Don’t Make These 3 Service Mistakes

Here we’re taking a look at 3 common mistakes when serving. We’ll look at and talk about these errors but crucially explore how to avoid them.

These are pretty quick fixes, if you’re able to, then it’s a great way to improve your service game quickly.

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[theblackdow]

2:56 I think this question is a little more complex than it appears at first.

For me the main factor is if i find exactly one weakness or more than one.

If you find more than one weakness you need to determine if it's a technical weakness (for example they struggle to return short topspin serves to the backhand) or a weakness in reading one specific set of serves. If it's a technical weakness, just treat it as one, even though they might struggle with multiple serves like it. If you still find multiple weaknesses, then hammer one of them relentlessly and keep at least one in reserve in case it is 9:9 or dues. Thats a simple and obvious solution right there.

However, if you find only one weakness the answer depends on your evaluation of your opponent. If you think your opponent is gonna learn to fix this weakness within the first, or latest second, set of your game, then i would lean more towards hiding it for difficult spots (if your game is even otherwise). If you think you can make points with it the whole game then go and hammes that serve as much as you can. Also if you are the underdog by a significant enough margine, or you struggle with that playing style, then again hammer that weakness as much as you can. Maybe you can turn the match around by these means. If you are the favourite by a significant margine AND hitting that weakness poses a risk of a service error thats too high (beeing 5-10%) then try to play it safe, as you like will win the match anyways, plus you can wiggle out of a difficult spot with it - if it arises.

One more thing i like to give as advise to players trying to up their service game:
Try to learn about 2-3 different after motions to disguise the same service. Some players really struggle with one, but can read another really well. So having a different aftermotion might cause some problems by itself without you having to learn a new serve alltogether.
As an example i can speak of my pendulum serve:
If i serve, one of my motions is to start with my racket in a backspin swing and then as an after motion just show the face of my racket to my opponent. So I disguise the spin with the timing of when i hit the ball (early for backspin, later for topspin). A different motion for the same serve would be something Werner Schlager does - or at least similar. You keep the racket more or less completely opened up (as you normally would serve when serving backspin) and for the topspin motion you just pull your wrist towards you at the last moment (just a small pull, nothing huge). This is also a working disguise, but completely different to read. An opponent that sees through my first disguise might not read the second one and vice versa.

After all i am only around 1420 so take this advice with a grain of salt, but in my club I'm known for my dangerous service game. Dont have anything else tho XD

[ehacmq]

0:39 too much variety
3:19 managing distance
6:23 being too predictable

Thank you! Great video!

[theblackdow]

7:26 Oh yeah, but thats a funny one to exploit too. You can do it by looking a few times where you will be serving. If your opponent is an observant player and picks up on that i usually start to look in random directions on the table very consciously and then serve somewhere completely different (in about 20% of the cases the serve should match tho, just to give the illusion of it beeing a giveaway). Thats one of the more evil strategies to employ, but it's insanely effective if you can pull it off

[souvikmukherjee]

If I find a weakness, I would rather play at it during crucial points only. Rest of the match I will focus more on getting the play to my strong points and build the game around this. Use the opponents weakness as a surprise for him. For example if someone has a problem playing long topspin serve on their backhand, I will only use the this serve as a surprise for him and also during crucial points.

[oruam]

Thank you for the great tips! Here are a few suggestions to improve the video: Is it possible to choose a cleaner background in the sports hall? Additionally, it would be helpful to optimize the camera perspectives so that the entire table is clearly visible. Especially when shooting from the center, align the camera straight. Thanks again for your input!

[KANA-rdbz]

❤nice. i was so lame thinking i have to contact the ball from behind to make a serve at all :)) ill consider your advice nr 2. today as im working on my serves again

[Sarahball-eqkq]

Brilliant videos. Please show how to return the serves. Especially the bat angle for serves with side spin. Thanks

[PE-fxcr]

IMO, definitely keep serving the serve that gives your opponent problems. Once your opponent catches on, defer to different serve tactics for a while, then reintroduce the same serve that gave your opponent problems earlier in the match. They will still be wary of that serve and given a long enough break from receiving said serve, the opponent may still struggle again (maybe for not as long) and give up a few more points or weak returns.

[jules-bzvc]

Keep doing it and also smiling when they miss

[Gekko]

Brilliant vid, and wonderful advice. I've committed all these errors at one time or another in the past.😂😂 ...far more often than I care to admit 🤦

[idrivearttabletennis]

I generally save a serve that the opponent has issues with until I need it. I do vary between short and long. I love crosscourt but vary it with down-the-line. I watch for motion by the opponent as they guess what I will do. Great video. Thank you!

[solideomusical]

Great coverage, mate!
My serve game is actually stronger than my 'game' game. There are times when I think to myself "I could beat this guy with my serves alone." However, if the ball never even gets into play have I really improved? I think not. I have decided to use only about 2 or 3 different serves per game but for a different reason. This allows me to familiarize myself with the return it produces and capitalize upon it (or deal with a good return and have to actually fight and win a point.)

In short, good serves can be useful for quick point but can also become a sort of crutch.

[tobiasgoldman]

I'm definitely guilty of using "too much variety" but I'm pretty good at not giving away where my serve is going too, which I think are two related things really. 😊

[steven-YLT]

Regarding the tell of a server, looking in the direction of where he wants to serve it, I often try to use that as a deceptive technique. I will overlook the corner and then serve to the opposite side. But of course not all the time.

[philip]

Great stuff, Craig! Would love to see a video on serve deception, your tips for starting to introduce that into your game. I’ve seen your video on the kicker serve, the disguise, 4D chess you play with the opponent between bluffs and double bluffs is very impressive

[Tekay]

When I find a weakness, I'll try to use that in at least 2 different ways. I'll create a pattern so my opponent starts to expect a certain serve (e.g. by positioning himself differently), then I use a one-off different serve so he doesn't find an advantage from that change for the server he expects. Then I go back to the pattern for a few serves.

[julest]

There’s a time when I just did too many variations serves, changing every time and I win. In another time I were regretting this since I also miss a chances of exploiting my opponent’s weakness on certain serves, that could easily gave me 2-3 points.
I guess it depends on what type of opponent that you facing.. slow leaner-fast leaner, beginner- intermediate- advance, etc..

[seragankerkhof]

It depends tbh, if it is a tight game, I should rack up the points with exploiting their weaknesses. But in general I have 2 serves that are instant points on a average from 3 out of 5 and the other 2 are if not returned properly a 3th. Ball attack with instant points.. occasionally I do have really problems with pips

[karlschonborn]

Hi, very interesting. Variety, distance, place, short or long services .... and aims.

[cyrillehurstel]

sometimes I fall in the variety trap but it is because of a guy, named Craig, who taught me a lot of serves !