There is usually a small amount of backspin on the ball. The server is hoping to make the receiver think that there is much more backspin on the ball than there really is, which should lead to a bad return which is higher than expected.
View the Forehand Pendulum Sidespin Serve Video - 720x576 pixels version. (6MB)
Points to look for:
- The serve is called a pendulum serve because the movement of the bat resembles the way the weight on a pendulum (such a grandfather clock) moves back and forth.
- This serve is typically performed from the server's backhand corner. This is because the type of sidespin put on the ball will tend to make the receiver's return go towards the server's backhand. Most servers are looking to take a step to their left and hit a powerful forehand attack from their backhand corner. 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.
- This serve is performed to look as similar as possible to the forehand pendulum backspin/sidespin serve.
