Learn the backhand serve in table tennis: legal toss, backspin, sidespin and short placement – with milestones, common mistakes, safety notes and FAQ.
The backhand serve is a service you play with the backhand side of your racket in front of the body. Next to the forehand serve it is the second big serve family: you can play it with backspin, sidespin or no spin at all. The serve is thus the only action you control completely yourself in competition [3].
The honest answer to "do I have to master the backhand serve?": not necessarily, but it pays off as a variation. Among the world's best (244 analysed matches, 1970 to 2021) the most frequently winning serves were forehand sidespin serves, which were also most common in the third-ball attack; the direct scoring rate of the serve decreased over time [2]. That means: your main serve is probably a forehand serve. The backhand serve helps to make you harder to read. In a brain-scan study, 29 experts and 34 non-experts had to predict the trajectory of a serve from videos that stopped at the moment of racket contact; brain activity separated the two groups with 90.48 % accuracy [4]. The study measures brain activity, not hit rate when reading – but it suggests that trained players interpret serves early. So your motion should give away as little as possible.
Important up front: I found no dedicated biomechanics study of the backhand serve itself. Everything technical below is practical standard, supported by the rules [1] and the serve findings from research.
How long does it take? You learn the legal toss and the backspin serve in a few sessions. Until spin, length and placement hold under pressure, expect weeks (practical experience, not a study).
The service begins when the ball rests on the open palm of your free hand. You then throw it near vertically upwards without spin, at least 16 cm. After that it falls without touching anything until you hit it [1]. The ball stays above table level and behind the end line and may not be hidden from the opponent; the free hand and arm must leave the space between ball and net [1].
Milestone: You make ten legal tosses in a row without one staying below 16 cm or flying at an angle.
You take the racket back with the backhand side in front of the belly and then toward the ball. The elbow is loose, the wrist mobile. The side of the racket that hits the ball must comply with the rules: one side black, the other a clearly distinguishable bright colour [1].
Milestone: You hit the ball in the centre of the racket on 8 of 10 serves.
On the falling ball you brush it either underneath (backspin) or at the side (sidespin). The more friction, the more spin (practical experience). The English federation coaches name the serve families pendulum, reverse, kicker and float (no spin) [5]; with the backhand you practically play backspin, sidespin or float. The plastic balls played today behave differently from the former celluloid balls: the trajectory of serves with backspin differs between the two materials [6].
Milestone: 6 of 10 serves show recognisable spin; a partner sees the difference between backspin and no spin.
The ball must first touch your half of the table and then directly the opponent's [1]. For the short serve the first bounce is near the net. Among 24 top men studied, 30.1 % of serves landed in the zone near the net, versus 10.9 % for 24 women [9] – men play short noticeably more often.
Milestone: 6 of 10 serves bounce twice on the opponent's side before they would pass the end line.
Start every serve with the same motion and decide only at the last moment whether you hit underneath, at the side or with no spin. That way the opponent has as little chance as possible to read the cut beforehand [4].
Milestone: Your partner cannot tell the spin before contact on 5 of 10 serves.
If a serve gets too long, do not change the force but the contact point: hit the ball earlier on its fall and closer to your body. A study on the short serve compared squat and standing serves in ten female players: the squat serve required more hip and knee flexion and more drive from the legs [8]. For you that means: if you want to play short, go a little lower in the knees instead of braking with the arm (transfer to the backhand, no direct measurement).
At least 16 cm, thrown near vertically and without spin [1]. That is about the length of a ballpoint pen.
No. The ball must stay visible to the opponent; body, arm or clothing may not hide it [1].
As much as you can control. Length and placement are decisive; a short ball with little spin is better than a long one with a lot of spin.
Not in general. Among the world's best, forehand sidespin serves won most often [2]; the backhand serve is a variation.
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