I'm interested in hearing about your serving strategies. I use 5-6 different serves but rarely have a plan for how to follow up the game. Are there any general principles that can help me develop more control over the serve and return game? Any advice much appreciated.
Serve strategy
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One of the main factors of serve strategy is knowing what type of receive and general positioning of the return you will get.
So for example (for righty v righty) a FH pendulum serve (with sidespin usually pulls the receive back to your centre table or BH corner) with a scattering pattern of say 5 points on the opponents side, short to FH, long to FH, Long middle, short to BH, Long to BH. Each serve position will have a likely return and position that the opponent will play to.
The serve to FH is easier for the opponent to control, to a certain extent, so the receive can be easier for them to place in different locations on your side of the table. So a slightly less predictable return. Serve to BH is more difficult for them to control, so its likely their placement will be more predictable as they have less control of the incoming spin.
Serve to middle, is somewhere in between, If they run around and play FH - more control, if they play BH less control. but you are guessing what decision they will make.
Some basic things-
long fast serve will get a long fast return, so recovery to your ready position has to be fast, and maybe further back from the end of the table.
any serves that are wide- off the side of the table are likely to be returned wide as well.
Its really experimenting with your serve variations and placement, with a practice partner you can serve to a particular position and count the number of returns that go to a certain position on your side. repeat for different serves and locations, film it if you can so you can watch and see what's happening and how, tally up the results and see what is the most likely return.
Of course some higher level players can almost do what they want with return of serves!!! and banana flick is used a lot these days at higher levels, which is predictable but can put pressure on the server!!!!
So for example (for righty v righty) a FH pendulum serve (with sidespin usually pulls the receive back to your centre table or BH corner) with a scattering pattern of say 5 points on the opponents side, short to FH, long to FH, Long middle, short to BH, Long to BH. Each serve position will have a likely return and position that the opponent will play to.
The serve to FH is easier for the opponent to control, to a certain extent, so the receive can be easier for them to place in different locations on your side of the table. So a slightly less predictable return. Serve to BH is more difficult for them to control, so its likely their placement will be more predictable as they have less control of the incoming spin.
Serve to middle, is somewhere in between, If they run around and play FH - more control, if they play BH less control. but you are guessing what decision they will make.
Some basic things-
long fast serve will get a long fast return, so recovery to your ready position has to be fast, and maybe further back from the end of the table.
any serves that are wide- off the side of the table are likely to be returned wide as well.
Its really experimenting with your serve variations and placement, with a practice partner you can serve to a particular position and count the number of returns that go to a certain position on your side. repeat for different serves and locations, film it if you can so you can watch and see what's happening and how, tally up the results and see what is the most likely return.
Of course some higher level players can almost do what they want with return of serves!!! and banana flick is used a lot these days at higher levels, which is predictable but can put pressure on the server!!!!
Excellent answer, thank you! I guess my problem is that I don't always get consistent spin on my serves which in turn gives me returns that I didn't expect. I'm also a bit hesitant in anticipating the recieve of my serve, I often watch my opponent and react quite late which too often results in an unnecessary push or poor offensive stroke. Given that you serve a good pendulum serve and want to pivot for a forehand loop, how early do you move for that? What signs are you looking for in order to move early?
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I think a general rule is that you should have finished the backswingmotion when the ball bounces on your side of the table.
This is indeed something i struggle with and often when the ball bounces on my side i am still moving my racket backwards. This leads me to move backwards to gain a little time to hit the ball while it is already falling instead of on the top of it's bounce (which would be preferred).
These things only become really appearent if you actually record yourself while playing and analyze afterwards.
One thing i also personally noticed is that the best opportunity to attack is when the receive comes back. Unfortunately i am not in the position to attack yet and so i push it back and hope for the next opportunity to attack which will never arrive. After the serve return the opponent often has managed to stabilize his game and returns short balls or low balls that can not be attacked that easily as the first serve return (which i am usually too late for in preparation). But this is exactly the point of your initial question.
If you can prepare for the serve return before it happens, the likelyhood of being able to attack is much higher. My trainer told me always to expect a long ball from a serve return, so i can be in a position to attack it. If it comes back short it will be slower and i can still step in and push back.
This is indeed something i struggle with and often when the ball bounces on my side i am still moving my racket backwards. This leads me to move backwards to gain a little time to hit the ball while it is already falling instead of on the top of it's bounce (which would be preferred).
These things only become really appearent if you actually record yourself while playing and analyze afterwards.
One thing i also personally noticed is that the best opportunity to attack is when the receive comes back. Unfortunately i am not in the position to attack yet and so i push it back and hope for the next opportunity to attack which will never arrive. After the serve return the opponent often has managed to stabilize his game and returns short balls or low balls that can not be attacked that easily as the first serve return (which i am usually too late for in preparation). But this is exactly the point of your initial question.
If you can prepare for the serve return before it happens, the likelyhood of being able to attack is much higher. My trainer told me always to expect a long ball from a serve return, so i can be in a position to attack it. If it comes back short it will be slower and i can still step in and push back.
Thanks again, many excellent tips that I certainly never thought of. I will definitely video myself to see what I can adjust. One thing that I try to think of is to step a bit away from the table after my long serves. I too often find my self cemented too close to the table.
What are your 5 - 6 serves? Since you don't always get good spin on them it might be better to only work on two paired serves, practice them a lot, and make them good. Having two good serves is much more effective than six mediocre serves. The obvious candidate pairs are backspin/no-spin, or fh pendulum side-backspin/side-sidespin.
If you only use two serves then it becomes more about placement. You have three courses fh, middle, backhand. And three lengths, short, half-long, long (hopefully long is also fast).
That actually makes 18 different serves looked at from your opponent's perspective. And always look at serving from your opponent's perspective. Since what you care about is the receive - how you serve isn't the most important thing, all you care about is how he returns it.
Then it becomes a process of finding out which of those 18 possibilities he likes and hates. Which ones does he always return the same way? Can you do something good with his one receive of that serve?
Try not to just round-robin through all your options. Find the ones that set up good patterns for you and ride those. You do need to think about mis-directing your opponent's attention, like if you serve long three times and see him take a step back to prepare, it's time to serve one short. But do that within the sub-set of your serves that put you in a good place to control the rally.
If you only use two serves then it becomes more about placement. You have three courses fh, middle, backhand. And three lengths, short, half-long, long (hopefully long is also fast).
That actually makes 18 different serves looked at from your opponent's perspective. And always look at serving from your opponent's perspective. Since what you care about is the receive - how you serve isn't the most important thing, all you care about is how he returns it.
Then it becomes a process of finding out which of those 18 possibilities he likes and hates. Which ones does he always return the same way? Can you do something good with his one receive of that serve?
Try not to just round-robin through all your options. Find the ones that set up good patterns for you and ride those. You do need to think about mis-directing your opponent's attention, like if you serve long three times and see him take a step back to prepare, it's time to serve one short. But do that within the sub-set of your serves that put you in a good place to control the rally.
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You could literally be talking about me here - I am often late on the serve return and then backing off while trying to hit a BH open up. Like you if I miss the first receive open up and get drawn into a mid table push rally, I lose most of them. If I manage to open up on third ball I win most.
This is kind of a second-best solution, but have you tried moving back immediately? That would still leave you taking the ball later than you ideally want. But at least you could move forward into the stroke instead of shifting your weight back during your swing which is no fun.
says
toooooo much choice!!
says
toooooo much choice!!
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I think that in general terms, when re-setting to your ready position there should always be a step back away from the table. If you are close to the table and a long fast return is played, you’ll get stuck!!
if you watch the pro’s they are re setting to the ready position by the 2nd bounce!!
you can move forward to a short return faster/ better than trying to play a stroke moving backwards.
another tip is - as part of serve action use the body - hips and legs, and dip / move / lower body down, this helps to keep serves low and you are moving towards the low ready position. You only have to think about moving back rather than lowering and moving back.
Also transferring weight from right foot to left foot means you can push backwards easily, if the weight stays on right foot you would have to hop back!!! ( for a righty pendulum, reverse pendulum, hook/ punch serve) tomahawk serve / reverse tomahawk is a little different as many advocate to be low, real low for the serve, head at net height, and square to the table, I don’t use this serve so not sure about recovery to ready position etc
Backhand serve, I usually stand at about 45 degrees to the table so I have some room for arm, it also means you can transfer weight from left to right foot (pedal off the left foot), turn or ‘kick’ left hip forward, try not to loose centre of gravity and actually step forward. Play serve then push back with right foot into ready position, and small jump away from table if necessary.
if you watch the pro’s they are re setting to the ready position by the 2nd bounce!!
you can move forward to a short return faster/ better than trying to play a stroke moving backwards.
another tip is - as part of serve action use the body - hips and legs, and dip / move / lower body down, this helps to keep serves low and you are moving towards the low ready position. You only have to think about moving back rather than lowering and moving back.
Also transferring weight from right foot to left foot means you can push backwards easily, if the weight stays on right foot you would have to hop back!!! ( for a righty pendulum, reverse pendulum, hook/ punch serve) tomahawk serve / reverse tomahawk is a little different as many advocate to be low, real low for the serve, head at net height, and square to the table, I don’t use this serve so not sure about recovery to ready position etc
Backhand serve, I usually stand at about 45 degrees to the table so I have some room for arm, it also means you can transfer weight from left to right foot (pedal off the left foot), turn or ‘kick’ left hip forward, try not to loose centre of gravity and actually step forward. Play serve then push back with right foot into ready position, and small jump away from table if necessary.
says
toooooo much choice!!
says
toooooo much choice!!
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There are 3 general ‘phases’ to a serve
phase 1 - Mental preparation and game plan development (anticipation)
- Taking the upright serve position
phase 2 - Assume low serve position and stay in it.
- Simultaneous build up of concentration (in phase 1 the decision of which serve, placement and spin level has already been made, along with high % of type and position of return that is likely [anticipation] now build up concentration)
Phase 3 - Toss the ball
- Hit / execute the serve
- Assume ready playing position.
We amateur’s don’t prepare properly - phase 1, don’t concentrate properly phase 2 and therefore don’t execute properly, (to the level top players do)
phase 1 - Mental preparation and game plan development (anticipation)
- Taking the upright serve position
phase 2 - Assume low serve position and stay in it.
- Simultaneous build up of concentration (in phase 1 the decision of which serve, placement and spin level has already been made, along with high % of type and position of return that is likely [anticipation] now build up concentration)
Phase 3 - Toss the ball
- Hit / execute the serve
- Assume ready playing position.
We amateur’s don’t prepare properly - phase 1, don’t concentrate properly phase 2 and therefore don’t execute properly, (to the level top players do)
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In addition to all that's been said, there is a whole chapter (Chapter 8) devoted to serving tactics in Larry Hodges' book "Table tennis for thinkers".
He goes into lots of details about serving to setup your game, which makes a huge difference in anyone's game and, if done properly, it usually leads to substantial improvements in performance and/or ranking.
He goes into lots of details about serving to setup your game, which makes a huge difference in anyone's game and, if done properly, it usually leads to substantial improvements in performance and/or ranking.
says
Spin and more spin.
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Yep. The issue of not being ready for what is coming at you is an issue of resetting yourself to a ready position AS PART OF THE FOLLOWTHROUGH MOTION of the serve. Ideally, when you serve, you are reset and in the neutral position, BEFORE, your serve has bounced on your opponent's side. This way you are ready to respond as you see what your opponent is giving you on his return of serve.
If you are not in a ready position before your opponent starts to make his return, you may see what he does, but you will not be in a position to move to the ball he returns.
Practicing popping into the ready position as part of the followthrough of the serve is part of practicing serves.
Also, read Brs's post. Then read it again. Then hit the like button. That is a great post.
If you are not in a ready position before your opponent starts to make his return, you may see what he does, but you will not be in a position to move to the ball he returns.
Practicing popping into the ready position as part of the followthrough of the serve is part of practicing serves.
Also, read Brs's post. Then read it again. Then hit the like button. That is a great post.
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Some good conceptual advice in here already (IE, if you serve long and fast, your ready position after your serve should be at least half a step further back than normal in anticipation of the service return also coming back long and fast).
Here is another couple concepts that might help:
-practice your serve so that you have a serve that looks exactly the same but have two different types of spin (IE, one is a heavy backspin, the other variation that looks the same is top spin). Once you are able to do this, you can cause all sorts of problems with the serve returner. I like to start with a short back spin serve (and I know this will most likely come back as a push at my level). I do that a couple times, then eventually i switch it up to the top spin version. If i am deceptive enough, the top spin serve will be "pushed" back by the returner and the ball will pop up for an easy smash kill. Having the ability the deceptively change the spin of your serves will give you the advantage you are looking for.
-have a surprise serve that you can bust out at the opportune moment. if you can wait until you're up 10-8, that is going to really help if you can execute it perfectly. But if its looking dire in the match, don't be afraid to try it sooner. Just don't over due it. An example of a surprise serve would be instead of your forehand pendulum serve going across the table to your opponent's backhand, serve it fast down the line. You might get an ace or a horrible return to set you up for an easy smash.
And finally, here is one more strategy you might try using on a backhand serve:
-lined up on the right side of the table, do a short, underspin/sidepsin serve to your opponent's forehand. expect the return to come back to your forehand but also be prepared for the return to come down the line (to your empty backhand). The next serve is also going to be a backhand serve, but it will be long, fast with topspin down the line (to your opponents backhand). I did this strategy for a while and I got a lot of points. My opponents that I play regularly though have picked up on this tactic so i had to switch it up.
-also, you can try a pendulum serve short, with top spin to your opponents wide backhand. They will most likely push it or do a weak flip to your backhand. if you are athletic, you can pivot around the return and get nice loop down the line or back across the table. good opponents will be able to return this third ball, but you will be in a loop rally at this point and hopefully with the upperhand.
Here is another couple concepts that might help:
-practice your serve so that you have a serve that looks exactly the same but have two different types of spin (IE, one is a heavy backspin, the other variation that looks the same is top spin). Once you are able to do this, you can cause all sorts of problems with the serve returner. I like to start with a short back spin serve (and I know this will most likely come back as a push at my level). I do that a couple times, then eventually i switch it up to the top spin version. If i am deceptive enough, the top spin serve will be "pushed" back by the returner and the ball will pop up for an easy smash kill. Having the ability the deceptively change the spin of your serves will give you the advantage you are looking for.
-have a surprise serve that you can bust out at the opportune moment. if you can wait until you're up 10-8, that is going to really help if you can execute it perfectly. But if its looking dire in the match, don't be afraid to try it sooner. Just don't over due it. An example of a surprise serve would be instead of your forehand pendulum serve going across the table to your opponent's backhand, serve it fast down the line. You might get an ace or a horrible return to set you up for an easy smash.
And finally, here is one more strategy you might try using on a backhand serve:
-lined up on the right side of the table, do a short, underspin/sidepsin serve to your opponent's forehand. expect the return to come back to your forehand but also be prepared for the return to come down the line (to your empty backhand). The next serve is also going to be a backhand serve, but it will be long, fast with topspin down the line (to your opponents backhand). I did this strategy for a while and I got a lot of points. My opponents that I play regularly though have picked up on this tactic so i had to switch it up.
-also, you can try a pendulum serve short, with top spin to your opponents wide backhand. They will most likely push it or do a weak flip to your backhand. if you are athletic, you can pivot around the return and get nice loop down the line or back across the table. good opponents will be able to return this third ball, but you will be in a loop rally at this point and hopefully with the upperhand.
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says
toooooo much choice!!
says
toooooo much choice!!
Well-Known Member
As for my serve tactics!!!
vary spins, placements and speed. Try not to give them the same serve twice during 1st game !!
BUT if you do get a weak return or your opponent really seems to struggle, you can do the same serve again (as a check) and see if the same weak return results.
You then have some options
1) capitalise early (use the serve they are struggling with) if they keep making the same mistake it’s likely that ‘mentally’ they will be screwed!!! Downside is they may get use to the serve and return better.
2) hold the serve back for important service points
3) use the serve pretty regularly, one in 4 or something like that and wear them down gradually!!
Every opponent is different, so you may have a plan of which serves you are going to use, but this has to be assessed during game play, and may change drastically!!,
When learning a new serve, or practicing serves, it can be broken in 2 parts
1) serve action and most importantly ‘FEEL’ fingers and wrist, very important. How it feels to achieve the different spins, placement and speeds.
2) recovery to ready playing position.
sure, both have to be done together, but first is the actual ball impacts and ‘feels’, learn that first along with consistency of ball throw. Once you have progress with that, practice recovery to ready playing position without hitting the ball, practice the footwork. Then combine the 2, it’s easier to break down into more manageable chunks at first.
vary spins, placements and speed. Try not to give them the same serve twice during 1st game !!
BUT if you do get a weak return or your opponent really seems to struggle, you can do the same serve again (as a check) and see if the same weak return results.
You then have some options
1) capitalise early (use the serve they are struggling with) if they keep making the same mistake it’s likely that ‘mentally’ they will be screwed!!! Downside is they may get use to the serve and return better.
2) hold the serve back for important service points
3) use the serve pretty regularly, one in 4 or something like that and wear them down gradually!!
Every opponent is different, so you may have a plan of which serves you are going to use, but this has to be assessed during game play, and may change drastically!!,
When learning a new serve, or practicing serves, it can be broken in 2 parts
1) serve action and most importantly ‘FEEL’ fingers and wrist, very important. How it feels to achieve the different spins, placement and speeds.
2) recovery to ready playing position.
sure, both have to be done together, but first is the actual ball impacts and ‘feels’, learn that first along with consistency of ball throw. Once you have progress with that, practice recovery to ready playing position without hitting the ball, practice the footwork. Then combine the 2, it’s easier to break down into more manageable chunks at first.
says
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You will need to try your serves out on your opponents and see how they manage. It will give you data, but they will adapt.
The best thing you can do for your serve and attack chances are to develop a quality serve low, short, tight spinny when you want it and VARY IT with the same smooth serve motion.
That will give you a better fighting chance to keep your serves fresh to give you attacking chances.
The best thing you can do for your serve and attack chances are to develop a quality serve low, short, tight spinny when you want it and VARY IT with the same smooth serve motion.
That will give you a better fighting chance to keep your serves fresh to give you attacking chances.
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