Small Advantages When Serving

Hi Alois and Jeff,

Yesterday I played with my teacher and finally I could win for the first time! I just want to ask, what is the best spin should I apply to my serve, I've tried no spin serve, backspin serve, fast serve and topspin serve but he easily execute them! I've also tried the reverse pendulum serve, and it looked like that he couldn't handle it. So, what's the best? Should I played with the reverse pendulum serve?

Thanks a lot!
Regards, Archel

Hi Archel,

The best serve is the one that your opponent has the most difficulty with. In this case it sounds like the reverse pendulum will work well. It's great to see you trying out different serves and anlaysing the game to see how you can get an advantage. Keep that type of thinking going against all of your opponents. Once you find some tactics that work, you should store them in the PingSkills Vault so you don't forget them.

Usually the answer isn't as simple as just one type of serve. What really makes a serve effective is variation. Any type of serve that you can do with subtle variations of spin is going to be hard for your opponent to deal with. Remember though that as you play better and better players, they are going to be better at returning your serves. You shouldn't be expecting to win a lot of points outright on your serve. What you should be aiming for is to gain a small advantage in the rally so you can win more points on your serve.