Serving Position
Serving
Chris Veenstra Asked 14 years ago
Hey Guys - I notice that all professional players seem to serve from the very corner of the table on the side that is opposite of their serving hand. Alois always serves from the left corner facing him, and Jeff from the right corner. What is the reason for this. What is the advantage of this? What does this position offer that other positions don't? Thanks so much for the answer and the great web-site.
Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago
Hi Chris,
Your observation is when players are doing the Pendulum serve. This serve has been the most popular serve of the modern player.
The idea is that on your follow through of the serve you will put yourself into a position that will enable you to get into a good ready position for the next ball. You will notice that the players after doing the Pendulum serve bring their back foot around and into the basic ready position.
The Pendulum serve's other advantage is that it allows you to generate good spin because of the extra use of the wrist in the action of this serve.
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The Float Serve
The float or no spin serve is an effective tool to have in your bag of serves. It adds good variation to your serves and can often set you up with an easy 3rd ball opportunity.
Watch NowThoughts on this question
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Serving the pendulum serve from there gives you a lot of opportunity to play a forehand which is often peoples preferred side to attack from. I think this is one of the main reasons it is so popular.
However it doesn't mean you shouldn't serve from other positions and in fact if no one else is doing it then it can be a surprise for players when you serve from the other side and they might find it difficult because they are not used to returning the ball when served from there. William Henzell has developed a very effective pendulum serve from the right hand side of the table which is quite a unique serve at his level.
Keep experimenting and find something that works for you.