Don't Bother Me!!! (Temporarily)
Anyone bothering me for anything time- or mind-consuming between now and Saturday, all I can say is HAH!!! I'm involved in a top-secret coaching operation that will take up all my time the next few days.
Backspin Serves
I was asked the following question on the forum, and decided to respond here. "Slim Dragon" wrote:
Dear Coach,
I have read several of your tips on how to generate heavy spin on underspin serves. I prefer to open up against pushes, so really want to develop this arsenal. Having watched several pro serve videos and teaching guides from pingskills to tabletennis masters to dynamic tabletennis, what I remain uncertain about is the ideal form, as all pros seem to have an individual form when executing various serves.
Having watched Waldner's serves recently, I notice that he makes contact with the ball with his forearm usually horizontal to his right breast, which seems to give his forearm a horizontal axes with the wrist snapping at the end of the motion. His racket tip normally ends up just under his right breast. In the past, my racket tip has ended up in the middle of my stomach, meaning my forearm is more diagonal than horizontal.
My first question is, what forearm placement is likely to result in the best grazing effect?
Secondly, is it imperative to contact the ball as close to the bottom as possible to maximize underspin?
Lastly, how can you properly assess whether you are generating good underspin? In the past, I thought it was necessary to make the ball rotate back towards the net as an indication of a good underspin serve, but I note in another forum question that that is mainly a trick serve.
Thanks for your consideration.
The examples I refer to can be seen from about 0.15 to 0.35 in this video link.