Show #332 - Improve Your Serving

Ask The Coach Show | Table Tennis

In today's show we answer a lot of questions about serving and Alois' top of the week relates to returning to table tennis after a break. Plus my joke actually makes Alois laugh!

I Cannot See Contact with the Ball

Gary - I was playing in a round-robin tournament at my local club and one of my opponents was blocking the view of the point of contact with his free hand (during his serve). He is a more advanced player than I am and would likely have beaten me anyway, but I had no chance of being able to return service effectively with him blocking my view this way. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not. I understand that a lot will have to do with my club's specific environment and culture but was wondering if there is some sort of generally accepted table tennis etiquette for this type of situation, so that I might find a tactful and appropriate way to address it. Any thoughts?

Inconsistent Serving

Toby - Whenever I try to execute the Ma Lin ghost serve when no one is around it is very spinny. When I play in front of my opponent, the serve is 50% less spinny and sometimes doesn't make it over the net because I'm very nervous. Is there a way to fix this problem?

More Sidespin on Pendulum Serve

Toby - For some time I have been trying to do sidespin(pendulum) serve. I noticed that when try to contact the ball on the side, contact the lower area of the bat, use a lot of wrist, and have arm acceleration, I get little sidespin and sometimes good heavy backspin. I'm only looking for a good sidespin serve that bounces off my opponents racket when their racket is flat with no angle. Is there a way to fix this spin issue?

How to Execute the Ma Lin Serve

Gaurav - In a video, Ma Lin is shown practicing a serve in which the ball rolls back towards the net after delivering a pendulum serve. I've been trying to execute this serve for a very long time, but it never rolls back. So can somebody please help me ? I really wanna learn this.

Links in this Episode

How To Execute the Ma Lin Serve

Bat Angle for the Ma Lin Serve

Pendulum Serve - for premium members

Activation Level - for premium members