View the Forehand Reverse Pendulum Backspin/Sidespin Serve Video - 720x576 pixels version. (8MB)
640x480 pixels version. (3.6MB)
Points to look for:
- The serve is called a reverse pendulum serve because the movement of the bat resembles the way the weight on a pendulum (such a grandfather clock) moves back and forth, but the bat moves away from the body, in the opposite direction to the normal forehand pendulum serve.
- This serve is typically performed from the server's backhand side. This is because the type of sidespin put on the ball will tend to make the receiver's return go towards the server's forehand. Most servers are looking to stay in position after the serve and hit a powerful forehand attack from their forehand side. The use of sidespin helps the server to control the likely placement of the return.
- The free hand is flat, stationary, and above the playing surface and behind the endline.
- The bottom three fingers of the racket hand have been loosened, to allow the bat to be moved more freely when serving. This makes it easier to put more varieties of spin on the ball.
- The amount of sidespin and backspin will be varied constantly, in order to make it more difficult for the receiver to judge the correct amount of spin on the ball.
- The use of sidespin makes it harder for the receiver to tell how much backspin is on the ball, since the ball has a combination of backspin and sidespin.
