Do pros push topspin serves?

[WMD]

Do pros push topspin serves?

 

[jk1980]

no, because you can't. You have to flick it actively or hold the racket very lightly and do a block like move.

 

[Jslick89]

Do pros push topspin serves?

you can't push a topspin serve, but with the correct technique, you can drop it short:

-soft hand
-lean in with chest
-catch the ball on the rise
-downward motion with paddle
-sometimes even slightly closed paddle

it's a technique i'm still working on mastering. i woudl say its one of the more advanced skills since you need to be able to recognize both the spin and the distance of the serve, and have the touch and technique to actual drop it short.

 

[v100ev]

I think yes. It's not impossible - the important part is to meet the ball right after the bounce. I am sure they can do this, but also pretty sure in most cases they will try to do something else to a topspin serve.

 

[blahness]

I cant believe all the answers. Yes they do it all the time. Even I can short or long push topspin serves if they are short. Watch Fang Bo and Yuya Oshima demonstrate this.

11 mins

 

[Jslick89]

I cant believe all the answers. Yes they do it all the time. Even I can short or long push topspin serves if they are short. Watch Fang Bo and Yuya Oshima demonstrate this.



11 mins

i think its a semantics thing. when i think push...i think paddle flat (open) and pushing from your body to where you are aiming across the table.

these videos and what i was describing are what i consider drop shots. i guess its kinda like a push where instead of moving fowards the push is going from top to down.

 

[mcfly]

no, because you can't. You have to flick it actively or hold the racket very lightly and do a block like move.

are you a pro?

 

[jk1980]

are you a pro?

No, but you do not need to be to understand the laws of spin and the techniques most sensible to apply.
Of course you can PUSH a topspin serve, but if you do what most people would consider a push, then the ball will rise very high and be smashed by the opponent.

as outlined by others already, there are techniques to keep a topspin serve short, but a short touch is a touch shot and not a push. A push is done with an open blade (rubber facing to the ceiling) and applying a slight move not only forward, but also upward (because you usually want to lift a heavy backspin ball over the net).

Some techniques for dropping the ball short that are shown in the video use the method of actually only hitting the side of the ball, so that the "topspin" does not apply/affect the rubber that much, but again that is not a push. If you use that technique to play a backspin ball it will drop into the net anyways.

The "topspin" serves that i saw while having a quick glance at the videos were really more of kicker or no-spin serves. Real topspin would be generated differently than just hitting the ball flat. calling the very low forward rotation that is generated by these techniques "topspin" is really misleading. You can see the effect of real topspin when somebody tries to block a topspin ball with a somewhot closed bat angle and the ball still rises up due to the spin in the ball. With these "alleged" topspin serves you would not see that effect when somebody simply did the regular "block" motion, simply because there is not that much topspin to speak off.

 

[mcfly]

No, but you do not need to be to understand the laws of spin and the techniques most sensible to apply.
Of course you can PUSH a topspin serve, but if you do what most people would consider a push, then the ball will rise very high and be smashed by the opponent.

as outlined by others already, there are techniques to keep a topspin serve short, but a short touch is a touch shot and not a push. A push is done with an open blade (rubber facing to the ceiling) and applying a slight move not only forward, but also upward (because you usually want to lift a heavy backspin ball over the net).

Some techniques for dropping the ball short that are shown in the video use the method of actually only hitting the side of the ball, so that the "topspin" does not apply/affect the rubber that much, but again that is not a push. If you use that technique to play a backspin ball it will drop into the net anyways.

The "topspin" serves that i saw while having a quick glance at the videos were really more of kicker or no-spin serves. Real topspin would be generated differently than just hitting the ball flat. calling the very low forward rotation that is generated by these techniques "topspin" is really misleading. You can see the effect of real topspin when somebody tries to block a topspin ball with a somewhot closed bat angle and the ball still rises up due to the spin in the ball. With these "alleged" topspin serves you would not see that effect when somebody simply did the regular "block" motion, simply because there is not that much topspin to speak off.

you obviously only know one way to push

 

[Dr Evil]

Useful skill to practice for timing and touch. Typically it's like an off the bounce mini-chop, contacting the back or side of the ball with a flat or even slightly closed angle. It's also possible to push topspin with an open angle, contacting off the bounce towards the bottom of the ball, pushing forward and down with good acceleration to "go with the spin" and counteract the tendency of the ball to pop up (it will probably pop up a little anyway but with heavy backspin).

 

[jk1980]

you obviously only know one way to push

You obviously don't know the difference between a push and a chop

 

[Lazer]

No, but you do not need to be to understand the laws of spin and the techniques most sensible to apply.
Of course you can PUSH a topspin serve, but if you do what most people would consider a push, then the ball will rise very high and be smashed by the opponent.

as outlined by others already, there are techniques to keep a topspin serve short, but a short touch is a touch shot and not a push. A push is done with an open blade (rubber facing to the ceiling) and applying a slight move not only forward, but also upward (because you usually want to lift a heavy backspin ball over the net).

Some techniques for dropping the ball short that are shown in the video use the method of actually only hitting the side of the ball, so that the "topspin" does not apply/affect the rubber that much, but again that is not a push. If you use that technique to play a backspin ball it will drop into the net anyways.

The "topspin" serves that i saw while having a quick glance at the videos were really more of kicker or no-spin serves. Real topspin would be generated differently than just hitting the ball flat. calling the very low forward rotation that is generated by these techniques "topspin" is really misleading. You can see the effect of real topspin when somebody tries to block a topspin ball with a somewhot closed bat angle and the ball still rises up due to the spin in the ball. With these "alleged" topspin serves you would not see that effect when somebody simply did the regular "block" motion, simply because there is not that much topspin to speak off.

That’s a punch. A push is always going under the ball and one of my training partners returns servers like that often topspin or not. But it’s risky sometimes the ball pops up…

Cheers
L-zr

 

[mcfly]

You obviously don't know the difference between a push and a chop

you obviously don't know much about table tennis - let alone posting silly stuff about spin and physics

maybe read and learn more before you speak

 

[rbtitco]

Has anyone came up with a general internet formula like:
Length of time from OP question in forum to death threats among commentators in the responses average time?

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

you can't push a topspin serve, but with the correct technique, you can drop it short:

-soft hand
-lean in with chest
-catch the ball on the rise
-downward motion with paddle
-sometimes even slightly closed paddle

it's a technique i'm still working on mastering. i woudl say its one of the more advanced skills since you need to be able to recognize both the spin and the distance of the serve, and have the touch and technique to actual drop it short.

thinking of action of "push" to return
jslick has it correct on drop short.

another is push action, but side spin only to push long

 

[zeio]

I cant believe all the answers. Yes they do it all the time. Even I can short or long push topspin serves if they are short. Watch Fang Bo and Yuya Oshima demonstrate this.

11 mins

Yes, they do it all the time. The specific term in Chinese is 立短 (literally stand-short), which has slowly dropped out of use in recent years.

Another one is 切短 (literally chop-short), which Kihara uses a lot in doubles.
https://youtu.be/1eivp8a8Kkc?t=251
https://youtu.be/1eivp8a8Kkc?t=1055
https://youtu.be/1eivp8a8Kkc?t=1488

 

[K.K]

i also push short topspin balls if the ball is low. no problem with that no matter how heavy in case a soft flick is not threatening enough and a fast flick would have to less room for errors (also i'm not good with that). so if you play a short topspin to my forhand i will push it down 90% of the time. i don't see the point to call it something else then push, because it is the same motion just shorter and downwards. timo boll is also be know to do this alot

*most people do serve a rather side-topspin serve, so you also need to count in the sidespin

 

[Oliverpool]

Definitely not usually as it requires good touch and early timing. But it can be done

See XuXin teaching how to do it. It’s extremely difficult and requires excellent touch.

 

[K.K]

 

[Jslick89]

thinking of action of "push" to return
jslick has it correct on drop short.

another is push action, but side spin only to push long

the master has spoken! haha.

Regardless of the term that is used, there is definitilely more that you can do with a topsin serve than just flick it. I've gottan a ton of easy points by "DROPPING SHORT" my opponents topspin serves. They are usually completely out of place because they expect a faster or longer ball in return.