Varying the Speed of Short Serves

Mohammad El Hariri Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois and Jeff,

Will hitting the ball on different areas of the bat affect the speed of short serves?

Let's say I'm executing the Forehand Tomahawk Side-spin serve... Will the serve be faster, but still short, if I contact the ball near the top edge of my bat? If I contact the ball in the middle of the bat, will the serve be slower and short?

Will the two serves have the same amount of spin if I contacted the ball with the same brushing action?

Thank you.

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Mohammd,

You will get more spin if you contact the ball  at the end of your racket because that part of your racket is moving faster during the Tomahawk serve. 

The thing that will get the ball shorter is if you brush the ball more finely on contact.