• The bat starts higher and behind the free hand before the throw up.
• The arm needs to be high so that the lower arm and wrist can have maximum movement.

• The throw up is to the side of the body but must be visible to the opponent. To achieve this the player adopts a stance almost at right angles to the end of the table again to allow freedom of movement for the bat arm.

• At about chest height and about 30cm from the corner of the table for most forehand serves. The body has to be lowered to achieve a low contact. The free arm is pulled back out of the way so the opponents view is not restricted. The zone of the bat at which contact is made depends on the spin that is going to be produced (as described above)

• Weight is transferred onto the right leg and the left leg is brought forward to adopt a ready position.

These main forehand serves are:

Forehand Serve – Sidespin/Topspin

This is the most used serve on the international scene because it is very difficult to return short. The placement is often short to the backhand so that the server eliminates the angle wide to the forehand. Most players can attack strongly with both forehand and backhand, but this serve gives the server a greater chance of getting in with the first strong topspin.

Technique
The servers arm has to be bent. The angle between the lower arm and upper arm must be 90 degrees. The ball should be struck as close to the table as possible, but the back should not be too bent otherwise the service will be too high. It is better to focus on the position of the legs and trying to get the right hip and the right leg forward when striking the ball. All these movements together and the fact that the arm is high will help the server to get over the ball and that will give maximum topspin. The first bounce should be near the base line on the server’s side.

Contact Point
The contact point is W or a slightly NW. The ball should be hit around 30 cm from the centre line of the table in order to serve down the line. Remember to focus on the leg position – the left leg should not be too far in front of the forehand leg.

Forehand Serve – Sidespin/Backspin
This serve is used as a variation to the sidespin/topspin serve.
As many of the top players have a good return with their forehand on this serve, the best placement is short to the backhand. The angle wide to the forehand is eliminated by the placement of this serve. Some variation of direction can be useful.

Technique
To be able to serve parallel it is important that the server has a contact point about 30 cm from the corner of the table. Your elbow must be high so that the lower arm has maximum freedom of movement in the directions required. It is also important that the contact point is close to the table so that the bounce is flat.

Contact Point
The contact point is NW and the first bounce is close to the middle on the servers side. The first bounce must not be too close to the net because the serve will be too high and slow. The back should not be bent too much because that will create too high a serve and also give the server problems in moving away from the table. This is because the weight in the point of contact is too heavy on the back leg.