Varying the flight of serves

Mike Lockett Asked 14 years ago

I've been enjoying the Serving Secrets video. Nice work!

 I notice that the serves typically seem to involve hitting the ball so that it's initially travelling roughly parallel with the table, then gravity (and possibly spin) brings it down. Are there any cases or popular servers that involve hitting the ball somewhat downward at the table, or lobbing it upward. It seems I've had people serve me the ball where they hit the ball from just an inch or two above the table, hitting the ball downward to get the ball over the net, which makes for a strange serve.

 A second related question is... how high above the table should you generally hit the serve from? ...about 10 inches?

Thanks,

Mike

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Mike,

You can vary the flight of the ball which gives the ball different speeds and in themselves a variation to your serve. It is a good idea to adopt some variations in your serving.

You certainly can hit the ball directly down close to you or float the ball so that it lands closer to the net.  Just this simple variation can cause your opponent soe problems.

The height you hit the ball from can vary depending on where you are going to land the ball on your side and how fast you are going to serve.  In general you can hit the ball from around 10cm higher than the surface.