Pendulum Serve Index Finger Position

andrew brand Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois,

i have not asked any questions for a while as my table tennis journey has been very positive this last year or so with a lot of advancement, but something has come up that i had to ask u about.  i already own serving secrets revealed, but recently saw some pics of top players serving and in particular timo boll, did the pendulum serve with the grip u talk about in the dvd, but his index finger was going right up the edge of the rubber pointing to the nose of the bat, as opposed to up the middle of the rubber as u discuss in the dvd. it was on the ittv home page intro video.  i wondered would i be getting more spin out of this serve which i have used for over 2 years if i placed my index finger up the side of the rubber like Timo, or should i keep it up the middle of the rubber? it may be trivial but as i am playing a higher level now every edge counts, and it may win me a few more vital points to improve the spin of my serve. i appreciate your thoughts. Many thanks.

Andrew.

Alois Rosario Answered 11 years ago

Hi Andrew,

The best thing is to try them both out.  It is fine to have your finger in either position because from both spots you can get back into the normal grip quite easily in time for the third ball.

I feel that when the finger is too far back it locks your wrist a little more which isn't conducive to generating spin.  But you may feel like you have more power on the stroke by pushing through more firmly with the finger.

Give the new grip a try and see how it feels for you.