Corkscrew spin

Andrea Turano

Last updated on 17-May-2009 06:07:37 AM

Hi! I'm Andrea I would like to know something about the corkscrew spin... how can I do it? and when can I find a video where people do it? Thank you very much

and Alois Rosario said...

Hi Andrea,

The Corkscrew is not a term we use for any serves. I thnk it refers to the sidespin serve that turns sharply.

To do this you need to generate plenty of sidespin by brushing the side of the ball. To get it to turn more sharply it is also better to slow the serve down so it doesn't have as much forward momentum and will therefore turn quicker.

Try this out, For lots of help with your serves think about getting yourself a copy of our Serving Secrets Revealed.

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Comments on this question

Gerard McCarthy Unknown commented...

on the 29-Sep-2008 03:21:49 PM

For the distinction between corkscrew and sidespin see USATT Certified National Coach Larry Hodges article "EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SPIN" which is reproduced at http://masatenisi.org/english/spin.htm To get a better idea about generating spins on serves, hold a globe in front of you with Africa facing towards you. To get pure top spin the bat should brush from Zambia to Sudan or from South Africa to Zambia or from Chad to Libya or from Greece to Finland. To get pure backspin spin the bat should brush from Zambia to South Africa or from Queen Maud Land on the edge of Antartica nearest Africa towards the Ross Sea or from the Ross Sea up towards Cook Island (with the forwards movement of the bat dragging the ball forwards at the same time). To get pure side spin brush along the equator from Ascension Islands to Peru or from Gabon to Brazil; or in the reverse direction from Tanzania to the SeyChelles or Kenya to Indonesia. To get pure corkscrew spin brush from Argentinia to Bolivia or from Western Australia to Indonesia. However this does rely on the forwards movement of the bat dragging the ball forwards at the same time. In practice corkscrew is produced with diagonal brushing in combination with sidespin and either top spin or backspin. To get sidespin corkscrew and top spin together brush from Madagascar towards Algeria or from Namibia towards India. To get sidespin corkscrew and back spin together brush from South Sandwich Island towards the South Pole or Amsterdam Island to the South Pole or from the South Pole towards Easter Island or from the South Pole towards New Zealand.

Amit Unknown commented...

on the 17-May-2009 06:07:37 AM

Hi Andrea, If you look at that mini video on this website regarding serving secrets, then very first serve by coach Alois is the Corkscrew serve where the ball bounces once on the oponents side and start bouncing back to the servers end.

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