Expert Table Tennis Serves

Richard McAfee

May 2009 · Human Kinetics

About this ebook

All points in a table tennis game begin with either serving or returning the serve. When serving, you have a huge advantage in putting the receiver on the defensive or perhaps winning a point outright without any further strokes. To perfect your service game, USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Richard McAfee offers Expert Table Tennis Serves, a mini e-book providing expert advice.

By practicing the techniques in this mini e-book, you will be able to keep your opponent guessing with an assortment of short, middepth, and deep serves that produce a variety of spins. You’ll learn how, when, and where to touch the ball, whether using a forehand or backhand serve, while incorporating backspin, topspin, and sidespin.

Master the skills outlined by McAfee and you will be on your way to becoming a confident, high-level player.

The mini e-book Expert Table Tennis Serves is an abridged version of the comprehensive book Table Tennis: Steps to Success (Human Kinetics, 2009). As part of the Steps to Success Sports Series, with more than 1.8 million copies sold, Table Tennis: Steps to Success is the No. 1 resource for learning and loving the game.

About the author

Richard McAfee has a lifelong commitment to table tennis. In his early years, McAfee was a successful player, winning many singles and doubles events including the 1972 U.S. Open Class B Championship and the Southern Open Men's Singles title. Later McAfee began to focus on his true passion of coaching. He has coached national champions in each of the past three decades, seven world-ranked players, and two Olympians.

 In 1994 McAfee was named competition manager for Table Tennis at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. This led to further management positions on the international scene and earned him the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Merit Award. He is also certified by USA Table Tennis (USATT) as a national-level coach, their highest level. Honors include the 2004 U.S. Olympic Committee Doc Counsilman Science Award for table tennis, the 2003 Georgia AAU Coach of the Year award for table tennis, and the 1999 U.S. Committee Developmental Coach of the Year Award for table tennis. McAfee was inducted into the U.S. Table Tennis Hall of Fame in 2005. From 2009-2012, he served as the chairperson of the USATT's National Coaching Advisory Committee. He continues to travel around the world conducting coaching education courses for the International Table Tennis Federation. He has taught more than 800 coaches on four continents.