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Table Tennis / Ping-Pong Basic Strokes - FH Tomahawk Sidespin Serve

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6 of 9

Contact With the Ball

Photo of FH Tomahawk Sidespin Serve - Contact With the Ball

Contact With the Ball

(c) 2007 Greg Letts, licensed to About.com, Inc
The ball is just about to be struck by the player.

Points to look for:

  • The wrist is snapping forward, as shown by the blurring in the photograph.
  • The bat is going to make contact on the side of the ball, as the bat moves horizontally, to produce mainly sidespin. To add a little topspin, the ball can be contacted slightly above the side, and to add a little backspin, the ball can be contacted slightly below the side.
  • Since the receiver can clearly see the contact of the ball, deception is achieved by varying the angle at which the bat is held, which will change the proportion of sidespin to topspin. Further deceptions can be made by changing the amount of wrist snap used, or the speed with which the playing arm is moved. The amount of brush can also be varied to add to the deception of the serve.
  • The ball has been brushed to give good spin, but with a fairly solid contact to also give some speed. This is designed to give a fast, spinny serve, that will bounce for the first time in the last six inches on the opponent's side of the table if left untouched.
  • The shoulders have been turned to the left of the player, which will help the player recover to a neutral position faster.
  • As mentioned previously, the player is not watching the bat contact the ball, since he has already judged the position of the ball from watching its descent.

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  8. Table Tennis / Ping-Pong Basic Strokes - Forehand Tomahawk Sidespin Serve - Step 6

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