improve your serve returns.

Mastering serve returns is one of the fastest ways to level up your table tennis game. Try these tips and let us know in the comments: What’s the toughest spin serve you face?

Watch Now

Thoughts on this question (1)


Georgi Terziyski

Georgi Terziyski Posted 10 years ago

Thanks, coach.


Become a free member to post a comment about this question.