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Table tennis basics with Richard Prause – Part 7:
The right position and the ideal throw up of the ball
The German national coach Richard Prause is writing a practically orientated series exclusively for Butterfly News: “Table Tennis Basics”. He will try to give some useful tips which are easy to learn for all those players who are interested to improve their game. The former German national player has been working for the German Table Tennis Association as a national coach for ten years. Since 2004 he has been head coach of the men’s team. Timo Boll is not only one of his players but he has also a close relationship to Germany’s and Europe’s number 1. In part 7 of the series Richard Prause gives you some advice about two basic conditions for an optimal serve: the right position and the ideal throw up of the ball. Here you can see permanent mistakes, which are easy to avoid. If you have any further questions or wishes don’t hesitate to send us a mail. Richard is going to answer them.
Which service positions are there and why is it so important to take up the optimal service position?
The classical position for forehand serves is on the backhand side in order to play the next ball with the forehand from this position. On picture 1 you can see this position. The advantage is the position of the legs. The right handed player has the left leg in front and the left handed player the left one. That way it is possible to move speedily around the backhand and make a point with the forehand. On top of that this service position enables you to good placement possibilities as you can see in ill. 1a and b. Another frequent option nowadays is also a serve from the middle of the table with the forehand (picture 2) as well as with the backhand (picture 3). The players who serve with the backhand from the middle of the table don’t move around so often and are looking more for a game backhand from the backhand side and forehand from the forehand side. You can see that too on ill. 1. On the backhand side you can use the whole area from the outside to the middle of the table as a service position. That is very important for a service game with a lot of varieties.
Are there topspin players, who also serve in the singles from the forehand side?
No, I have never seen that of world class players.
A bad throw up of the ball often leads to a bad service or sometimes even to a service fault. What is important when you throw up the ball?
Firstly you must throw up the ball 16cm high. I always advise my players to throw the ball towards the shoulder. That is always 16-20cm, as you can see on picture 4. That is the height where you can do everything with the ball. The hand, which is throwing up the ball, should be behind the base line. If you have a problem with that, just slightly touch the table with the hand, which throws up the ball (picture 5). Then you know straight away if your hand has the optimal position. An experienced player doesn’t hold his hand at the side of the table as you can see for example on picture 6. It is very important that the ball is lying on the flat hand (picture 7). Pictures 8 and 9 show you two bad mistakes. On the one hand the fingers are around the ball and on the other hand the ball is lying on the fingers. These are of course extreme examples but similar mistakes can often be seen. The consequences are an instable and imprecise throw up and the service won’t be so effective.
How can you improve the service position and the throw up?
In comparison to elements of the technique that is relatively easy. You must think about the tactical possibilities in connection with the placement and the angle of spreading the ball. Before each serve you must think hard about where to stand and what your target is. Concerning the throw up of the ball the tip about touching the table can’t be beaten. You only must think about it and you can improve your service in no time. Additionally that leads to every execution of a service is a conscious ritual and that again improves your concentration.