The idea here is to get my opponent committed to moving forward and downwards to reach what he expects will be a short, low serve to his backhand, only to find that the ball is actually coming long and bouncing high. This will hopefully have the following results:
- My opponent is moving in the wrong direction, and must now completely reverse his momentum and move backwards to get into position to play the ball.
- The serve bounces much higher than normal, which makes it more difficult for the opponent to adjust, since he was preparing for a low serve to begin with, and the high bounce is a very unusual height for serves. This will take him out of his normal returning groove, and the unfamiliar territory will hopefully make him hesitate even further.
- My opponent will probably be moving backwards as he plays the ball, making it harder for him to attack strongly. He will also be likely to have prepared to push or flick the ball when returning, and he will find it more difficult to change to an longer attacking stroke.
Conclusion
I employ this serve on a semi-regular basis against opponents of my own level or a bit higher, and I find that it proves to be very effective provided it is not over used. When set up correctly and executed so that the ball bounces high, deep and with reasonable pace, I would guess that it provides me with a weak return well over 50% of the time, and is attacked strongly only perhaps 10-20% of the time, which is pretty good odds.I tend to use this serve on a point leading up to a crucial stage of the match, but not at a critical point itself. I want to catch my opponent off-guard, so I would rather use this serve at 8-all to steal a point to go up 9-8, instead of using it at 8-9 or 9-8 when a game point is looming and my opponent is more likely to be alert. Although if I have been serving consistently short and tight, and haven't given my opponent many long serves at all during the match, then I would be more tempted to throw this serve in as a surprise on a critical point, since my opponent might be moving in to take a short ball on automatic pilot, which is when this serve is especially effective.
It can take a little practice to master the ability to "fake" the serve and not hit the ball off the end of the table, but the results are well worth it. Give it a try and see for yourself!
