A powerful service is a winner in itself, provided you have enough variations to keep your opponent guessing every time you serve. To produce spin in your service you need to change both the placement of the ball and the path of the racquet. A topspin serve is one of the hardest shots to master. The key to success is the vigorous throw of the racquet head up and over the ball before it is thrown outwards towards the sideline.

No doubt the topspin serve is quite difficult to learn, but it is a very effective second serve. If you are skipping it, you are doing so at your own expense. It has a very different action from either of the other two serves. The placement of the ball is actually behind you. If you think about it, that is the only way in which you can possibly hit topspin! Tossing the ball in the air is also an important part of the service. The ball should be thrown so that, if you did not hit it, it would run down your back, landing behind both you and the baseline.

It's significant that even the path of the racquet throw is different from the standard 'backstretch' position. You should throw the racquet up and over the ball with a very vigorous motion. From that position throw it out towards the sideline and finish on the side where it began. This is the way to practice it at the learning stage. As the action becomes more refined you will find that you can finish the service in the normal follow- through position.

This vigorous upwards brush of the strings makes the ball fly upward over the net, but then it drops suddenly. As the ball bounces it kicks up and may swing over slightly (to the opposite side from the slice service) as it lands. You may find executing this serve a trifle difficult in the beginning. Don't lose heart and don't give up.

Remember that master top spinners like Stefan Edberg are not made in a day but through relentless effort. If you put in a disciplined and dedicated effort there's no reason why your ranking in your own club will not go up.

Tennis / scorumturkey

TABLE TENNIS

TABLE TENNIS

TABLE TENNIS

How To Hit A Topspin Serve

How To Hit A Topspin Serve

How To Hit A Topspin Serve