I think these serves look fun. I don't think they have much spin. I don't think that matters though. I think he catches the ball on the racket and carries it, and then the racket changes directions. Whether it double bounces or not, that isn't legal. But it is a pretty cool trick which shows some nice touch and control.
But the kind of "illegal" that this is, is very different than illegal serves that the pros use.
This actually would not give Siva much of an advantage. That he carries the ball in one direction and then switches directions means that he can't really generate too much spin or pace. So, what causes this serve to be against the rules would only harm the server rather than helping. And you can see how much spin Siva gets on regular serves. So, this is for fun. And I'm sure, if he played around with it in a match it would also be for fun. But it certainly does take someone who is "mad as a hatter" to think up something like this. So more power to you Siva for your inventiveness. [emoji2]
Now, let's get to the pros borderline and illegal serves.
First lets get some working definitions:
1) Borderline serves mean they are close to being against the rules. But not quite.
2) Illegal means the serve is against the rules.
There is a skill and a talent to making it so your opponent does not see your racket until right before you contact the ball for the serve. When you have that contact, you also will have maximum mechanical advantage in transmitting power into the ball as spin or speed depending on how you contact the ball: tangential or more direct, thin or deep.
So, borderline is not against the rules. It is simply as close to being against the rules as possible without actually being against the rules. And aside from making it a little harder to read the serves, it gives the server better leverage to generate more spin or speed, or both. But the pros are so good at reading serves that they can still read the serves when they are borderline. So, from my perspective, borderline is not the same issue as the serves that are illegal.
And that skill of contacting the ball right by your side from a swing that comes from behind the body, it is actually worth developing that skill. You would understand why if you were able to do it. And saying the backswing should not go behind the body is like saying you should serve without a backswing. Imagine if you were told it was against the rules to have a backswing on your FH.
And on a serve, if the backswing does not go back behind you, it pretty much means you are not using enough hips or core rotation. How would Jun Mizutani get 75-degrees of rotation in his hips on a serve if his racket didn't go behind him. You would have to do something really awkward and unnatural to keep your arm from going back and around while turning your hips back.
Besides, the guys at the top level are so good at reading serves and handling them that usually level matters much more than serves.
And a guy like Ma Long, his serves are all legal and he still has some of the best serves in the game. I think both Timo Boll and Marcos Freitas said his serves were the hardest to handle. And they are all clean. He is really just that good.
The illegal serves do give an unfair advantage. But not unfair enough for Par Gerel to beat Ma Long.
So, illegal serves, borderline serves, it is a different discussion than this creative and fun serve that Siva has come up with.
Thanks for the video.
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