Service

[waldner101]

Why do the Chinese come close to the ball when they are about to serve and why do some players bend their legs when they serve.

 

[NextLevel]

Video?

 

[songdavid98]

well, why would you be far away from the ball when you serve? that would be weird.
I'm not even sure why you mentioned Chinese. Lots of players do this.


There are probably a number of reasons, that I could guess.

1) it is easier do things consistently and controllably when they can be done in relation to the rest of your body. The pendulum serve is a good example.

2) it gets a little harder to read because a lot of people will hide their paddle with their body. In order to make the serve easier to do, players will get closer to the ball in order to for the paddle to reach the in time while giving the least time for the opponent to react.

3) players need to get into position right after they serve, so they might start moving as they serve.

*******
As for bending the legs:

The table is only 2 and a half feet high. I think bending the knees would be a good idea if you want your serve's contact point to be low in order to serve low.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Why do the Chinese come close to the ball when they are about to serve and why do some players bend their legs when they serve.

I think I have this right but I want to make sure: Waldner101, I think you watch TT but don't play. Is that right?


Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

 

[NextLevel]

I think I have this right but I want to make sure: Waldner101, I think you watch TT but don't play. Is that right?


Sent from the Subterranean Workshop by Telepathy

The video I was asking for was video of the players he is talking about. As David pointed out, serve technique for good servers is often universal but there are idiosyncratic elements specific to each player that can be pointed out if we see who exactly he is talking about.

 

[waldner101]

You see zhang jike coming close the ball and he bends his knees. Not all players do this.

 

[NextLevel]

Both these players do and they aren't Chinese obviously:

 

[Baal]

To the OP, that particular serve is called a reverse pendulum serve. It is a pretty advanced serving technique, widely used by pro players from all over, not just China. To hit it effectively you need a really relaxed wrist, and it is almost impossible for most people, even top pros, to execute it if they strike the ball too far from their body. Try lifting your arm away from your body and then flopping your wrist (as if you were throwing a frisbee) compared to when the arm is more relaxed at your side. There are other reasons why the ball needs to be somewhat close to the body on that serve (but not too much), but this is one of them.

Actually because of this, most players who use this reverse pendulum serve tend to throw the ball into their body a bit, some to the point where umpires should probably be calling it illegal owing to deviations from verticality on toss. One of the few people who executes that serve with an almost perfectly straight toss is Timo Boll.

You'll notice that players who use hook serves of various sorts (like Per Gerrel and Stefan Fegerl) often throw the ball a little further out to the side. It is a quite different motion. Then again some (like Liu Shiwen) don't.

Fegerl is interesting to watch in this regard because he uses both the hook serve and the reverse pendulum serve so you can see how different his toss is on those two serving motions.