Amazing Serves

guybr50 · Sep 17, 2015

hi guys!
So my topic today is all about !sevice!
we all know the sevice specialists on the planet like Ma Long, Zhang Jike and and even legends like Waldner.

So my question is, what is the best service you have ever witnessed? and if you have it on a youtube vid so everyone can see it?
also on topic is who do you count as the best server in the world as of today or as of all time best!

I myself ran into one of MA LIN legendary ghost serves which im not sure if Jike had a touch on it or did he missed it
anyway, that must be one of the best serves ive seen in my life. As of today i would pick Ma Long although its very hard to determined. And of Course all time best belongs to JAN O. WALDNER.

so, what is yours?

great discussion

stao · Sep 17, 2015

That Ma Lin serve is not so special. Zhang Jike barely touched the ball which had indeed a perfect length.

Liten · Sep 17, 2015

I love to see Ma Lin serve.. But best of all is to see JO back in the day, hiding hes serve and the returns of most players fly off like fireworks..

TTFrenzy · Sep 17, 2015

hahah this is one of my favourite videos, I have argued many times in all the forums about whether zhang touched the ball or not. And I still believe it didnt touch it

Its still an endless arguement, some people believe ZJK whiffed and some people dont. Great serve on either occasion

UpSideDownCarl · Sep 17, 2015

He Zhi Wen giving Werner Schlager some dancing lessons:

Liu Guoliang was really one of the best servers ever:

Even the top guys on the CNT couldn't do what LG was showing them anywhere near as well as he could and this was quite a while after he stopped playing at the pro level.

Werner Schlager also had some of the best serves ever. He would not have won the WTTC Men's Singles event without those amazing serves that got him through the whole CNT.

I will not say best. There are way too many. But those three all have some pretty amazing serves.

Sent from MountOlympus via Hermes'Caduceus

TTFrenzy · Sep 17, 2015

Schlager LGL the best and even better than Waldner in terms of creativity,fantasy & unpredictability. Waldner ma lin and LGL masters of deception.

BeGo · Sep 17, 2015

TTFrenzy said:
Schlager LGL the best and even better than Waldner in terms of creativity,fantasy & unpredictability. Waldner ma lin and LGL masters of deception.

Err,

What the difference between unpredictability and deception, in service case?

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TTFrenzy · Sep 17, 2015

BeGo said:
Err,

What the difference between unpredictability and deception, in service case?

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in some cases they may be the same thing. In a nutshell, schlager was very unpredictable on the tempo and placement of the serve and many times he changed suddenly his swing (right on contact and after the backswing) into a different serve than you expected.

Waldner on the other hand was capable of doing 5 no spin serves in a row with 5 different backswings/follow throughs. By deception I mean hiding the spin or the amount of the spin in a serve. Unpredictability stands for doing serves that the opponent literally has no idea about where how and when the ball is gonna land.

Der_Echte · Sep 18, 2015

Is that Par Gerrell over there?

Gotta go...

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Anders · Sep 18, 2015

Der_Echte said:
Is that Par Gerrell over there?

Gotta go...

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Pär Gerells service is a highly debated theme amongst umpires, they want to take him, but at the same time understands that if they do, he couldn't play a single point

As for me Waldner and Liu Guoliang had the best service game, and Ma Lin in second.. But it's also a matter of what you can make out of the third ball.. So they are pretty close.

But I'd dare you to try and take on the "caramel" service by one of my team mates, he's like 50 years old and just 3-4 years ago he beat a CNT B-player, insane!

But ofc I don't have this on vid, so please don't hang me for keeping a legend alive

UpSideDownCarl · Sep 18, 2015

This doesn't change or take away from the talent of the other guys. But one thing I believe is worth noting, is that Guoliang and Waldner player most of their careers while hiding the contact of the serve was still legal.

Schlager's best years were after hiding the ball was banned. The deception from his serves was still their even though the serve contact was in plain view.

Also, when Schlager won the WTTC, Wang Liqin, Ma Lin were at the top of their game. Kung was still around. Wang Hao was coming up. In terms of overall game, he looks kind of awkward after the serve compared to any of those guys. Without the artistry and amazing skill of his serves, he probably would not have been in that position.

Also, the level of creativity he displayed is worth noting: he really was an innovator. His serves added a level of complexity that didn't exist before him. We see those serves all the time now. But he was a real innovator in the service game.

Sent from MountOlympus via Hermes'Caduceus

Baal · Sep 18, 2015

A couple of nice matches. Hidden serves. Small balls. Speed glue. 21 point games. I used to try to copy Gatien's serves.

bobpuls · Sep 18, 2015

There is already video about this

But first place ....i do not now ... he does not have any special serve ... he is just good in hiding it .

bobpuls · Sep 18, 2015

But for me is this one the best video about serve technique so far .....

stao · Sep 18, 2015

TTFrenzy said:
hahah this is one of my favourite videos, I have argued many times in all the forums about whether zhang touched the ball or not. And I still believe it didnt touch it Its still an endless arguement, some people believe ZJK whiffed and some people dont. Great serve on either occasion

IMHO is totally impossible that Zhang did not hit the ball.
The ball totally looses its momentum after Zhangs contact and thus returns to the net.
The serve is way too fast for the spin to have a chance to return inverse the ball direction.
Only slow serves with much backspin can go back to the net.

NextLevel · Sep 18, 2015

He's no Waldner but this guy is an underestimated server a well - great guy too

. I wish more of his matches were on youtube. He has the lefty advantage.

My reverse pendulum is now getting good enough for the snake serve to be a threat. My pendulum, which is what the snake serve actually is, still needs work though.

Liten · Sep 18, 2015

stao said:
IMHO is totally impossible that Zhang did not hit the ball.
The ball totally looses its momentum after Zhangs contact and thus returns to the net.
The serve is way too fast for the spin to have a chance to return inverse the ball direction.
Only slow serves with much backspin can go back to the net.

Im not sure, but in my mind Ma Lin can make any ball look like a yoyo!

Edit: Looking at the slowmo the ball may just have got some air trailing after the bat slowing it down... any contact at all at that speed should have sent that ball flying...

// 0 rate with all the pro advice!

Baal · Sep 18, 2015

bobpuls said:
But for me is this one the best video about serve technique so far .....

Very basic level. I think it is easier for people to learn how to get lots of spin and placement variation from the regular pendulum serve before trying to do reverse pendulum serve, which is a much harder motion to do.

NextLevel · Sep 18, 2015

Baal,

I think there was sarcasm and visual aesthetics inspiring the original poster of that video, but I can't say for sure.

Baal · Sep 18, 2015

bobpuls said:
There is already video about this

But first place ....i do not now ... he does not have any special serve ... he is just good in hiding it .

Very Swedish point of view but a pretty good list. I would have put Ma Lin higher maybe. As for Waldner, there was so much more that he was doing besides just hiding the serve.

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