Well, not quite (not even close, actually). Here are some reasons why the serve is more important in table tennis than most beginners think.
- To begin with, every rally in table tennis starts with a serve. You will be serving for half the time in singles, (and a quarter of the time in doubles matches). That's anywhere from 16 serves in a best of 5 whitewash (11-0, 11-0, 11-0), to 50 serves in a best of 5 singles match that doesn't have any deuce games (11-9, 11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-9). If you make bad mistakes with your serve 25% of the time, you will be giving your opponent a lot of free points - not a good thing!
- The serve is also the only shot in ping-pong where you have total control over the ball without any input from the other player. So it makes sense to try to use this advantage as best you can to make life harder for your opponent.
- You can use the serve to help you play more of your favorite shots during the subsequent rally, and also to prevent your opponent from using his favorite shots. If you are best at backspin strokes, using short backspin serves will allow you to play more backspin rallies. Likewise, if you are good at hitting topspin balls, you can use long or short topspin serves to help create more topspin rallies. And if you struggle with sidespin, you can avoid using sidespin in your serves, making your life easier when rallying.
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Better opponents will be able to attack your bad serves, putting you under pressure straight away. Good serving will prevent an opponent from making powerful attacks, and improve own your chances of making good attacks. This is a important factor in table tennis as your standard rises and you play tougher opponents.
- If you can serve well, you increase the pressure on your opponent, since he knows that he will not have any easy serves to hit. You will also win a few easy points each match from your opponent's mistakes.