We all want to have a fantastic serve but it's no use going to a tournament and getting
faulted all the time so you need to know the rules.
The first rule I want you to know about is that you must have a flat hand when serving
and the ball must be in the palm of your hand.
Now when people first start out in table tennis they often hold the ball in their fingers
but you can't do that, it's illegal. So make sure you get a flat hand and you put the ball
in the palm of your hand. Now the reason this rule came about is that so you can't spin
the ball up as you're tossing it up because that would make it much harder for the receiver
and so to simplify things you have to throw it up without imparting any spin on the ball.
Now when you throw it up you have to be behind the end line of the table and you also have
to contact the ball behind the end line of the table. So you can't throw it up and then
hit the ball in front of this line and you can't throw it up from in front even if you
hit it behind. So make sure you're always behind the end line of the table. Now the
other thing is you can't throw it up from below the table because the opponent has to
see the ball throughout the serve so you must throw it up from above the level of the table.
Now you may be wondering can you serve from out wider than this sideline of the table?
And the answer is yes as long as you are behind the extension of this imaginary line coming
out from the end of the table.
Now the next important rule I want you to learn is about the service toss. When you
are serving you must throw the ball up at least 6 inches or 16cm. That's about the height
of the net or about the width of your bat. Now a lot of people when they're first starting
out they just serve the ball straight out of their hand but that's illegal, you can't
do that. So make sure when you serve you throw the ball up so that it clears your hand by
at least 16cm.
When you throw the ball up you must throw it near vertical. You can't throw it backwards
to the side or you can't throw it back in towards yourself. Now most players will throw
the ball up and it will move a little bit but the rule is really there to stop you just
throwing the ball straight into you bat. But just to be safe try and practice throwing
it up as close to vertical as you can.
Now the next rule is quite contentious.The principle behind it is that your opponent
must be able to see the ball the whole time throughout the serve. So you can't throw the
ball up and get your arm in the way as you're hitting the ball. So you throw the ball up,
get your arm out of the way and serve so your opponent can see the ball the whole time.
Now another way to think about it is if you take the net posts and the triangle that's
formed between them and the ball that must be clear throughout the entire serve.
A really common question I get is where can you serve from and where can you serve to?
Now in singles you can serve from anywhere to anywhere. This line down the middle is only
used for doubles. In doubles you have to serve from the right hand box to the right hand box.