Progressing Pendulum Serve

Hi Alois and Jeff,

First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! :D

Last week, I tried to improve my pendulum and reverse pendulum serve, and it was perfect. I really had the feel to these serves, I also get a lot of spins on them. Just wondering, what practices to make my serve more effective?

Thanks a lot!
Regards, Archel

Hi Archel,

You can progress your serving once you get the feeling that you are able to do the serve consistently.

You could use targets on the table to get your serve more accurate.  Make sure you are still serving with the same spin when you start to aim at the targets.

Some progressions that I like are:

• Put someone at the other end of the table, just to stand there and catch the ball first.  They can stand in their ready position
• Then get them to simply return the ball
• Next get them to return the ball the best they can
• Now work on playing a 3rd ball off your serve
• Play some rallies
• Play some games using these serves
• Start to use them in competitive matches
• Use the serve at a crucial time in a competitive match

These are some ways you can progress from having a good serve to having an effective serve that you will be able to use as a weapon when it matters.