July 16, 2015

Forehand Pendulum Serves

There are four primary reasons the forehand pendulum serve is by far the most popular serve among top players.

First, it's easy to hide contact (illegally) – I've blogged about this a number of times, and won't go into that here. (The solution? As I've proposed, require that the ball be visible throughout the serve to the opponent – as is currently required – and the entire net and its upward extension. The net posts are considered part of the net.)

Second, it's very easy to produce great spin and variation with the serve.

Third, every generation of up-and-coming players copies the previous generation of top players, and since the forehand pendulum serve was the most popular serve among the previous generation, the new generation copies it.

Fourth, it allows players the option of doing a reverse pendulum serve, which gives the opposite sidespin. You can also do this sidespin with other serving motions, such as backhand or tomahawk serves, but when you do that you are pretty much announcing to your opponent which type of sidespin you will be using. (You can, of course, develop reverse backhand and reverse tomahawk serves, but they are trickier and few do this.) It's probably easier to set up for a forehand pendulum serve and be ready to serve with either type of sidespin than with any other serving motion.

And yet, so many up-and-coming players use the forehand pendulum serve but don't learn the reverse version. Not learning this variation is a really good way of limiting your serving effectiveness, and if that is your goal, then by all means avoid reverse pendulum serves. But if you want to increase your serving effectiveness, and have a forehand pendulum serve, then what are you waiting for? Learn the reverse pendulum serve. (Hint – it's most effective when you can do it short to the forehand and long to the backhand. To go short, graze the ball very finely more under the ball.)

Here's a video from PingSkills (3:25) that illustrates this with Zhang Jike's serve, where he can contact the ball going either way. (When he contacts the ball with the racket moving away from the body, that's a reverse pendulum serve.) Here's video (21:03, but you don't have to watch all of it) of Zhang Jike's serve in slow motion.

Side note – it's not all just about the sidespin. Make sure to learn to serve both of these variations with backspin or no-spin. The poor receiver not only has to read what type of sidespin might be on the ball (or not), but also whether there's backspin or not. A no-spin serve with a big motion that looks like spin is just as effective as a spin serve that's misread. A no-spin serve that looks like backspin is popped up, while a backspin serve that looks like no-spin is put into the net. Here's an article on how to do a no-spin serve.

I can't believe I wasted the above on a blog entry – this should be a Tip of the Week!!! I'll like expand on it and turn it into one later on.

US Open Men's and Women's Singles Final

Yesterday I linked to videos of each of the games of the Men's Singles Final at the US Open. Here are complete videos of that and the Women's Singles Final.

Around-the-Net Shot by Wang Jinxin at the 2015 US Open Men's Singles Final

Here's the video (27 sec).

US Open Ratings Processed – That Was Fast!!!

Here they are. The tournament finished on Saturday, and the ratings were up on Wednesday for over 1000 players. 

Thoughts on Table Tennis

Here's a huge listing of table tennis articles, many of them coaching articles.

Ask the Coach Show

While I was away at the US Open there were six more of these shows from PingSkills. Here they are!

Training in China

Here's the second blog entry from Matt Hetherington.

Zhang Jike – How to Play the Right Forehand Topspin

Here's the new video (5:09). It's in Chinese, but you don't need to listen, just watch.

Wang Hao – Grip for Forehand-Backhand Transition

Here's the video (1:52) showing how penholders switch back and for between forehand and reverse penhold backhand (which these days is really the conventional backhand).

USATT Insider

Here's the new issue which came out yesterday.

Mankato Woman, 91, Is Never Too Old for Table Tennis

Here's the article from the Minnesota Star-Tribune.

Hardbat: The Physics of Ping-Pong

Here's the trailer (50 sec) of this Indy movie that's listed as "coming soon." Here's the IMDB listing, which shows it came out in 2014. It's 13 minutes long, and described as, "An obsession with ping-pong disrupts an otherwise pleasant evening."

Exploding Ping-Pong Balls on the Jimmy Fallen Show

Here's the video (5:56). The actual explosion takes place at 5:11.

Actor John Malkovich's Funny Story about Michael Jordan and Table Tennis

Here's the article.

Table Tennis Funny Show

Here's the video (20:33).

USATT Member Frank Caliendo Does Donald Trump Impression

Here's the video (1:49) from ESPN. Frank, USATT member # 85108, has a rating of 1665. He and Sean O'Neill (Frank on right) made the semifinals of Under 4200 Doubles at the US Open. (Here's the non-Facebook version.) Frank's been to my club a few times (MDTTC) when he's in town for his stand-up shows, and last year I got to play doubles with him there.

Cyber Table Tennis in China

Here's the video (2:14).

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