The Perfect Banana Serve

Service
The basic service training is built on imagination and the ability to experiment. The forehand serve provides greater possibilities to use the wrist but whatever serve is used the bat should be kept loose and the wrist flexible.

To allow acceleration in the playing arm you need to create space between the arm and body and the bat and the ball Short or long - A short serve should bounce on the server’s half of the table, relatively close to the net. A long serve will need to bounce as close as possible to the server’s baseline.
Remember - Spend time mastering your serve. It is the only shot you have total control of, treat it well and it hopefully will serve up a victory or three….

Considerations
Table tennis is not only the fastest game but it is also the sport where spin can have the greatest influence on the result. Spin is generated from bat angles so here is a glossary of the terms used
Neutral - When bat is held so that the head is in a vertical position, the angle is described as neutral.
Closed - When the striking surface is angled downwards, the angle is described as closed.
Open - When the striking surface is angled upwards, the angle is described as open.
Variation of the angle will be created by rotating the hand and forearm.

Service Philosophy
This is a popular serve using this principle whereby the action commences away from the body, moving into the waist area and out again. The line followed closely resembles a banana shape. Contact can be made at any point along the length of the banana, on the way in or out, resulting in vastly different spins with the same action.

Reverse – sidespin/backspin
The advantage of this serve is that you make ‘reverse’ spin. Place the serve mostly to your opponent’s forehand but as a variation to the crossover point or into the backhand. If the technique is well developed it is relatively easy to disguise the placement. It is
difficult to learn and it demands a lot of training. The mistake is to use only the wrist which creates very little power. The whole arm has to be used. The upper arm should be high so that the lower arm can move forward and at the end of this movement the wrist will move forward as quickly as possible.

The contact point is close to the table and at chest height. To keep the contact point at this height, lower the body through the knees and by twisting the upper body you can place the ball anywhere on the table. The contact point is north of centre on the bat and the bounce should be early or close to the middle, depending on which direction you want the serve to go.

One problem with this serve is that the player can have difficulties coming back to the start position because many have all the weight on the back leg at the moment of contact – try to have the balance on both legs.

Long services
It is mostly used as a variation to the short serve. The big advantage you have with the long serve is the similarities of movement to a short serve; this provides the ability to catch your opponent off-guard. All service techniques can be adapted to provide a short or long service
however, speed/length are key to a successful execution as inevitably a slow/long serve will be dispatched with no mercy from the opposite side of the table..

The bounce should be very early on your side of the table with your ball/bat contact point close to the table; if not it will result in a service which is too slow and too high. Remember that your opponent has to move an extra half a metre if the service is placed wide to the forehand.

No spin serve
The principles are the same as in the serve with backspin, the difference being that the contact point is the centre of the bat. It will be most important to simulate the action of a backspin serve. One way is to move the wrist back just after contact point or to make a forward
movement with the wrist and close the bat immediately after the contact point.

ZHANG YINING IS EXECUTING A PERFECT BANANA SERVE
Step 1
Free arm - releases the ball straight up and moves immediately out of the way to prevent shielding of the ball.

Step 2,3 & 4
The playing arm is drawn back and away from the body creating space in preparation for the downwards acceleration prior to the contact point.

Step 5
The banana action commences as the playing arm sweeps forward, round and down in a banana shape. In addition Zhang Yining transfers her weight forward (back foot – front foot) to generate speed and power.

Step 6
Contact point - this is where the element of surprise is created. In this example Zhang Yining moves the wrist in and then out in one swift flick of the wrist imparting reverse sidespin and backspin. However if Zhang Yining was to continue the action forwards and not alter the direction of her wrist during the serve she would place sidespin/backspin on the ball.

Step 7,8 & 9
Follow through and recovery in anticipation of the opponent’s return. Interestingly Yining has place the ball on her opponent’s forehand.

The important element of this particular serve is disguise and flexibility within the wrist action. Developing this technique will inevitably provided excellent results and provide you with numerous variations to baffle and confuse your opponents.