Site Products
Larry Hodges

Coaching Tip of the Week: Contact Point on Racket When Serving

(by Larry Hodges)

When serving, many players contact the ball on their racket in the same location each time. Many aren’t actually aware of what part of the racket the contact is on. They are dramatically limiting their serves by not understanding how varying the location of contact can vary the spin. Here are some basics.

  1. For maximum spin, contact the ball toward the tip. That’s the fastest moving part of the racket as you put your wrist into the serve. (This assumes your elbow or wrist are the axis of rotation. This changes in #3 below.)
  2. Using the same motion, contact the ball at the base of the paddle, near the handle. This allows you to use the same big spin serve motion and get little or no spin. This is especially effective for backspin and no-spin combinations – if you contact near the tip with a downward motion (under the ball), it’s backspin, while contact near the handle is no-spin. Opponents will often read the no-spin as backspin and pop it up. After a few no-spin serves, they adjust – and then they read the backspin as no-spin and put it in the net.
  3. For most serves, your elbow is the axis of rotation at the start of the serve. As you are about to contact the ball, the wrist becomes the axis of rotation. Just before contact, you can also rotate the racket so that the axis of rotation is toward the middle of the racket. This means you get opposite spins depending on which side of the racket you contact the ball on. This allows you to use the same motion and serve either backspin or sidespin/topspin. For example, with a forehand pendulum serve, you can serve so that, at contact, the tip is moving down (giving a backspin), but the area near the handle is moving up (giving a topspin or sidespin). It takes practice – have a coach or top player help you with this.

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.

Latest News

Racket Up All the Time

July 18, 2025
Robot will play RANDOM top spin balls to 2/3 of the table (Backhand), Forehand topspin from Forehand/ middle… Read More

Keep the Swing as Compact as Possible

July 16, 2025
Robot will play RANDOM top spin balls to 2/3 of the table (Backhand, only Forehand topspin from this… Read More

Reviewing Bugller with Logan Rietz

July 15, 2025
(by: Logan Rietz) I love pips.  I like chopping with them, hitting with them, anything I can do… Read More

Keep Your Elbow Closer to Your Body

July 14, 2025
WAIT FUNCTION: Serve long serve to elbow and Robot plays topspin to Forehand, Forehand spin block or counter… Read More

#3 High toss serve that disrupts the opponent’s rhythm and leads to a quick attack

July 14, 2025
[Feature] [Special feature] America’s star! Jha’s strong points #3 High toss serve that disrupts the opponent’s rhythm and… Read More

Ten Tips for Faster Footwork

July 14, 2025
(By Larry Hodges) Tie your shoes tight so there’s less give when you move. Grippy shoes on non-grippy… Read More

Rogelio Castro – Third Ball Attack

July 14, 2025
(by: Bowmar Sports) In this Butterfly Training Tips, Rogelio Castro is executing the “Third Ball Attack” using his… Read More

MLTT Featured Team: Chicago Wind

July 14, 2025
(by Steve Hopkins, photo MLTT) The Chicago Wind plan to blow over competition in the upcoming Major League… Read More
View All News

Get the latest from Butterfly

Stay “In The Loop” with Butterfly professional table tennis equipment, table tennis news, table tennis technology, tournament results, and We Are Butterfly players, coaches, clubs and more.