Serve reading quiz

[TensorBackhand]

This video is pretty interesting. Does anybody want to try taking the quiz and posting your results? I'm really bad at this, but I will give it a try.

1. Sidespin (not sure if there is top/under). No idea how to read this.
2. Sidetop
3. light underspin
4. topspin
5. underspin
6. dead
7. sidespin
8. side under?? (i never know how to read this serve)
9. Side-topspin
10. underspin
11. sidespin (again hated "greyzone" serve. not sure if its top or under). How do you know if its hitting down or up on the ball?
12. underspin
13. sidespin, slight topspin
14. sidespin (but another greyzone. I can't tell if there is topspin or underspin). Same as #1
15. illegal serve

Can somebody explain how to read serves 1, 8, and 11? Specifically, how do you know whether he is striking up or down on the ball?

 

[TensorBackhand]

This video is good too. I got a bunch of these wrong.

 

[JJ Ng]

This video is pretty interesting. Does anybody want to try taking the quiz and posting your results? I'm really bad at this, but I will give it a try.

1. Sidespin (not sure if there is top/under). No idea how to read this.
2. Sidetop
3. light underspin
4. topspin
5. underspin
6. dead
7. sidespin
8. side under?? (i never know how to read this serve)
9. Side-topspin
10. underspin
11. sidespin (again hated "greyzone" serve. not sure if its top or under). How do you know if its hitting down or up on the ball?
12. underspin
13. sidespin, slight topspin
14. sidespin (but another greyzone. I can't tell if there is topspin or underspin). Same as #1
15. illegal serve

Can somebody explain how to read serves 1, 8, and 11? Specifically, how do you know whether he is striking up or down on the ball?

I did not do better than you did. here are my answers

1. Side spin
2. Side top (this one is easy. He flicked his wrist at the end of the serve)
3. Side under (I was going to say backspin but it was not one of the choices)
4. Top spin (pretty easy. No disguise whatsoever)
5. Side under (pretty straight forward as well)
6. Dead (I thought it might be under at the point of contact but looking at the ball bounce, it is purely dead and since the serve was pretty slow, it is easy to see the no spin)
7. Side spin
8. Side under (the key is the server never incorporated any fake movement and looking at the angle at the bat, it is side under almost by definition)
9. Side top (I look at the speed of the serve and it visibly kicked on the way coming at you but the answer is pure side spin so I guess I am wrong)
10. Side under (I was going to guess pure backspin but that was not a choice).
11. Side spin (apparently it is side top)
12. Side under
13. Side top (I was going to guess side spin but the ball kicked. Plus there is a flick at the end of his motion which usually means some top spin of some sort)
14. Side top (The only reason I know is I have kept on popping these types of serve out in the past so I learned)
15. Dead

 

[TensorBackhand]

Ok i think i realized something. Sometimes the motion of the paddle is less important that the face angle.

Even if the movement might seem to be moving downwards, it can only really produce underspin if the face is also facing up.

If the face is mostly horizontal, it wont really be underspin.

 

[TensorBackhand]

Here's a short video that is good:

Can somebody tell me if my reading is correct?
1. sidetop
2. side, maybe some top
3. sidetop
4. side under
5. side under
6. side, slight under?
7. side, slight top?
8. side, slight top?
9. side, slight top?

 

[banbekas]

I got 13 correct and only the backhand backspin that got me. The motion and the path of the ball seems more of a topspin but it was actually a backspin, lol.

Here's a short video that is good:

Can somebody tell me if my reading is correct?
1. sidetop
2. side, maybe some top
3. sidetop
4. side under
5. side under
6. side, slight under?
7. side, slight top?
8. side, slight top?
9. side, slight top?

Imo, it's all top.

 

[TensorBackhand]

I got 13 correct and only the backhand backspin that got me. The motion and the path of the ball seems more of a topspin but it was actually a backspin, lol.

Imo, it's all top.

I thought 4-6 might be under. Can somebody verify?

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I thought 4-6 might be under. Can somebody verify?

They are all pretty readable.

Watch how the ball bounces. The arc of the ball. The racket can fool you. You watch the racket motion and the contact too, angle, everything. But if the ball has a rounder arc on the bouce, it is topspin. If it also curves, it is sidespin too. The backspin ones have a flatter trajectory.

For that backhand backspin one, @banbekas look at how flat the trajectory is.

The one I got wrong was #4 which they call top but it looks on the dead side to me. And I serve fast deadballs like that. But I also know, if you pull up a little on contact it gives topspin. I guess he pulled up a little but the ball's trajectory looked kind of dead to me. Still. I guessed dead and they say it was topspin. I trust the guy in the video knows what he served.

But watching serves like this is how you learn how to read serves better.

Again: topspin serves will have a rounder arc. Backspin serves will have a flatter arc. Dead balls will have are sort of in between that where the trajectory does not have that rounded arc from the topspin pulling the ball down and causing it to kick, and it does not have that flatter arc from the backspin fighting gravity and causing the ball's path the fight gravity for a bit (without gravity, a backspin ball would arc up away from the table, gravity pulling it down causes the arc to flatten since the two forces are fighting each other and then gravity eventually wins and the ball starts falling).

By the way, someone who is really good at backspin serves will be able to get the ball to skid a little on the bounces which makes it harder to receive.

 

[blahness]

They are all pretty readable.

Watch how the ball bounces. The arc of the ball. The racket can fool you. You watch the racket motion and the contact too, angle, everything. But if the ball has a rounder arc on the bouce, it is topspin. If it also curves, it is sidespin too. The backspin ones have a flatter trajectory.

For that backhand backspin one, @banbekas look at how flat the trajectory is.

The one I got wrong was #4 which they call top but it looks on the dead side to me. And I serve fast deadballs like that. But I also know, if you pull up a little on contact it gives topspin. I guess he pulled up a little but the ball's trajectory looked kind of dead to me. Still. I guessed dead and they say it was topspin. I trust the guy in the video knows what he served.

But watching serves like this is how you learn how to read serves better.

Again: topspin serves will have a rounder arc. Backspin serves will have a flatter arc. Dead balls will have are sort of in between that where the trajectory does not have that rounded arc from the topspin pulling the ball down and causing it to kick, and it does not have that flatter arc from the backspin fighting gravity and causing the ball's path the fight gravity for a bit (without gravity, a backspin ball would arc up away from the table, gravity pulling it down causes the arc to flatten since the two forces are fighting each other and then gravity eventually wins and the ball starts falling).

By the way, someone who is really good at backspin serves will be able to get the ball to skid a little on the bounces which makes it harder to receive.

I also got 4 wrong, thought 4 was a dead serve. To me, a long fast topspin serve has a lower trajectory and kicks at me after the bounce a bit more. There's also mild underspin variant which slows down a bit but when you're ready for the short serve and get surprised sometimes the spin reading aspect all goes away.

 

[Lazer]

They are all pretty readable.

Watch how the ball bounces. The arc of the ball. The racket can fool you. You watch the racket motion and the contact too, angle, everything. But if the ball has a rounder arc on the bouce, it is topspin. If it also curves, it is sidespin too. The backspin ones have a flatter trajectory.

....

That's the easy way, but...
It doesn't really help, by the time You have determined this its already too late...

Cheers
L-zr

 

[Tyce]

They are all pretty readable.

Watch how the ball bounces. The arc of the ball. The racket can fool you. You watch the racket motion and the contact too, angle, everything. But if the ball has a rounder arc on the bouce, it is topspin. If it also curves, it is sidespin too. The backspin ones have a flatter trajectory.

For that backhand backspin one, @banbekas look at how flat the trajectory is.

The one I got wrong was #4 which they call top but it looks on the dead side to me. And I serve fast deadballs like that. But I also know, if you pull up a little on contact it gives topspin. I guess he pulled up a little but the ball's trajectory looked kind of dead to me. Still. I guessed dead and they say it was topspin. I trust the guy in the video knows what he served.

But watching serves like this is how you learn how to read serves better.

Again: topspin serves will have a rounder arc. Backspin serves will have a flatter arc. Dead balls will have are sort of in between that where the trajectory does not have that rounded arc from the topspin pulling the ball down and causing it to kick, and it does not have that flatter arc from the backspin fighting gravity and causing the ball's path the fight gravity for a bit (without gravity, a backspin ball would arc up away from the table, gravity pulling it down causes the arc to flatten since the two forces are fighting each other and then gravity eventually wins and the ball starts falling).

By the way, someone who is really good at backspin serves will be able to get the ball to skid a little on the bounces which makes it harder to receive.

I would have loved to see proof though. Easy to do in a video like this:
- serve and have someone put a bat out to "receive" it
- pause right before contact
- show contact afterwards

They can claim all they want that it's topspin for example, but if that's just a few revolutions per second I would really not call that a topspin ball. Quite a few trajectories looked mostly dead to me, but since there's no evidence the whole video is a bit useless.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

That's the easy way, but...
It doesn't really help, by the time You have determined this its already too late...

Cheers
L-zr

It is a good point and is why you have to do both.

 

[Tony's Table Tennis]

I would have loved to see proof though. Easy to do in a video like this:
- serve and have someone put a bat out to "receive" it
- pause right before contact
- show contact afterwards

They can claim all they want that it's topspin for example, but if that's just a few revolutions per second I would really not call that a topspin ball. Quite a few trajectories looked mostly dead to me, but since there's no evidence the whole video is a bit useless.

yeah, its not accurate to me.
some of them I had two guesses, and I'm sure my no 1 guess was correct, especially dead/no spin, but they calling it top which if there is any, is probably very soft.

 

[AchyGeorge]

I reckon that in the context of these serves both side and side top fall into the category of “whackable”, of course in real life they may be harder to receive, but I think my first instinct would be to go after most of these and reassess if it wasn’t working.