Incredible Ma Lin First serve

GDP said:

First ball definetly hit the net. I've been working on this type of Ghost serve and have been having a really hard time getting it right. Perhaps someone on the forum could explain step by step how the serve is executed. Especially, the contact point on racket and ball. Is the ball struck with a totally flat racket or is the strike actually upwards, where you are almost trying to hit the front of the ball. What are best ways to keep the ball low and fast over the net. Curious if Ma Lin is putting a bit of sidespin on the ball? There's some vids on YouTube on the subject, but they aren't specific enough in my opinion. It's just impossible to tell what Ma Lin is actually doing. Just an incredible serve. Thanks to all! GDP

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GDP said:

First ball definetly hit the net. I've been working on this type of Ghost serve and have been having a really hard time getting it right. Perhaps someone on the forum could explain step by step how the serve is executed. Especially, the contact point on racket and ball. Is the ball struck with a totally flat racket or is the strike actually upwards, where you are almost trying to hit the front of the ball. What are best ways to keep the ball low and fast over the net. Curious if Ma Lin is putting a bit of sidespin on the ball? There's some vids on YouTube on the subject, but they aren't specific enough in my opinion. It's just impossible to tell what Ma Lin is actually doing. Just an incredible serve. Thanks to all! GDP

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GDP said:

Dan,

Thanks. Love the site. The Mizutani video helps. I'll give it a go this weekend.

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Mr. RicharD said:

The first thing you need to work on is rotation of ball. Start by hitting the 6-7 o'clock positions on the ball standing and about chest to chin level and make a proper serve. You should notice that if you hit the ball with your sweet spot that you can actually get the ball to bounce twice on the table or even sometimes get it to bounce back over the net to your side. So when you have that down lower your service to around 12 inches above the table and bend your knees so that the serve action is the same as it would be with you standing. Once you have the spin to get it bouncing back over the net or at least bouncing back towards the net you have the proper spin rotation to do the service.

The next thing you have to do is work on speed. By contacting the ball at the top part of the sweet spot you can produce the most spin and speed on the ball to have it bounce twice. When you can generate enough speed and spin on the ball you can fool your opponents into swinging when the ball is actually going to bounce a second time and this'll really get them all psyched out.

The last thing is accuracy. When you serve never aim at a spot to hit on your second bounce (i.e. the other side of the table) this negates the efficiency of your service because you're showing your opponent where you'd like to serve. Instead aim where you want the ball to bounce first. Ideally you want the ball to bounce within the first 12 inches of the table if you can cut it down to 8-10 inches then you've got it made. A lot of developing players serve too slowly or too long because their first bounce is too close to the net or near the middle of their side of the table. You want it to be as close as possible to your baseline which will give it the best chance for bouncing twice on the table with loads of spin and speed. Watch when the Chinese miss their services they'll typically mess up because they actually hit their baseline edges and it'll go flying upward or back.

Hope this helps guys it's a great way to learn service at a higher level and I think it'll teach you guys some great ways to tactically beat your opponents.

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moriguchi2 said:

Jun Mitzutani looked like he did that ghost serve casually without trying. He wouldnt do that serve in a match.

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