Ball height during serves

chu_bun wrote: One thing is for sure, the ball won't be anywhere near its terminal velocity falling 4, 5 feet down.  I believe the initial speed adds some spin but not much.  Racket speed at contact point may be the more dominant factor.  By the way, I hate people that serve from their hand with little or no throw (I know it's not legal, but half of the people at my club serve that way.  You look like a whiner if you start complaining about it).

BH-Man wrote:   Over here in Korea amature clubs, you are a whiner if you complain about illegal serves. It is club play and even in amature tourneys, complaining gets you nowhere. What you gunna do, try to gripe to teh tourney director? All he'll do is replace the scorekeeper. The old-school crowd has been playing in such a way for decades and some rule change at ITTF isn't gunna change how they play, period. In a way, it makes sense, I don't like hidden serves form Div 1 players they use to get advantage, but in their perspective, it is all good. They are here and here is their place, so why should I go overboard about it?

My response to this is quite simple.  Before they changed the rules, I was very good at hiding my serves.  I practiced it a lot.  I used to study the way Gatien did it and I spent hours trying to figure out how to do it the same way.  So, when people insist on serving illegally, I respond in kind.  The ball comes from somewhere under my left elbow and people have told me it is quite challenging to see the ball hit my paddle.  I find it very useful in China, where the culture on serving is pretty much the way you describe it in Korea.

Just for nostalgia's sake I enclose a great match.  Small balls.  Glue.  Hidden serves.  Two great players. Jump ahead to the 3:00 mark so see Gatien's hidden serves from the front view.

 


Edited by Baal - 02/18/2013 at 1:44am