Stomping When Serving

Patrick Delos Reyes Asked 12 years ago

Hi Mr. Alois

i noticed that some of the chinese players like Ma Lin Wang Hao stomping their feet while they're serving. Does the stomping your left foot affects the amount of spin that you will generate into the ball when your'e serving? Or they're simply doing it just for faking and distracting their opponent?

I am a right handed penhold player and i am really determined to know a lot more of some basic and advanced techniques about penhold play. I've watched your video PingPod#27 and i noticed that it discussed about Mr. Eric Tan who is the only penhold player in you Pingskills Team that Mr. Jeff Plumb and Mr. Simon Gerada mentioned. I am very interested to watch some of his matches and it would be my pleasure if Mr. Eric Tan himself will answer my question and will also join you for sharing, teaching some of his penhold skills and his RPB skills.

Thanks a lot

Patrick delos Reyes

Jeff Plumb Answered 12 years ago

The stomping doesn't add more spin. The spin comes from the fast brushing contact of the bat on the ball. The stomping is usually used to get the foot into position for the ball and to distract the opponent. The stomping of the foot might make it harder for the opponent to hear the contact of the bat on the ball which can help them determine the amount of spin on the serve.

Eric Tan was involved in the PingSkills Classic but is not a member of PingSkills. Currently it's Alois and myself so we don't have any natural penholders to demonstrate the techniques. We did film the following video that will help you:

Penhold Techniques for Table Tennis - YouTube

We also have a video of Eric playing in our match strategy course available for premium members:

Van der Heiden v Tan

← Good Table Tennis Bat For Beginners Practicing with a ball →

Patrick Delos Reyes Posted 12 years ago

Thanks for immediate response Mr. Plumb and for the nice,useful informations. Well i've already watched this video tutorial since i started playing table tennis, this video serves as my reference in my 1st month of playing table tennis but i there is no flipping techniques in this film. I have a difficulty in Forehand Flipping can you please give me some ideas on how to make those flips successfully? Because when i do, the ball gets stuck under the net and sometimes it doesn't bounce right into my opponent's table i can't hardly get the right bat angle for that technique. I've always practicing this technique as my Third Ball Attack but i couldn't perform it properly specially during the matches. Is the principle for Forehand Flipping in Shakehand and in Penhold are the same? Is the contact flat or you must apply a little bit of topspin on it? If you don't mind can you please make a new HD video tutorial for this Penhold Techniques? Just for better understanding. Once again thanks a lot Mr. Plumb more power to you and to Pingskills Team.

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Hi Patrick,

Yes the principles for the forehand flick are the same regardless of the grip you use. You are trying to hit the ball fairly flat almost like a mini smash. If the ball has topspin or sidespin on it, this stroke is much easier. The more backspin it has on it the harder it becomes and you are often better pushing a ball with a lot of backspin unless it is quite high. Against the backspin you need to open your bat up to counter the backspin.

A good way to practice this stroke is to use multi-ball. See if you can get a practice partner to feed you a short balls to your forehand. This way you can practice the stroke a lot in a short period of time.

We're currently developing a plan of which videos to re-film in HD and which new videos to make. We'll certainly consider the penhold techniques.

Good luck improving your flick.