Serving plain underspin as a development strategy

Damon S Asked 8 years ago

I used to play with a very tricky service strategy and could often win a lot of points just off the serve. However, because the serves were so tricky, I would often get unpredictable returns and my own spin would work against me! Lately, I've been trying to serve mostly plain underspin to get a more predictable return and work on winning the point after the 3rd ball open-up (at my level, people rarely attack an underspin serve). I try to avoid putting sidespin on it because the return will often have that sidespin coming back and can add some extra difficulty to the 3rd ball.

I was wondering, do you think this is a good approach? Or should I go back to serving sidespin in order to get used to the return? I'll mention that long term, I'll go back to serving sidespin. I'm just pondering if it's better to try to get used to it now, or wait and add it back in later when my level improves.

Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago

Hi Damon,

I think you can use both serves now. If you are getting points from your sidespin serves then continue to use them and try to get used to the returns that come from them.

It is great that you are able to generate good spin and variation on your serves so utilise them all.

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Jean Balthazar Posted 8 years ago

At a lower to intermediate level, a serve with a lot of sidespin will make it harder for your opponent to place the ball where I wants on the table, because it drags the return to one side. So the ball may still be loaded with a spin that you will have to deal with on your 3rd ball attack, but the area where the return will land most of the time will be smaller, and that will help you. With a plain underspin serve, it's easy to put the return anywhere on the table.

An in the long run, being able to vary your serves (and to deal with the returns they trigger) is important for winning against better players.

Damon S Posted 8 years ago

Thanks! I hadn't thought of it that way. I'm basically trading more manageable spin for more manageable placement.

Nicolas Matthew Posted 8 years ago

Using sidespin will also force you to understand the physic of the spin when your opponent successfully return your serve. If I were you, I wold use the side spin serve as a free point getter in crucial moment (deuce or your gamepoint)