Samsonov – the one serve master
I hear many players saying I want to learn new serves. Vladimir Samsonov has learned one serve and learnt it very, very well.
Samsonov uses the forehand high toss pendulum serve exlusively, in any situation, against any opponent on any stage.
Today it is at the World Championships in a match to close out the tie between Belarus and Hong Kong. Belarus up 2 – 1and Samsonov finds himself out there faced with the familiar task of being the hero for Belarus. And the serve that he has emplyed on every single serve this match, you guessed it, the forehand high toss pendulum serve.
So, what is the advantage of using the same serve all the time? One big advantage is that you are completely familiar with every response possible by your opponent. Samsonov has seen it all before.
He uses slight variations of the same serve to generate different spin. He doesn’t ever use the reverse pendulum or a low toss pendulum but he does vary the amount and type of spin and the placement to gain slight advantages.
And now at match point to give Belarus the win he loads it up again and takes the point and the match. The Russian crowd appreciative of the master and his masterful serve, knowing that in the not so distant past he would be one of their very own.
So for the local level player, this may just be a lesson to learn. Master one serve and it can take you all the way to the top.
Tevia
commented on May 31st, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Samsonov does sometimes use his backhand serve in big matches. I saw him use it in that killerspin tournament against chen wexing.
pendulum
commented on July 29th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
samsonov has also used a regular pendulum, albeit very rarely, in a game vs. ma lin