By Larry Hodges

One of the most underrated strengths in table tennis is the ability to serve very low. How high your serve bounces on the far side of the table makes a big difference in how much clearance your opponent has in returning it. A very low serve means the opponent has to lift the ball, which makes an aggressive return difficult. A higher serve gives the receiver the clearance to be more aggressive.

By Larry Hodges

One of the most effective serves in table tennis is the high-toss serve. First used effectively by the Chinese, it is now used, at least sometimes, by almost all top players. Since the ball drops further on the high-toss than on the short toss, and so at contact point is traveling much faster than it would otherwise, the high-toss server can often deceptively throw an opponent’s timing off by unpredictably choosing to put more or less spin on the ball than he would normally.

By Larry Hodges

One of the most fundamental rules of serving is that you have to be able to serve short. A deep serve may be effective against some players, and up to a certain level, it may always be, but if you cannot serve short, you will always be handicapped against most good players.

By Larry Hodges

Serving deep has one major advantage and one major disadvantage. The advantage is that it forces an opponent to contact the ball as far from his/her target (your side of the table) as possible. The disadvantage is that it allows an opponent to attack more readily, especially with a loop drive. (Note – a short serve is a serve that, if given the chance, would bounce twice on the opponent’s side of the table.)

By Larry Hodges

Many players, when serving, move the racket as rapidly as possible in a straight line through contact. With good racket speed and a grazing contact, you can get great spin this way--but little deception.

If you want to really fool your opponent – make him push way up in the air, go off the side, or block the ball into the net--you have to use semi-circular motion.

By Larry Hodges

One of the first things table tennis players are taught is how to put spin on their serve. So it comes as quite a surprise to many to find that most top players often serve with no-spin. What is the purpose of this?

By Larry Hodges

1) Put together a list of tips for yourself.
For example, you might write down "Stay low" if you tend to stand up too straight. Or you might write down, "Relax and have fun." You should refer to this list periodically throughout the tournament.

By Larry Hodges

Developing your table tennis game is a steady progression from the simple to the more complex. Many players, however, get stuck at the beginning stage, and never move on toward developing the more advanced parts of their game. It's a common syndrome--players spending year after year trying to completely perfect their most basic shots, and refusing to learn anything more advanced until the basic shots are (in their mind) perfected--and so they never improve as fast as they should. It's sort of like a sprinter spending all his time trying to perfect his walk while his rivals are practicing sprinting. Guess who improves faster?

By Larry Hodges

Serving is both the simplest and most complex of shots. It's your front-line shot, so you want to make the most of it. How can you do that? How can you be sure you are getting the most out of your serves?

Ideally, this is a question for your coach, if you have one. However, below are ten principles that should help you develop your serving game. Read them, and then get a bucket of balls and practice!

By Larry Hodges

The most fundamental tactical decision a player makes when playing a match is deciding what serves to use. There are a wide variety to choose from – far too many to cover in this article. But they can be divided into six basic types, based on the types of return expected. The basic types are long and short backspin serves, long and short sidespin/topspin serves, fast deep serves, and no-spin serves.