Serving the ball
Receiving
tyrone pullan Asked 12 years ago
Hi im Tyrone from the philippines, my church mate was a very great table tennis player, he was so professional when it comes to different spins of the ball during services, and thus, he easily counters every serve, he has this service that is really intriguing, when the scores during a match is tight, he uses his service that makes my eyes unfocused because the ball WIGGLES at air, and is difficult to look at, it was like a snake wiggling at airborne, and when i return it, the ball strikes to the net, of course the second attempt i will push the ball higher, but an easy topspin for him, it was not a familiar serve, neither the pendulum services, how does he make the ball wiggle at air ? Can you please help me ? I really want to learn that serve!
Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago
Hi Tyrone,
Good serves can be rally baffling to start with.
The first thing to remember is that the ball can only spin one way. It can't curve different ways or change spins. The key is to watch the contact of the bat on the ball when your opponent serves to get a first good clue as to what spin is on the ball.
Then watch the ball in the air. It will curve one way. This will give you another clue as to the spin on the ball.
If you really want to improve this aspect of your game, take a look at the lessons we have in our course titled Receiving Secrets. You can access this course through our Premium membership. You can do this on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis.
Recommended Video
How to Return Spin Serves in Table Tennis (and Stop Misreading Them!)
Struggling to return spin serves? You're not alone! In this video, we break down how to read spin, adjust your bat angle, and return serves effectively—so you stop giving away easy points.
What You'll Learn:
🔹 Skill Breakdown: How to identify different types of spin and adjust your return technique.
🔹 Common Mistakes: The biggest errors players make when returning spin serves—and how to fix them fast!
🔹 Viewer Q&A: Answering your top questions about handling tricky spin serves.
🔹 Train Smarter: Drills to help you practice and improve your serve returns.
Mastering serve returns is one of the fastest ways to level up your table tennis game. Try these tips and let us know in the comments: What’s the toughest spin serve you face?
Watch NowThoughts on this question
Become a free member to post a comment about this question.
tyrone pullan Posted 12 years ago
Thank you sir, but i am aware that the ball can only curve on one way only because of the effect gained from the contact between the ball and the rubber, i am capable of side spin services that curves the ball during my service. But this is really weird that is why im asking pingskills.com, the ball curves in air from left to right and then left again and then right, bullying my eyes.
Hi Tyrone,
As you mentioned the ball can only spin one way. Sometimes servers can trick you with some fake actions after the serve. If you think that they ball should curve one way but it actually curves the other it will look very strange. Many people interpet this as if the ball actually was spinning two different ways. Pay close attention to the serve and the actual contact of the bat on ball. Then track the ball closely. It can take a lot of practice to get used to a really good serve so keep persevering.