Pure backspin serve ?

Hi ,

Thank you so much for answering my previous question ..

When I try to do a short backspin serve I never get rid of the sidespin .. so it becomes a Backspin/Sidespin serve instead of a backspin serve .. My coach said it was fine .. and that I will learn to do it with more practice .. But I still think I'm doing something wrong :'(

I would like to know how to do a pure short backspin serve that comes back to my side of the table ..

Do I need to move my wrist ? Do I have to contact the ball with the tip of my blade ? Which direction the blade is suppose to go after the contact : forwards or upwards ? And which grip is better to use when doing the backspin serve : shakehand , or the grip usually used when serving (hold the blade with the index and the thumb)?

I think I've tried everything .. But I still can't do the serve without a sidespin ..

Thank you :)

Hi Melody,

You are doing well to be able to generate spin.  You have done the hard part.  The next part can be frustrating but persevere.

The main thing to concentrate on to get pure backspin is to keep the end (the part furthest away from your hand) of your bat up when you are contacting the ball.  To generate pure backspin the bat needs to be flat.  If the end is down you will generate sidespin curving left to right (for a right hander).  If the end is higher than your hand you will generate sidespin curving right to left.  If you imagine having a spirit level running down your bat from your fingers to the end.  When the bat contacts the ball this should be level for a backspin serve.

Just isolate the bat movement and see if you can see this concept.  Then you can try it by actually serving.

As for the grip, yes I recommend the grip where you hold the bat with the index finger and thumb.

Remember to persevere, this can take a while to get but as long as you understand the concept you can work on it. 

We will cover it in our new DVD on serving that people can pre-order now for 50% off.