Long and Fast Serve?

Rocky Unknown Asked 15 years ago

Hi,

I found your website extremely useful and your tips were great.

However, I have had trouble performing a long and fast serve. My peers tell me to aim the ball to make its first bounce as close to you as possible and hit it "hard" to land on the opposite corner while travelling at high speeds. I am having trouble doing this, with uncertainty in the angle of my paddle, whether to hold the paddle tight or not etc. Also, I have absolutely no idea how to add spin on this serve.

 So I would be glad to hear any tips that could help me improve my skills. Thanks!

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Rocky,

Your friends are giving you good advice.

I find doing this simple exercise helps a lot;
Aim to hit the ball as fast as you can and get it to land long OFF the table on the other side.  Yes, so you are aiming to serve a fault (Of course only do this during practice). Don't focus on the technical aspects of how hard to hold the bat etc. 

Just do this simple exercise and tell me the results.

Once you have attempted this let me know and then we can go through how to get some spin on it as well.