Maintaining speed and spin on Sidespin serve

Zohair Irani Asked 7 years ago

Hello.

Whenever I try a sidespin serve, I am able to spin the ball enough to make it turn it's direction almost to a 90 degrees. The problem I am facing it is that it is not achieving that much momentum to cross the net. Many times it just falls short of some distance (and sometimes height) landing in the net inspite of the heavy sidespin the ball has. At times it crosses the net, it appears as a very short ball to the opponent hence making it difficult to reply rather than attack. 

So how do you give the ball enough speed to cross the net along with keeping this amount of heavy sidespin?

Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Zohair,

The key is to get a balance between brushing the ball and flatter contact.  With all of the serves you need to try to get the swing as fast as possible.  If you contact the ball very finely, then the ball will go short.  If you contact the ball flat then the ball will go long.  There is a balance between the two that will allow you to generate good spin but also enough pace for what you are looking for.  Practice is the key to find that balance.