What type of serve is Par Gerell doing?

Serving

andrew brand
andrew brand Asked 13 years ago

hi alois, i was recently watching par gerell vs france in the current swedish open, he has a pendulum serve, but also he has a serve i dont recognise, it looks similar to tomahawk but isnt. it looks very effective and mainly sidespin i think. do u know the one i mean? and does it have a name like the other serves?

Alois Rosario
Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Andrew,

It is a sort of a mixture between a tomahawk and reverse pendulum serve but having your hand below your bat rather than above.

It can be really effective because it is difficult to tell how much spin is on the ball.  It is mainly sidespin but you can vary between backspin and topspin quite easily with it with just a tilt of your hand.  

I don't have a name for it but perhaps a 'Punch serve' as the action is like you are punching.

 

Take a look at this video response to the question titled Punch Serve.

← He Zhi Wen's Serve   Rubber placement legality →
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andrew brand

andrew brand Posted 13 years ago

Thanks Alois, i will have to try that one out.
Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

Give it a try.  Just push around the side of the ball and then tilt your bat forward for topspin and backwards for backspin.
andrew brand

andrew brand Posted 13 years ago

i tried it for a while on my practise table today. it looks pretty good. and its easy to do with the different spins, it gets tonnes of curve so must have loads of sidespin. i will try it out in my match this week as well. its the serve i was waiting for i think, because it brings sidespin back to my forehand, and im not too keen on backhand or reverse pendulum serves although i can do them, they dont feel natural, this serve feels very easy to do. Thanks for the help alois.
Akhil Arun

Akhil Arun Posted 13 years ago

Can any one share that video !!
andrew brand

andrew brand Posted 13 years ago

its easy to find, go on the ittv website, all the matches are free to watch.
Akhil Arun

Akhil Arun Posted 13 years ago

Thank you !!
M V

M V Posted 13 years ago

sir,

this is very interesting.

pls. pls. make a video on how to improve this serve whenever you possibly can.

 

Thanks

Jeff Plumb

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

Here is a video with Par Gerell, you can see him trying this serve twice in a row from the 22 second mark.

 

Kevin Z

Kevin Z Posted 13 years ago

Yes, it's pretty easy to perform, just try to make sure it stays low. My opponents seem to make quite a few mistakes receiving this serve, maybe because it's hard to read its spin.
andrew brand

andrew brand Posted 13 years ago

Thanks for the videos, that is a good serve which takes very little effort to master.
Ji-Soo Woo

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 13 years ago

I've been doing this serve for a couple of months now.

I don't have the variations to allow this to be a main weapon, but I find that it's a nice "surprise" serve when the opponent is expecting a pendulum serve.

Ji-Soo Woo

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 13 years ago

I'm jealous of Alois that he can pick up this serve so quickly from watching it on youtube, even though it's not one of his own regular serves!  *sigh*
andrew brand

andrew brand Posted 13 years ago

its easy ji-soo, just pretend you are punching someone!!
Shitae Yoo

Shitae Yoo Posted 13 years ago

Much pretty good and thanks a lot.hope to get more teaching.
Jeff Plumb

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

You're welcome! Good luck improving your Table Tennis!
Aleksandar Ciric

Aleksandar Ciric Posted 13 years ago

For some reason this serve looks easy to return. You cannot hide which type of sidespin it generates. Still, one has to wonder why none of the top 10 players is using it. Also there is no wrist action. Well, since its hard to tell if it is topspin or with backspin, I guess the emphasis is on third strike, not on winning with the serve.
Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

Yes it is the subtle changes in the spin that make sit difficult.  The other thing is that it is just different from the Pendulum serve which everyone does.
Billy Pegg

Billy Pegg Posted 13 years ago

Love the videos guys, over here in the UK we call it the 'slider' serve. Quite alot of the Scottish lads use it as well. If you've never seen it before then it can be a nightmare to play against. Anyone wanting more examples of this serve should check out an International called 'Gavin Rumgay' on youtube, keep up the good work!
GOLLAPUDI GOLLAPUDI

GOLLAPUDI GOLLAPUDI Posted 13 years ago

hi Alois thanks for the video. i am using it successfully. the name i suggest is SIOLA SERVICE. SIOLA IS REVERSE OF ALOIS.

REGARDS

RESHEPU 

Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

I reckon Gavin has the best one of those in the world.  I have seen the Aussies struggle with it several times.  He does use a bit of wrist on it.  His almost becomes like a tomahawk serve from right next to his body.

His is really hard to pick. 

Neville Young

Neville Young Posted 13 years ago

HaHaHa- I've been using this serve for nearly 40 years. Very effective from the forehand side down the edge of the table to your opponents backhand.  The return usually goes off the table. This is the serve I use when I need a point
Aleksandar Ciric

Aleksandar Ciric Posted 13 years ago

That is if your opponent does not know how to return sidespin serve. As Alois said, the more important is weather your opponents return will go into the net or too high if he misses to interpret top or bottom spin. If he does push and misinterprets topspin, boll will bounce high and you can smash it and win a point.

Question: Does any of the top 100 players do the same serve buth with bachand?

Punch serve is a great name for it.

Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

I don't think any top 100 players do it with their backhand now.  Kong Linghui used to do something similar with really good effect.
Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

Neville,

I knew I had seen it used effectively somewhere else! 

Sourav Mehra

Sourav Mehra Posted 13 years ago

I will call it the hook serve.There are many videos on youtube for this serve
Jon Ferguson

Jon Ferguson Posted 13 years ago

Hi Alois-

I have seen a young Asian guy on You Tube doing a very similar serve, and he calls it the HOOK serve. The secret, I think, is to use a fast motion with the arm moving forward, as the wrist isn't being used as much as the Pendulum or reverse Pendulum. The guy on You Tube gets a fair bit of speed and spin.

Peter Rod

Peter Rod Posted 13 years ago

This is another video where you can see how good this serve is in the hands of Pär Gerell, enjoy it.

Jeff Plumb

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

Thanks Peter. I've embedded the video so it is easier for people to watch.
Ian Costello

Ian Costello Posted 13 years ago

You can call it the pendulum tomahawk serve.
chris chidumije

chris chidumije Posted 12 years ago

sir 

please what is the contact point for both the racket and the ball for the service???? 

Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Your contact on the bat is the near the top end of the bat.  You can alter the angle of the bat to get different types of spin.  This will mean that you contact the ball on different parts.  More on the top for topspin and more underneath for backspin.
JOSEPH JUNEAU

JOSEPH JUNEAU Posted 12 years ago

I AM LEFT HANDED WHEN I PLAY A PLAYER THAT IS LEFT HANDED SHOULD I SERVE SHORT TO HIS FOREHAND AND LONG TO HIS BACKHAND? HE IS PRETTY GOOD ON BOTH SIDES!!
Sohan Punnoose

Sohan Punnoose Posted 11 years ago

                    I call it the sidespin backspin and the sidespin topspin serve.

 
leonardo gabica

leonardo gabica Posted 11 years ago

I call it the Mjolnir Serve!

Raghav Binwal

Raghav Binwal Posted 11 years ago

Nobody can pick it up. Thanks

Neville Young

Neville Young Posted 11 years ago

There are a lot of variations you can do with this serve. After using a slow sidespin serve (anti clockwise) a couple of times you can try a fast topspin by hitting on top of the ball. It keeps a lot lower but the serve looks similar and can be a lot faster. You can rotate the bat as you are serving and hit the ball at about 11 o'clock, it looks a lot like the topspin serve but is actually a topspin/sidespin serve but the ball is spinning clockwise this time. If you are right handed and serve along the right hand edge of the table, your next serve can be across the table simply by slightly changing the angle of the bat and hitting the ball closer to the handle.

I don't do this type of serve all the time, but use it when I need to win a point. It works more often than not simply because it's different and having some variations that look similar can often win you a second point. The more you do it in a game though the quicker your opponent will figure it out.

Raghav Binwal

Raghav Binwal Posted 11 years ago

Thanks a lot.

alex yulo

alex yulo Posted 11 years ago

its look like a hook serve..

alex yulo

alex yulo Posted 11 years ago

Even Werner Schlager have that kind of serve and wang hao too.. 

 

Des Ryan

Des Ryan Posted 8 years ago

Brilliant,

i had just seen Par's service,and thought I would like to add this to my game.So I will practice this in the morning,as I am sure it will take some time before it can be perfected....say tomorrow afternoon!!!

Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 8 years ago

Haha, Des, I am sure you will be able to master it by sundown...

Des Ryan

Des Ryan Posted 8 years ago

By 16.36, way before sundown!

Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 8 years ago

cool

Jon Ferguson

Jon Ferguson Posted 8 years ago

It is also called a Hook serve, because of the hooking motion of the arm. There is a You Tube video of Par Gerell playing Werner Schlager, and Werner is having a lot of trouble returning this serve. Difficult to read the spin.

Very effective once mastered.

Mike Lauro

Mike Lauro Posted 8 years ago

During the Rio Olympics, I heard commentators say that Par Gerrell's serve is one of the hardest to read among pro players.  The commentator mentioned that even some of the Chinese players were having difficulty returning the serve in practice.  I don't know if that's true or not, but his serve is certainly unique among top players.

Alois' point about adding variation to your serve to improve overall serve effectiveness is spot on.  Anytime you can serve with deceptive variations, it can create lots of trouble for opponents.  For example, with a pure sidespin serve that is disguised so that it appears to have a little backspin too, the opponent's push will result in a ball that rises and allows an opportunity for you to attack.

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