Stepping loudly during a serve

Bosco Yu Asked 11 years ago

Hi Coach,

I was watching some video on How Ma Lin serve and it comes to me the not only Ma Lin swing his bat back and fore to confuse the opponent. He also step very loud the moment before or after the moment he impact the ball.. after that he added some fake movement to further confuse the opponent, it was very impressive and making his serve very hard to read. Here is a video where he step loud when he serve.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wKlf4xMmMU

I find one way to tell is the movement of the bat is fake can be determine by listening the impact sound of the ball to the bat. The way Ma Lin step make it impossible to listen. I am curious if this is legal. considering you are not allow to talk and make loud noise during play.

If it is allow, what is a good way to read this kind of serve?

Alois Rosario Answered 11 years ago

Hi Bosco,

Technically it is not allowed if you are deliberately trying to put off your opponent.  However I never see it called now.  It is really part of the service motion.  At International tournaments the crowd is often so loud that you can't hear anything anyway so the stamping doesn't help.

To tell what type of spin is on the ball really watch the contact.