serving topspin balls without getting in trouble

Table Tennis Serving

Last updated 12 years ago

Andrew Pape

Andrew Pape Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois,

I've just watched Ding Ning in this year's world champs. Most of the Chinese women use a safe no-spin to heavy chop serve. But Ding Ning has been serving top/side-spin, and somehow getting away with it. Her serves aren't disguised, and land about mid-table. They balls look easily hittable, but for some reason the opponent gets into trouble by making a tentative push. You told me that Liu Guoliang's serves were going to bounce twice or nearly, and that's why Wang Tao had to push. Is that same thing happening when Ding Ning serves? I Also, I watched Persson play Wang Hao in the Olympics, and Persson kept doing a top/side-spin serve to Wang's backhand. The serves looked exactly the same and were very basic, but Hao didn't attack them. That surprised me too. I would like to serve more balls with topspin, but my practice partner has been murdering them. He said that I'm not disguising them. By watching these top players, they don't seem to disguise the serve either. The Donic training dvd says that you should learn to attack the half-long ball, which contradicts what these top players are doing. What's going on? You have suggested that I play more "open rallies" and that suggests I should serve more balls with topspin. What to do?

Cheers,

Andrew.

Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Andrew,

Yes Ding Ning's serves are also bouncing twice or close to it.  She also has a very good defence and is great in the open rally.  It is difficult for her opponents to keep the ball short or low and so will let her play an open game.

They are generating a lot of topspin and the ball is dropping fast and short and quite low.  You can practice the serve more and look to generate more topspin and getting it faster to make it more effective.  If it is fast and low with a lot of topspin, you will get an open type ball that will help you with your game.


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