Backspin Reverse Serve Like a Boss

Ringer84 wrote: Thanks for the video Brett and Nextlevel.  Many of the problems that Brett touched on were the same problems others touched on in my own reverse pendulum thread (generating sidespin instead of backspin, the serve being slow instead of fast, not keeping the elbow back etc.).   This serve is just too hard for me to do consistently so I've shleved it again for the time being, but I'll come back to it eventually.

bluehorseshoe wrote: When I watch Brett Clarke's Videos, which are the best I have ever seen actually explaining the mechanics of the serve, he holds the handle where is seems that it would hit the wrist on some on his movements (but he holds the handle further from the blade), or even on the opposite side of his wrist when he demonstrates the movement on video 3. http://mytabletennis.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=69116&PN=1#838343   on this video about :45 seconds in, the handle is clearly on the other side of the wrist. Any insight would be appreciated.

Brett Clarke wrote: Learning this serve isn't easy. It's a really tough action and even some less gifted elite international players struggle to learn it. I can't do it with my non playing hand, even though I have a reasonable understanding of the serve intellectually. I would have to work pretty hard to get it to your current level. It's a process of doing it, with measurable feedback...I'm sure I read that somewhere earlier today  This is all a good thing. If it was easy, everyone would do it well and it wouldn't be effective for those that are prepared to put in the effort mixed with good information. I'm confident that NextLevel has what it takes to improve his serve in a major way by the end of the series, but effort will be required. Let's see how it looks in a month or so.

Hey, Thanks for the reply Brett and Nextlevel.

What I found difficult to mimic your serve is actually not the arm position, but actually the arm position in combination with foot direction. Our front feet is the same location/direction, but while your back foot is pointed away from table, Mine is usually parallel to my front foot/edge-line. 

I'm trying to copy this for 2 reasons.
1. not only you, but most top players, such as ma long also serve in this stance.
2. it puts my body in a way to hide my swing, showing only contact.
3. According to you it'll also give even more spin!

This is where it got awkward because it feels my arm simply cannot reach the angle required to do the reverse serve. Not just the reverse back spin, even the reverse side/top is totally difficult.

Also, how much back spin is considered "strong" for reverse back spin. I mean, trying to get as much as the pendulum back spin would be quite unrealistic, no?

DistantStar, Ringer84, and everyone else,

NextLevel wrote: DistantStar, Ringer84, and everyone else,   Not trying to get you or anyone else to flood Brett's inbox but you can send him the link/video privately if you don't want to post video here.

suds79 wrote: Thanks to Brett for this series. I've been focusing on coming more forward with my reverse pendulum serve vs sideways like I have in the past. Elbow position is key. It simply works. I can finally mix in a good reverse pendulum backspin along with the easier topspin version. Its even helped my standard pendulum serve in the backspin version. As long as the blade is moving forward upon that bottom contact vs any natural sideways motion, you get really good amount of backspin.

Brett, thanks a lot for the videos. 

Here is the second video:

I am sure Brett was bring nice and picking the ones he wants me to emulate and focus on. There were many that went into the net as well

And after I have mastered this serve...or servanted this serve, I will then move to Thailand and seek out... Master Lizard!

Man... This is great stuff! Coming from a relative beginner, I truly appreciate any instruction that is easy to follow. I've been throwin the frisbee and doing the floor serves for the last 3 days straight. Looking forward to moving on to the table. Great stuff Brett!

I know Brett... I was thinking I should've been recording this process from the beginning, thus I know it's hard for you to give me some feedback without video. I'll see if I can set up a video session soon. However, back to my "progress" or lack thereof... I attempted to transition to the table last night, and it did not go so well. I had a really tough time with the table in my way! I was doing pretty well with the floor exercises, due to having the "perceived" feeling of freedom and not worrying about a table or net. However, when I attempt this serve on the table, I find myself struggling to focus on hitting the bottom of the ball, and everything just falls apart. Again, I apologize for the lack of video, but any other pointers would be appreciated. I'm going to keep working at it... "like a boss!"
Cheers, Andrew

NextLevel wrote: TT_Junkie wrote: I know Brett... I was thinking I should've been recording this process from the beginning, thus I know it's hard for you to give me some feedback without video. I'll see if I can set up a video session soon. However, back to my "progress" or lack thereof... I attempted to transition to the table last night, and it did not go so well. I had a really tough time with the table in my way! I was doing pretty well with the floor exercises, due to having the "perceived" feeling of freedom and not worrying about a table or net. However, when I attempt this serve on the table, I find myself struggling to focus on hitting the bottom of the ball, and everything just falls apart. Again, I apologize for the lack of video, but any other pointers would be appreciated. I'm going to keep working at it... "like a boss!" Cheers, Andrew Tt_Junkie   1.  You don't have to post the videos here unless you are okay doing so - you can PM Brett directly. 2. No matter where you think you are, you are just starting out relative to where you are headed.  Remember that I had the advantage/disadvantage of already having a reverse pendulum serve. 3. No matter how much progress you think you have made, Brett can convey to you a more realistic assessment of what you need to work on.  I can't remember what I thought were good floor serves when I started and how they pale in comparison to my current floor serves, which I only got to after about 2.5 weeks of practice.  And remember, I already had a reverse serve (if it isn't clear, I am the tall Black dude in the video). 4. A player/coach of Brett's caliber is offering to help you for free if you send him video and you are ...

TwiddleDee wrote: Brett really put a great video together on learning this serve. I wish it was out years ago when I struggled to learn it on my own. I did start out with the floor practice before I moved to the table. The frisbee concept is a great learning tool. One thing I discovered by accident when learning this as well as all other serves is something I tell myself when executing them, "If you are trying too hard, you can't stay relaxed enough to get the spin and control" Teaching all your muscles to stay relaxed throughout the complete execution of this serve, especially at ball contact is what I found to be most difficult aspect of learning to execute higher level serves.