July 27, 2011

Your "Go To" serves?

What are your "go to" serves, the serves you use whenever possible both to build up a lead and to win key points? These could be set-up serves that set you up to attack or to get into your favorite type of rally, or they could be trick serves designed to win the point outright or set up an easy winner. I have zillions of serve variations, but here are some of my major "go to" serves. Most of my serves are forehand pendulum serves, but I use different motions to fool opponents.

Set-up Serves

  • Forehand pendulum short sidespin or side-top to the middle and backhand. While players often misread this serve as backspin and pop it up (easy winner!), it's designed to force a relatively soft but deep return that sets up an aggressive loop.
  • Forehand pendulum short, heavy backspin to the middle. This is usually pushed back long but heavy, setting up a very spinny forehand loop. I do it mostly to the middle so there are no extreme angles - I don't want to have to react to both heavy spin and angle. Key is to keep it very low so opponent won't attack it.
  • Forehand pendulum short no-spin. I do this to all parts of the table. It's usually pushed back with light backspin, often popped up slightly, and sets up an aggressive forehand loop. Key is to use a lot of motion so it looks like heavy backspin ("heavy no-spin"), and to keep it very low. (To serve "heavy no-spin," use a normal spin motion, but instead of contacting near the tip of the racket, contact near the handle.)
  • Forehand pendulum fast sidespin to the backhand. The key is to break it into the opponent's wide backhand, so they have to reach for it awkwardly. Since it's rarely returned down the line, I can step around and use my forehand from the backhand side.
  • Reverse forehand pendulum short sidespin to the forehand. Most players flip this to my wide forehand. Since I'm expecting it, it sets up an aggressive forehand loop or smash.

Trick Serves

  • Forehand pendulum fast down the line. This is against aggressive forehand loopers who are looking to step around, and is often an ace. Even if they don't step around, it still often catches them off-guard, forcing a miss. Plus I put sidespin on the serve, forcing more mistakes.
  • Forehand pendulum fast and dead to the middle. This goes into the net over and over. Aim right for the opponent's elbow. It's not too effective against a forehand looper, who just loops it.
  • Tomahawk serve to the forehand, short or long. Because it jumps away from the opponent, they often reach for it at the last second, and so miss, usually hitting it long.

Table tennis - Sport for the Unathletic?

They list ten: croquet, curling, bowling, chess, pool, golf, archery, shooting, table tennis, and dressage (a form of horseback riding). We're not only in the listing (at #9, though I don't think there's any order to it), but we're the cover sport as well! Anyone with any knowledge of these sports would know that top table tennis players are among the most physical athletes in the world. Should we storm CNBC with a barrage of ping-pong balls?

Coaches fundraising?

I keep getting these notes in the mail (yes, regular mail) from ESPN Magazine on Coaches Fundraising by having students sell ESPN Magazine. Here's info. Don't know if this is a worthy fundraising method (perhaps to fund a junior team to a major tournament) or just another commercial venture.

The Amazing Michael Maze

Here are highlight reels of him when he was younger (4:38).

***

Send us your own coaching news!