My Service Problems

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I've been playing TT seriously for about a year and my service always lags behind. I would always miss my serve (as in completely miss the ball during contact or goes into the net) and I've tried doing pendulum serve, with/without high toss and I can never consistently even land it on the other side. I like shake my wrist before throwing the ball and then stop the movement to brush the ball. Any tips? Vid will come when I'm able to practice. ;)
 

Brs

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Practice. And time the swing with your breath. Stay still until the ball is dropping, then exhale as you swing and contact the ball.
 
says Spin and more spin.
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When you post it, the video will help.

Do you practice serves alone? You don't even need a table to practice the contact of the ball.

This video shows some decent ideas of things to practice to move towards improving your serve:

 
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I'm an amateur player myself and I too had difficulty with pendulum serve. However, I've improved in last few months. My approach to overcoming this was trying to stay relaxed, both physically and mentally, not thinking too much about the service, keeping a good eye on the ball during the entire flight of the ball, keeping a relaxed grip on the blade and focusing on the part of the my side of the table, where i want the ball to land first. I think the last point a lot of us (newcomers) do not pay much attention. I think it is very important to think where on your side of table, you want to place the ball.
 
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I think you should practise making the right contact first, don't worry about tha landing.
For pendulum serve, i suggest watching Timo Boll because his pendulum serve is relatively easier to learn compared to, say, the Chinese players who have lots of other movements to "fool" the opponent. You will see that with TB serve it is easier to see how he makes contact with the ball.
Don't learn from Masaharu Yoshimiura… it is impossible to guess...:D
 
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Migzkulit said:
I've been playing TT seriously for about a year and my service always lags behind.

We have players who have played 30 years in my city who are 3 levels or higher above club average level and STILL cannot spell SHORT SERVE given 100 chances.

There are MANY factors and moving pieces that you have to get right to make good serves. It is next to impossible to train serves at the table ball after ball when there are so many fundamental things wrong - all the player does is reinforce bad things and never get out of the hole.

These are some common things players DO WRONG on serves and never fix.

You might help yourself by asking WHY any and every of these apply to you... and find some people who can serve and ask then how they overcame these.

- Ball toss to short (usually never give enough time)
- Ball toss too far behind endline - you cannot serve effectively .3-1 meter behind table
- Player never generates bat speed - often, because player has no idea of whip biomechanics for serve
- Player's grip of bat too tight
- Player's bat angle at impact not horizontal for short serves (player starts horizontal, pendulums up, never corrects fully)
- Player does not properly time the whip to have bat arrive at correct time to ball
- Player knows this, then slows down bat to keep ball on table or short with very little spin
- Player does not strike ball consistently in center middle top of bat
- Player does not know how to time impact of ball on all parts of pendulum on swing to make every possible spin
- Player does not after motions
- Player does not have a smooth and fast swing before impact
- Player does not pivot into position right after serve
- Player has an extreme long serve arm motion - you are only using MAYBE 4-6 inches of swing to whip, contact and throw ball
- Player's long serve motion makes it too difficult to time impact of ball at full speed
- Player has no idea of spin variation
- Player has no idea of how to vary placement and pace of serve
- Player has no idea of how to link serve and attack
- Player has no idea of how to limit receiver's options and look for tactical advantages
 
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Serve is all about practice and feeling. A bit of talent aswell But practice goes a long way.

How much time do you spend practicing serves?

Double it! And your serves will be better and i can almost guarantee that you you win much more aswell.
 
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Lula said:
Serve is all about practice and feeling. A bit of talent as well. but practice goes a long way.

How much time do you spend practicing serves?

Double it! And your serves will be better and i can almost guarantee that you you win much more aswell.

Having said all the depressing things I said in my post above, Lula speaks a truth. I make a long explanation to support his words. I had a quick class on how to serve, practiced just a few minutes a day, then improved big time.

In 2007, I had a 15 minute talk about serving by a then-rated 1900 player who knew how to serve. My 15 minute session was an absolute disaster. If you were within 15 meters of the table as a spectator, I was certain to be a public health hazard to you. Everything I hit went WAY OFF flying wild EVERY DIRECTION.

I looked like the most hopeless joker holding a racket the civilized Table Tennis world had ever seen, maybe would ever see.

During a one year stay at a very remote camp in Iraq, there was a cheap TT table in the phone trailer... I practiced 3-5 minutes a day... otherwise I would have been shot by angry dudes calling home. Those balls bouncing on floor could get loud by the 5th one.

Somehow, over the course of months, I started to get it, then more... and by 6 months, I could land it short and OK spinny most of the time... after 12 months, I had the same serves I have now, but a little lower quality.

I was rated USATT 1400s back then... I had no chance to train anything or hit any meaningful matches there... nobody could play or even return a serve.

I did a tourney after I got back to USA and improved to 1600s... that is 2 full levels and that is WITHOUT any other kind of practice !!!
 
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You can practice on the bed or sofa (50 times everyday before sleep). Won't do much for predicting placement, but if you can hit the same spot over and over, that's effective enough. Try to make it so that you hear the spin on the sheets when you finish.
 
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The new ball is somewhat responsible for players lack of practice as the idea has been floated that the new ball size making serving unimportant along with poor coaching. I rarely see players practicing serve other than two or three tosses and then its off to playing a practice game or hitting with a buddy. Serve and serve return are probably the least practice aspects of TT at our club and I am sure we are not alone. The internet is loaded with excellent video's on improving serve yet watching matches at our club I get the impression few players know what a half long, short or long serve is and how to create spin seems beyond most players other then moving their blades in a downward motion. The key word is practice and reviewing the many videos on the web regarding serving. Watch them ALL, they have something to teach you but it's important to listen and watch and practice. Over time you will begin to develop your own positive serving habits IF you take the time to practice regularly.
 
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Brs

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Brs

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Time your entire swing with a quick exhale. As in the swing back and forward takes no more time than breathing out once. Then use your breath to time the ball. This will help you stay relaxed as well as timing the contact better.
 
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Practice. And time the swing with your breath. Stay still until the ball is dropping, then exhale as you swing and contact the ball.

I never heard it put like like this before. I read this just before I went to practice. At practice I realised that I more or less serve this way. I stay steady rather than still and take a couple breaths first. However, I don't do it every single time, but I will try to make it a full-time part of my pre-serve routine

Time your entire swing with a quick exhale. As in the swing back and forward takes no more time than breathing out once. Then use your breath to time the ball. This will help you stay relaxed as well as timing the contact better.

Very true.
 
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Try this please. Dont try to put too much spin at first. Slow down, just try to get the movement and contact the ball. Gradually increase the speed and spin later.
 
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