Reverse Pendulum Backspin Serve

Table Tennis Serving

Last updated 7 years ago

Ian Costello

Ian Costello Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois,

When I try to serve a reverse pendulum side backspin serve, I always serve it with the opposite [reverse pendulum side topspin serve].

This makes me REALLY confused!

Please help!

THX,

Ian


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Ian,

This is a common frustration.  It is difficult to get the bat into a good position to get backspin on the reverse pendulum serve.

You need to look at your bat as you are swinging through.  You can do this with the help of a video. At the point of contact the bat needs to be quite flat and coming under the ball.

As I said this is an awkward movement because it is hard to get your hand and bat into this position.  Lots of practice required on this one. 


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Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson Posted 12 years ago

I would love to see a video response on this. I am voting! Others please vote for a video response, too. 

Ian Costello

Ian Costello Posted 12 years ago

Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shripathi ramakrishnan

Shripathi ramakrishnan Posted 11 years ago

coach alois you told us the why in this video but not the how(getting your arm around the side of the ball)


Shripathi ramakrishnan

Shripathi ramakrishnan Posted 11 years ago

can you please suggest anything? i have the same problem as ian here..

 


Jeff Plumb

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago

Hi Shripathi,

Try getting away from the table so you don't have the pressure of having to serve the ball. Then just experiment with getting your bat in the right position. I find this is a good way to develop a feel for the serve. See if you can replicate the action that Alois demonstrates. Remember that it takes a lot of practice to develop a good serve so don't give up too early. 


Ram Sood

Ram Sood Posted 11 years ago

Whenever i try it the ball always starts rolling. Can you please give me a tip. Also is this serve any different to the inside-out serve?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago

Hi Ram,

If the ball is rolling you may be hitting it from too low.  Try getting your bat up higher and making contact when the ball is higher.

I don't know the inside out serve.


andrew brand

andrew brand Posted 11 years ago

the inside out serve is the same serve, just another name for it.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago

Thanks for clearing that up Andrew.


Ram Sood

Ram Sood Posted 11 years ago

the inside out serve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXKR97DWEr0


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago

Yes that is definitely the Reverse Pendulum serve by another name.


Alex Thyer

Alex Thyer Posted 11 years ago

i tried it but when i did it i just got lodes of side spin and a little top spin


Oliver

Oliver Posted 11 years ago

But what about disguising the ball? I can NEVER disguise the reverse from the normal any tips?


Oliver

Oliver Posted 11 years ago

ps. i really like the pingskills music


Ian Costello

Ian Costello Posted 11 years ago

What I think is wrong was also getting the correct brushing action because now since I can get the bat to have the right angle of attack and then when I try to brush the ball, it either goes nowhere forward or the brush causes the bat to tilt and get topspin.

Also thanks for the video on how to get the bat under the ball on the contact. :]


kyungwoon kyungwoon

kyungwoon kyungwoon Posted 11 years ago

Thanks.. I didn't know how to do the pendulum serve neither...


Erriza Shalahuddin

Erriza Shalahuddin Posted 11 years ago

I've been training my reverse pendulum exclusively for almost a year. And without any coach to guide me, it's very difficult to learn this technique. I hope I can share some of my thoughts....

To add backspin in reverse pendulum, brushing the ball on the lower part of the ball isn't suffice. I think that the swing of reverse pendulum generally consist of 2 phases: the descending phase (where the bat swings downward) and the ascending phase (where the bat swings upward). So if I brush the ball in lower part in ascending phase, I won't produce much backspin. In the contrary, if I brush the ball in lower part in descending, I can produce more backspin.

One more thing. To put pure backspin on the ball (almost unlikely, but at least put less sidespin), try to angle the bat horizontally, and have the tip of the bat pointing sideways (body) on contact.


Justin O'Toole

Justin O'Toole Posted 11 years ago

Hi fellow table tennis players. I think this sereve needs loads of practice as it is very hard to do. I am constantly trying to get this serve right but i only get 1 out of five correct. ! is very good 2 is average and my other three are rubbish so yes i have had a bit of trouble. I guess we just have to keep practicing.


Dunni Oluwayemi

Dunni Oluwayemi Posted 10 years ago

sir when i do the revere pendulum serve(with sidespin), sometimes it just goes to low and spins around my side of the table. any tips?

 

THX in advance


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 10 years ago

Hi Dunni,

Yes, I see this a lot.  Try to hit the ball from a higher point.  To do this you will need to keep your shoulder and elbow up high to get the hitting spot higher.

Then aim to get the first bounce on your side of the table, quite close to you.  This will help the ball to bounce higher and over the net.


Kaustubh Kulkarni

Kaustubh Kulkarni Posted 9 years ago

I didn't understand your explanation of the contact point and action in the video. Please can you explain it more clearly?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 9 years ago

Try watching it again.  I am not sure how to explain it more.


Kaustubh Kulkarni

Kaustubh Kulkarni Posted 9 years ago

Oh thanks. I have now understood it correctly.


eduardo espinosa

eduardo espinosa Posted 8 years ago

Please Mr. Rosario, could you explain if there are any advantages between this serve and the traditional backhand or forehand underspin serves?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 8 years ago

They are just different serves. It always depends on whether the opponent likes it or not.  Each opponent will be different.


Tushar Verma

Tushar Verma Posted 8 years ago

Pendulum serve and reverse pendulum serve has the same spin. Then what is the difference between them just action or anything else?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 8 years ago

Hi Tushar,

They have the opposite spin.  For a right hander the Pendulum serve will swing from left to right and the Reverse Pendulum from right to left.


Laurie Humphrey

Laurie Humphrey Posted 7 years ago

The reverse pendulum serve is very easy when done in front of the body and not at the side,  by cumming across the body left to right if you are right handed with speed you can achieve a very fast serve . Is the reason for doing the RPS close to the side of the body to hide what serve is cumming. I do not have access to a TT club  so I have no idea about these things. But you can get some serious side spin when done in front of the body.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago

Hi Laurie,

It is difficult to disguise the serve in front of the body.  It is also difficult to get enough backswing to generate maximum amount of spin.


Laurie Humphrey

Laurie Humphrey Posted 7 years ago

Hi Alois thanks for the reply, yes  I use the serve in front of the body for a short serve but by starting from between the waist and underarm pit on the left side of the body it is easy to generate a lot of speed for side spin or under spin. My problem is I don't have anybody to serve to so I can find out how effective my serving is.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago

It is difficult if you haven't got someone to play against.  You could even get a beginner to stand and try and hit them back. It will give you some sort of  indication.


eduardo espinosa

eduardo espinosa Posted 7 years ago

Interesting service! What is the advantage of doing it reverse in lieu of a regular forehand under spin service? Also another observation about one of the commentaries, since the rules have been recently "re-established" I started to do all my services "undisguised". Or is it something that has to do w/ ones interpretation?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago

Hi Eduardo,

The Reverse serve is just another variation that you can give your opponent.  Some players will find the regular forehand serve difficult and others will find the Reverse serve difficult to deal with.

You do have to show your opponent the ball during service.


eduardo espinosa

eduardo espinosa Posted 7 years ago

OK. This could become a theme for discussion. What do you mean by "disguise" a service when you have to throw the ball up 6" (at least) and let your opponent see it all the time when serving? The majority of my services are in front of me (backhand services) because of that rule.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago

Yes disguise can be achieved by the subtle variation in action of your serve and the different contact that will achieve a different spin.


eduardo espinosa

eduardo espinosa Posted 7 years ago

Thank you Alois. As usual, very illuminatingcool.



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