OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Was looking at a few videos of how Ma Lin does this so effortlessly. Does anybody use it?

There's a lot of videos on youtube, but mastering it is another thing haha, basically whipping action of wrist (lots of it) super tacky rubbers, lotsa lotsa practice, I gave up after a while haha pendulum / reverse pendulum is my go to.

I vary with serves that have less drive forward and - if it's underspin - actually come back, yes. It shouldn't matter if the user is a penholder or whatsoever.
Instead of giving most of the energy into the direction of play some of it is put into an upward move. So it somewhat lifts the ball, bringing it more near the net before the 1st bounce, allowing the spin to be more efficient on the 2nd bounce on table already.

_________________
Red is blogging here >> http://ooakforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=30522

I serve a short underspin serve which probably qualifies as a ghost serve. I can serve them so they come back to the net, but I tend not to go for such spin because its too inconsistent to generate that much and its easy to make the serve high which will get it killed. So I wind it back a little and still draw plenty of net returns, and rarely give away a point with a fault or kill.

I use SH grip for it, but I feel a PH grip would do it better. Only trouble is switching quickly from PH to SH to serve then play is too hard/risky.

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

"TableTennisDoc" I saw the same video & yes I do use it sparingly & it certainly took a lot of practise to perfect it I really mix my serves up, I usually serve a different one each time so hopefully I keep my opponent guessing.

_________________
Setup 1: Blade: TSP Trinity Carbon | Joola Golden Tango black 1.8mm FH & Tibhar Grass D.TecS acid green OX BH
Setup 2: Setup 2: Blade: TSP Trinity Carbon | Joola Golden Tango PS black 2.00mm FH & Tibhar Grass D.TecS red OX BH
Setup 3: Blade: TSP Trinity Carbon | Joola Golden Tango black 1.8mm FH & Spinlord Gigant anti-spin red BH
See the ball, be the ball...

Ma Lin [unbelievable serve] - YouTube

Check this out. As you notice the ball turned side away as it went backward. I tried brushing the side of the ball after a high toss. It works. It does produce high back side spin.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

I personally find that the ghost serve is not as effective in real games (maybe my ghost serve is not good enough... ). Because in order to make the ball go backwards, the ghost serve is usually quite slow. But more importantly, backspin of the call is "consumed" in order to make the ball goes backward. It means that the spin on the ball is significantly weakened by the time your opponent hits it. As a result, the ghost serve is quite easy for your opponent if they push actively (trying hard to brush the ball). I personally prefer serving a faster double-bounce backspin serve in matches - less reaction time and harder to get a thin contact for my opponent.

The ghost serve is still a very good exercise to practice the use of the wrist and getting a thin contact on the ball. Also I find the ghost serve is more effective when it is combined with corkscrew spin, in which case it bounces both backwards and sideways, makes it harder for my opponents.

_________________

Yasaka Ma Lin Extra Offensive Cpen - Yasaka Shining Dragon - Yasaka Razka 9
Galaxy U2 Cpen - Galaxy Sun - Galaxy Moon

making it look easy haha can we see the serve from the side angle tho?

I've been trying to find the appropriate video but I can't. It's one of Brett's serve videos and he talks about what makes a good short serve - in his opinion it isn't what the ball does when it bounces that makes a good short serve, a good short serve should be low and fast, yet short enough to bounce twice on the table. Maybe this is why even Ma Lin doesn't use the ghost serve all the time - it's not as effective as a faster, low serve.

Iskandar

The problems with most people's ghost serve are too high over the net, too slow, and too deep which makes it easy to flip/flick back. A ghost serve which is still moving forward after the first bounce on your opponent's side is just not effective.

Here is an example of a great ghost serve. The ball is close to the net and stops moving forward after the first bounce. Most people, even pros, would have trouble returning it. And the last one is just not returnable at all.

The best I can do on short notice:

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

preciate it, it seems that i always shy away from the ghost serve because of the reasons ppl gave up there, but u make it look so easy tho.
In matches i only use underspin on surprise basis rather than main weapon, i try to rely more on where i want the ball to land next hence more utilisation of sidespin.

P.S what camera are u using, thinking of getting an action cam myself for recording my own tt progression purposes

Sony HDR CX330.

There really is no serve like a ghost serve - it's just a heavy backspin serve and you can serve quality heavy backspin serves that are not ghost serves, as you can see above.

You asked questions, so your answer will be granted - below is the video on the swing technique. Nothing wrong with using underspin as a surprise. You only serve this stuff if you like to loop backspin and if you can vary it. The favorite part of my serving is when I serve to long pips players and they return the ball into the bottom of the net. It's almost like a revelation to them that backspin can do that.

_________________
Cobra Kai TT Exponent (Mercy effs up your Game)
One-Loop Man: One Loop... Again????
Lumberjack TT Exponent

"We don't rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training" - Archilochus

tnx for that video nl, very informative...

_________________
My TT blog
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn my inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.