Michael Maze\'s serves
Mike Ivanov
Submitted on 29-Jun-2009 11:41:27 PM
Last updated on 03-Aug-2009 02:49:43 AM
You Asked
Hi Alois, can you please watch this on youtube and then tell me how do you do the last serve in the video? It looks pretty complicated because of the deception, even with the side view. I'd like to learn that serve, but I'm not sure how to do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCsMalKeh6I
and Alois Rosario said...
Hi Mike,
This is a serve where the contact point is very close to the change in direction from coming in to going out.
You will see that he sometimes contacts the ball as his bat is still moving in and sometimes as the bat starts to move out.
This gives very different spin. The deception is because he hits the ball very close to the time his bat changes direction.
Comments on this question
Ji-Soo Woo commented...
on the 24-Jul-2009 02:53:37 PM
I love Maze's serves.
I actually think his serves looked more cool when he was a young lad.
In the past I used to try and emulate Maze's serves but I found he had a style that is very hard to copy, so I've pretty much given up.
Carlo Unknown commented...
on the 25-Jul-2009 12:37:27 PM
An old man once said this to me
Your serves dictate the kind of player you are.
Andrew T commented...
on the 28-Jul-2009 01:54:54 AM
I understand, and can do to a lesser extent, the pendulum serve with a fake reverse after. Is it possible to do it the other way; that is to say, have it curve like a reverse pendulum but look like you are hitting a pendulum serve?
Ji-Soo Woo commented...
on the 28-Jul-2009 09:14:02 AM
Never thought about that before. I guess it creates one more potential for deception. However, don't know if you really need it. After all, if you have a regular pendulum serve, a reverse pendulum serve, and a regular pendulum serve that has the same motion as a reverse pendulum serve, you've pretty much have the effects you want.
Speaking of interesting variations, I saw a member of Killerspin do a reverse-reverse pendulum serve. This is definitely something I intend to master one day!
Mike Ivanov commented...
on the 31-Jul-2009 11:46:36 PM
Ji-Soo, deception is a very important part of a serve, say for example Ovtcharov's backhand one. He goes under the table and then comes up with an element of surprise. Even Kenta Matsudaira's serve only works because of the deception of which spin he's going to do. When it comes to the pendulum serve most times the spin by itself isn't enough to fool the opponent, so even proffesionals(Ma Lin, J.O. Waldner, Persson and many others) use deception in their pendulums. When you can't read the spin or misread it, it's really hard to return it. By the way you can fake a reverse, I do it myself. You have to contact the ball, then bring the racket towards yourself like you're doing the normal one.
Ji-Soo Woo commented...
on the 01-Aug-2009 06:56:22 PM
G'day Mike
Yeah, you're right of course. More deception the better! I guess what I was trying to say was if you can do a normal pendulum that looks like a reverse pendulum (which I like to do...albeit not very well!), you've got the basic minimum (in that when you serve it people don't know whether it is a pendulum or reverse pendulum). I guess I just never thought about also serving a reverse pendulum that looked like a pendulum. Like Andrew, it's hard to imagine how this could be done (though if someone can do it...post it on youtube thanks! ;) )
Andrew T commented...
on the 03-Aug-2009 02:45:57 AM
Thanks Mike! I think I understand how to do that. Also, that was some very good insight into service deception.
I'm gonna try to do that serve next time I can.
Thanks again.
Andrew T commented...
on the 03-Aug-2009 02:49:43 AM
Oh...I forgot to explain how Mike helped me as Ji-Soo had a question. Ji-Soo, think of the contact as being part of the upswing of the fake normal pendulum and after contacting on the way up w/ reverse pendulum motion and then do a regular pendulum motion directly afterward to disguise the reverse pendulum spin. Does that make sense?
I haven't yet tried it so I can't say for sure if this is correct.
