Deciding the spin a ball has on a serve

Receiving

Akash Patney
Akash Patney Asked 7 years ago

Hey coach, 

I have had difficult trying to figure out whether a serve is backspin or topspin. How can I figure out what spin the serve is?


Alois Rosario
Member Badge Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Akash,

You can look at a few things.

Firstly watch the swing of the server.  Then the contact.  Finally the flight of the ball.

In the long term it is also important to watch the reaction off your bat to see what happened and try to learn from that as well.

Take a look at what is available in our Introduction to Receiving section.


Recommended Video

Table Tennis Video Tutorial

Fake Movements

After the ball has left the server's bat, they can no longer affect the spin that is on the ball. Any movements after the contact are referred to as fake movements and are meant to confuse you as the receiver. You need to focus on the contact to read the spin.

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