Werner's so-called "flick" serve
Table Tennis Serving
Last updated 9 years ago
Andrew Pape Asked 9 years ago
Hi,
I never understood Pinky's commentary on Werner Schlager's serve (1998 Australian Open). Looking at the serve, it looks like a "heavy nothing serve" and I think he still uses that action.
I've now got the match on dvd and have captured a snippet of commentary:
"That's the famous 'flick' serve from Schlager. He's got a very good technique... if you see a close-up of his biceps you'll see that he's got a 1 inch muscle.. he spends 2 hours on physical work [per day]... doing weights developing the serve. You can see it just at the joint of the elbow.. just over an inch high... freakish thing, but he can flick the wrist"
"Flick" sounds like Werner is doing something more than no-spin. Whatever he does, it seems to work, or at least not give the opponent a chance to tee off.
I'm wondering what Werner is actually doing? The match is a doubles event with Werner & Jindrak vs Ma Lin (17 year old version) & Yan Sen (finals).
Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago
Hi Andrew,
I am not sure of the serve you are talking about. Is it the Reverse Pendulum? Can you point me to some video of it?
Thoughts on this question
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Andrew Pape Posted 9 years ago
Hi Alois,
Werner goes through a long ritual before doing a reverse pendie serve, telegraphing that serve. I also know several others of his and have read his book. But the serve in question is different. It looks like he's bringing the playing arm down quickly. Pinky added that Werner's very strong from his training, and that he could almost break your hand if he shook it. But I don't see how any of this physical strength could relate to the usual brush & fast action serve technique.
I haven't seen the video on the web. I taped it on video when it was originally broadcast, and then years later I copied it to dvd. I haven't yet looked for it online. If you are interested and have the time, I can copy the dvd for you. It was free to air TV on ABC, so I don't think there would be any legal issues...
Andrew Pape Posted 9 years ago
Hi Alois,
I think I've found a link to the serve mentioned. I couldn't find his 1998 Australian Open match, where I had seen him serve front-on, but this link shows a side-on serve that seems similar. It also shows the same serve from a different camera angle.
I can see more clearly what he is doing but am still intrigued by it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAM6fwTNXC4
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 9 years ago
Hi Andrew,
In these serves he uses a slight change in the angle of the bat on contact to generate different spin. He can even generate topspin on some of these serve as he contacts the ball as he is coming up slightly with his bat. It is a simple and effective way of adding deception to the serve. Schlager is a master at this.