THE ART OF SERVING DEEP

May 17, 2017

(BRIAN PACE/COACHES BLOG TRIANGLE TABLE TENNIS)

One of the most unique skills you can develop in table tennis is the ability to serve the ball deep. The Serve is something that has been overlooked as far as how much value it can bring to setting up your sequence of play. Developing your deep serve can have a huge impact on the game. The deep serve provides several benefits that can improve tournament play. The first thing that you want to establish is the actual serve mechanics, and for that happen, you have to break the table down into quadrants. Quadrant 1 is how you serve short, Quadrant 2 is how you serve medium, and Quadrant 3 is how you serve deep. Quadrant 4 is how you serve off the sideline of the table. Click to enlarge and analyze further.

This is the systematic way to view the table for any type of serve that you are going to do. The goal is for the first contact, and the landing contact to make contact in the same color. This will ensure the effectiveness of that serve without make an unforced error. Serving deep is unique to the ball contact landing in quadrant 3 on the server’s side, as well as the ball landing in quadrant 3 on the receivers side, like the image below. Click to enlarge and analyze further.

The ball has to be hit hard enough that when it travels across the table that it will land in quadrant 3 in your opponents court. The first benefit for this type of serve is your opponent will have less leverage to attack because the ball is landing so deep in their court. This is especially effective if you find a player that is crowding the table on their return.

If you are going to execute this type of serve is it because you want it to translate into something tangible, and the best tactical advantage you can hope for is to catch your opponent off guard. This will make is possible to take over the sequence of play right from the beginning.

If you are not going to be making the serve cross-court to the backhand, then the next best location is down-the-line to the forehand. You need to still make contact in quadrant 3 on your side of the table, with the goal of the ball landing in quadrant 3.

When practicing the serve down-the-line the main theme has to be where the first bounce on your court lands. This will dictate where your serve lands on the far end.

The best situation that you can create with the down-the-line serve is the ability to ace your opponent. This can be highly effective when you observe your opponent crowding the backhand corner, or preparing to pivot for a forehand attack.

If you don’t win the point with the down-the-line serve, then the tactical goal will shift to catching your opponent off guard to take over the sequence of play.

Now that you have made the serve deep to your opponent’s backhand and forehand, you will start to notice that they will categorically prepare for one position or the other. This is what will allow you to implement the next serve placement, and that is making the serve to your opponent’s middle. The serve going to the middle will disrupt any player because they are not prepared because they are more concerned with covering the wide angles. Your job is to make a real attempt at serving the ball deep to the corners to make your opponent conditioned to be preoccupied with thinking about two positions.