How to Serve in Table Tennis

Table tennis is growing in popularity around the world, with many players and admirers. While any sport takes practice, it's also good to know the moves and rules associated with the game. Serving is an important aspect of table tennis, and can dictate whether you win or lose.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Place your feet at a 45-degree angle to the table and bend your knees slightly to position yourself to serve.

2. Place the ball in the palm of your non-serving hand and bend forward slightly. Your legs should be slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Make sure your hand is higher than the table's surface and behind the endline.

3. Hold the table tennis bat with your serving hand immediately behind the hand holding the ball. Keep your serving arm's elbow bent about 90-degrees.

4. Throw the ball at least 6 inches and hit it immediately with the bat.

5. Make sure the table tennis ball bounces once on your side of the net and once on theirs.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep your wrist relaxed and loose to improve the spin on your table tennis serve.
• Concentrate on setting up your next shot instead of acing your opponent.
• You must keep the table tennis ball and racket above the table's surface at all times when attempting a serve.
• Never let the ball touch the net on the way over to your opponent's side of the table. If this happens, you'll have to serve again.

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