Pro serving style seems inefficient to me

Giovanni Segar Asked 10 years ago

I'm updating my grip to proper shakehand as I talked about earlier, and also trying to learn how to serve correctly.

The thing is, after trying hard to replicate the serves pros do, I get less spin than my own version. In my own version I toss the ball, then stretch out my arm and pivot my body, bending at the elbow so that the paddle brushes the ball. It's very wide and dramatic, and my opponents usually hit it into the net because of the crazy backspin.

I believe it's the long arm windmill movement that makes it work.

When I serve close to my body on the left side of the table like every pro seems to do, it seems to have very minimal spin. I have tried a strong wrist flick and tossing the ball higher, to no avail.

So my question is, do pros serve to maximize spin or is there another purpose to the way they serve from the left side of the table?

Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago

Hi Giovanni,

They will adjust their grip for this serve by dropping the 3 fingers off the handle and relax the wrist.

They tend to serve from that position because the follow through will put them in to a good ready position for the next shot.  If they serve it form the forehand side the ball will tend to come back to their backhand side and they will be out of position.