Last updated on 10-Mar-2013 03:53:44 AM
Hi Gaurav,
The idea is to have a lot of backspin and not much forward momentum on the ball.
The brushing action should be right under the ball and even coming under and up the front face of the ball a little.
You can practice getting the contact correct away from the table. Just find a piece of floor and see if you can get the ball to come back to you on the floor. Once you feel comfortable doing this then you can step up to the table and give it a try.
Hi,
When I toss the ball high @ hit the ball, the ball soars over the net @ never hits my side of the table,@ the serve tends to not have enough spin.
Please help! @THX
Hi Ian,
As Alois suggests in the video, try practicing this away from the table so you don't have that restriction. It does take a lot of practice to get the right contact. Especially when you throw the ball high as it comes down pretty fast. Once you start to get some good brushing contact away from the table, then you can come back and try it out on the table.
So keep practicing! That's the best advice I can give.
Whenever I do it, it seems to go high. Although it does spin back I still have a feeling someone will smash it back someday. Is there somethin u can do to help?
Use a string across the top of the net, about 10 cm above it and aim to get the serve below the string. Take a look at the lesson on Keeping The Ball Low.
thx
Oliver,
You can adjust the string height if you want. This will be a good indication of how high the ball is going.
Hi!
I'd like to thank you guys... you realy help me out a lot. thisvideo of yours is the most helpful for learning the ma lin serve i've found on the net cause it gives very clear instructions ....thnx a lot
At what point of the i should make the contact of the ball?
Contact can be in the middle of the swing.
I get the serve best when the ball is in contact with the racket at the time just when it's starting to ascend as a part of the swing. I don't know if the rubber matters, but i rarely get it in the middle of the swing as alois suggests.
This serve is very deadly when used correctly but very hard to do. I can get the ball to backspin and go sideways 70% of the time, but not to come back as yet. This is because this serve is very hard to do. My advice to others trying this serve is watch video clips on this serve over and over. Also watch clips of the master Ma lin doing the seve over and over. If you have a coach practice with him too.
Then practice this shot 24/7 untill you feel comfortable enough to do it in practice sessions-games. Then use it in matches only when you feel confident-comfortable enough to use it in a match. Here is a train of thought the great golfer Nick Faldo said when making a golf swing change practice 24/7 and don't go in any major golf comps for a while.
The reason for this is when you feel uncomfortable with theese changes you will play poorly at first and this will demorilise you mentaly because you don't see the results at first. So i think this is good advice for table tennis too. Check with Jeff and Alois on this matter see what they think, there the pros not me. For me though i my coments are good advice. For me anyway and maybe it will work for you too.
When I try this, the ball keeps drifting off to the side. sometimes, it comes back to me but mostly it comes back sideways. Why is this?
Hi Esteban,
You are brushing the ball a little on the side. This will result in sidespin. It is difficult to feel this. The best thing is to get a video and then watch yourself doing it so that you get a proper feel for what is happening.
You're right. It turned out my bat was slightly tilted and that's why I produced this unwanted result. thanks a bunch!
No problem Esteban. Glad you have worked it out.
I can get this serve to go side ways 60-70% of the time but still can not get it to roll back to the net. It is a very hard serve to do. I don't know why my ball will not come back. Ma Lin makes this serve look easy when he is doing but then again he practices 24-7 and has great skills.
Just keep practicing the Ma Lin serve over and over. Any thoughts Master Alois.?
You need to get the bat flatter with the end of the bat higher. Then think about the brushing contact only to start with. If you can get the brushing action you will get it to come back towards you. Step away from the table and see if you can get this to happen on the floor first.
Hi Alois when i try to do "malin serve"it dosent hits my opponents side it returns to me after hitting my side of table...please help me
Hi Danish,
Hit the ball more forward with a slightly flatter contact. It is great that you are able to get the ball to spin back so well.
Thanks for the advise but when i hit the ball with flatter contact it wont returns like original serve after hitting the other side
It is a fine balance. It is a matter of getting the right amount of contact to get the serve just right. Keep experimenting.
This takes time to get right. The main thing is to get the brushing contact right first.
Thanks Alois
More practice...
