Corkscrew serve

Table Tennis General

Last updated 7 years ago

Lan Unknown

Lan Unknown Asked 15 years ago

Hi !

I'd been told that the corkscrew serve is very rare and it's one of the most dangerous serve, is it ? I'd also been told that the famous Liu Guoliang is very good at this serve and he teaches to Wang Hao.Is it possible to serve this in shakehand style ? I'd be so grateful to you if you can give me some instructions so I can learn this deadly serve.

Thank you very much !

Lan.


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Lan,

It is definitely possible to serve this typ of serve with a shakehand gip.  A Corkscrew serve is just a sidespin serve but getting the ball to rotate on a horizontal axis towards the target, rather han a vertical axis.

It is a slow serve and so not used very much at the top level, because it is too easy to read.

The advantages of it are that it doesn't give your opponent  any speed to work with for the return.

I don't think it is one of the most deadly serves otherwise everyone would be using it.

To do it, brush the ball sideways, brushing closer to the bottom of the ball rather than the side.  So, brushing the ball in a left toright or right to left direction, in relation to the table and contacting the ball at the base of the ball as you are looking at it.


Notify me of updates
Add to Favourites
Back to Questions

Thoughts on this question

Chris Unknown

Chris Unknown Posted 15 years ago

Hi, when you said it spins on the horizontal axis, isn't that a top or under spin then? I'm not quite sure what it means?

Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 15 years ago

Hi Chris, The horizontal axis points from you to the other end of the table rather than from left to right. I hope that gives you a better picture of it.

Judah Cagas

Judah Cagas Posted 12 years ago

hi aloise,why is wang hao using that serve if it is not a dangerous?why does he got a good attack from it?thank you

Jason Ferdinand

Jason Ferdinand Posted 7 years ago

 So you mean a Corkscrew serve is a plan sidespin serve without any backspin / topspin?


Jeff Plumb

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago

Imagine you have a ball that has been pierced through the middle with a skewer. If you had the skewer pointing straight down the the floor and then got the ball spinning, this would be a normal sidespin serve. Now take the skewer and bring it horizontal and point it towards your opponent. Now if the ball spins around the skewer the same way this is what people refer to as a corkscrew serve. Does that make any sense or did I confuse you more? I think we may need a video for this one. :)


D K

D K Posted 7 years ago

I would say that the axis of the rotation is basically the trajectory of the ball.


Jason Ferdinand

Jason Ferdinand Posted 7 years ago

 Yes, I still don't understand. I will really thank to you if you will make a video for me :)


Jason Ferdinand

Jason Ferdinand Posted 7 years ago

 Does a tackier rubber make us easier to do the corkscrew serve? is it create more spin?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago

No it doesn't.


Jason Ferdinand

Jason Ferdinand Posted 7 years ago

 How about the spin rating in tabletennisdb.com? Does the rubber that rated with the biger spin also creates more spin while serving?


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 7 years ago

Yes it should.


Jean Balthazar

Jean Balthazar Posted 7 years ago

Jason,

Watch out for the ratings on tabletennisdb.com, or anywhere else for that matter. They are only the average of a limited number of subjective user ratings. Take the Mark V example. The first person rated it with a speed of 8.6/10 and a control of 7.7/10, the second person rated it with a speed of 6.0/10 and a control of 10/10. These are very different values, as if the first guy described and OFF- rubber, and the second a defense rubber. And again, these ratings are subjective and depend on each reviewer's experience. I'm used to faster rubbers, so I would rate the Mark V's speed as slow, while someone who only experienced beginners rubbers and just switched to this rubber would rate it as very fast. Some people also write reviews and ratings after just playing with a rubber for 30 minutes, not even mentionning which blade they had it glued on (which can make a significant difference too). So be very careful, and only trust those rating at all when the number of reviewers is high (the Mark V being a very old and popular rubber, its 139 reviews make the ratings quite trustworthy). Read the reviews themselves, that's more interesting.

As for the manufacturers's ratings, well those are always overrated because obviously, their products are always extremely fast, spinny and with perfect control...


Jason Ferdinand

Jason Ferdinand Posted 7 years ago

 Ok. Thanks for your info, Jean


Jason Ferdinand

Jason Ferdinand Posted 7 years ago

I want to ask one more question. Does the tackiness of a rubber completely doesn't make any effect to the spin that it can make? Or it can increase / decrease the spin of the rubber?


Jean Balthazar

Jean Balthazar Posted 7 years ago

I think the full answer to your question is "Yes, tackiness helps creating spin, but non-tacky rubbers can create a lot of spin too".

Tacky rubbers are typically Chinese rubbers. You can literally pick up the ball with them. They usually have very hard sponges. So if you compare a brand new one of these to an old one that has lost all or part of its tackiness, then yes, the tackiness of the new one will allow you to put much more spin than the old one. Then there are the typical European or Japanese rubbers. These are just a little tacky, or not at all, but their rubbers are more elastic and their sponges are usually softer. This elasticity allows the rubber to grip the ball and make it spin without being sticky. Using Chinese or European/Japanese rubbers is a matter of preference. You don't play them exactly the same. Unboosted, the Chinese rubbers are quite dead. Along with their tackiness, it makes them great for serving with a lot of spin. Along with their hard sponges, it makes them very good for passive blocking. But personally didn't like them for looping. They can do it very well I'm sure, juts look at the top Chinese players, but I found that they required much more accuracy, a perfect skimming of the ball, to be efficient. I found the European/Japanese rubbers much more forgiving in this area. They are more lively, so fast ones are harder ton control on serves or in the short game, but I find them much more enjoyable to play globally. A weak point of the Chinese rubbers is that they lose their tackiness if you play is a dusty environment (for that you can clean your rubber between each game), or in a very humid environment (for that, you can't do much). That's true for European/Japanese rubbers too, but to a much lesser extend. Due to their hard sponges, Chinese rubbers are often very heavy too, which I don't like. One great plus of the Chinese rubber on the other hand is that they usually cost like 50 to 80% less than the European/Japanese ones.

I think that's it. Give Chinese rubbers a try. If they suit you, you'll save a lot of money over the years!


Jason Ferdinand

Jason Ferdinand Posted 7 years ago

 Ok. Thank you very much, Jean!



Become a free member to post a comment about this question.