Best YouTube tutorials for the killer-serve shortlist — Storyboard

Contact near the handle for the no-spin twin: that part of the blade has moved through a smaller arc, so it imparts less spin^[14]. Same arm path, same wrist snap — straighten the bat at the last moment for no-spin, brush under for backspin^[5]^[11].

Cue · A2 — Tap, don't brush

Two community supplements that earn their keep: tap flat instead of brushing on the no-spin twin, and stomp the foot at contact to mask the softer ball-blade sound^[17].

Cue · A3 — Grip

Prerequisite from PingSkills: drop the three lower fingers off the handle into a fist, grip with thumb and index only, slide the index further onto the backhand rubber^[4]. Without it the wrist can't snap fast enough for heavy spin.

Cue · A4 — Pre-roll drill

Larry Hodges' progression: toss-and-spin off-table first, then contact at the very bottom of the ball ~6 inches up; first bounce near the net so the second bounce dies on opponent's end-line^[9]. EmRatThich layer: loose grip, bat tilted slightly inward, slow-and-spinny before adding speed, ~16 cm legal toss^[10].

Long fast no-spin
· to the elbow

Sequence B · 4 frames
Low contact · own endline

Super fast long serve with Drinkhall thumbnail

5:57

How to do a SUPER FAST long serve

● Tom Lodziak × Paul Drinkhall

211K views ● Pro demo ● 3rd-ball-attack framing

2:50

How To Serve Fast And Long

● PingSkills · Alois Rosario

1.6M views ● Tightest 3-min version

4 fast and furious long serves thumbnail

14:48

4 Fast & Furious Long Serves · Outsmart Your Opponents

● Craig Bryant — TT Service Guy

88K views ● Deep dive · skidding deceptions

Fast pendulum no-spin tutorial thumbnail

~2 min

FAST Pendulum Serve Tutorial · No Spin

● MLFM Table Tennis

May 2020 ● Mimic spin motion at higher pace

Cue · B1 — Drop low

Low toss; contact at or below net height; let the ball drop further than feels comfortable. Aim the first bounce on your own endline corner so the trajectory stays flat and forward^[27]^[29]. Targets: elbow / crossover, or wide deep backhand^[27].

Cue · B2 — Frequency

2–3 per game vs attackers. Lodziak says you can ride it up to ~80% vs passive opponents who don't punish you^[28]. Test once early and let the opponent's response set the cadence.

Cue · B3 — Drill

Lodziak's 3rd Ball Drill 2: serve half-long backspin to the feeder's elbow, attack the weak return. Receive Drill 2: feeder serves long sidespin to backhand or elbow^[31].

Forehand
tomahawk

Sequence C · 6 frames
Throw the axe · short to FH

The Easiest Serve to Learn — Tomahawk thumbnail

tutorial

The EASIEST Serve to Learn — Tomahawk Tutorial

● TableTennisDaily

Sep 2024 ● Most current beginner-friendly walk-through

tutorial

4 Steps to learn the World's Best Tomahawk Serve

● Dimitrij Ovtcharov

Jan 2022 ● Pro source · uses this serve in match play

~3 min

Low Tomahawk Serve

● PingSkills · Alois Rosario

Feb 2012 ● Best technique fundamentals

UTT clip

Tomahawk Serve Tutorial · UTT

● Adam Bobrow

Aug 2019 ● Throwing-axe motion · entertaining

~3 min

Forehand Tomahawk Serve · Topspin

● TableTennisDaily

May 2020 ● Side-topspin variant · brush up the back

demo

Tomahawk Serve by William Henzell

● ttEDGE

Mar 2015 ● 3-time Olympian · slow, low, hard-to-attack

Cue · C1 — Body

Canonical action across coaches: lift the elbow, tip-up grip, throw the tomahawk. Brush starting at the upper-right rear of the ball, finish underneath^[42]. Variations universally taught: sidespin, sidespin-topspin (brush up), sidespin-backspin (brush down)^[36]^[38].

Cue · C2 — Placement

Samson Dubina's tactical rule: serve from the forehand side into the receiver's wide forehand for maximum break-away angle^[41]; ExpertTableTennis says short to opponent's forehand 95% of the time^[42]. Larry Hodges confirms the chaos: "tremendous sidespin that breaks away from the receiver, frequently causing a last-second lunge … leading to many mistakes"^[43].

Upgrade ·
reverse pendulum

Sequence D · 5 frames
Outside · inward · L→R sidespin

5 Steps Master Reverse Pendulum thumbnail

8:16

5 Steps To Master The Reverse Pendulum Serve

● TTD Academy · Dan Ives

798K views ● Oct 2019 ● Cleanest path · written companion

Backspin reverse pendulum PingSkills thumbnail

short

Learn the Backspin Reverse Pendulum Serve

● PingSkills

2.57M views ● Hardest variation · genuine backspin

Pendulum and reverse pendulum side by side thumbnail

demo

Pendulum & Reverse Pendulum Serve

● PingSkills

797K views ● Apr 2008 ● Side-by-side contrast

LODZIAK
× ANDERSON

FULL LESSON

site

Master the Reverse Pendulum Serve

● Tom Lodziak × Tyla Anderson

Lesson page ● Includes return-challenge segment

8:30

Learning KILLER Reverse Pendulum Serve

● MLFM Table Tennis

315K views ● Nov 2019 ● Popular alt walk-through

Cue · D1 — 5 steps

Learn in this order: (1) wrist-only feel, square to the table; (2) add forearm side-on, elbow lifted to make backswing space; (3) layer waist/shoulder rotation; (4) vary contact point — cut under for backspin, brush around the side for topspin; (5) drill solo (serves don't need a partner)^[44].

Cue · D2 — Mechanics

EmRatThich frames it: racket moves outside-inward, generating right-to-left sidespin (opposite the regular pendulum); spin direction changes with racket angle and contact point; "heavily used by professional players like Zhang Jike"^[51].

Credits · Channels worth subscribing to

The directors

Coach · UK 275K subs

Tom Lodziak

TT England Level-2 coach, trained under Timo Boll's former coach Richard Prause^[57].

Best forBest fit for amateurs — explicit league-player framing^[58].

Coach · AUS 200K subs

PingSkills

Jeff Plumb (Sydney 2000 Olympian) + Alois Rosario (Australian Olympic/Paralympic coach 2012–2024)^[55]^[56].

Best forTightest, most-watched serve primers — short videos, crisp cues.

Studio · UK 443K subs

TableTennisDaily / Academy

Dan Ives (semi-pro, sport-coaching degree)^[59] + Andrew Baggaley (English No. 1, world No. 139)^[60].

Best forHighest production value; reverse pendulum + ghost serve tutorials.

Specialist · UK 79.6K subs

The TT Service Guy

Craig Bryant. Channel is only about serves^[32].

Best forHighest-density single source for serve drills.

Coach · FR 250K subs

PingSunday
· EmRatThich

France-based club coach, Sorbonne PhD, Chinese-philosophy lens^[61].

Best forThe "why" behind technique; pro-player breakdowns.

Coach · USA small

Brian Pace
· Dynamic TT

USATT Certified National Coach, peak rating 2610^[64].

Best forUS-based coaching credentials, deep technique series.

Skip for serves Commentator 1.43M subs

Adam Bobrow

Official ITTF commentator since 2014^[62].

Best forEntertainment-leaning — fun, not your primary instruction.

Skip for serves Trick-shot 4.67M subs

Pongfinity

Finnish trick-shot trio; Otto + Miikka are semi-pro^[63].

Best forEntertainment, not coaching — skip for serve learning.

Independent rankings put PingSkills, Lodziak, TableTennisDaily and PingSunday at the top tier of coaching channels^[66].

B-roll · Watch the pros

Slow-motion reels

When the technique videos saturate, switch to slow-motion pro footage to model rhythm. Each pairs with a serve above.

Dimitrij Ovtcharov

4 Steps to learn the World's Best Tomahawk

Pairs with Tomahawk

Zhang Jike

Reverse Pendulum Serve · Tutorial & Secret

Pairs with Reverse pendulum

Zhang Jike · slow-mo

Reverse Pendulum Serve Slow Motion

Pairs with Reverse pendulum · visual modelling

Ma Long

Why Ma Long has very good pendulum serve

Pairs with Pendulum + 3rd-ball attack

Paul Drinkhall

SUPER FAST long serve walk-through

Pairs with Long fast no-spin

William Henzell

Henzell tomahawk demo

Pairs with Tomahawk · slow, low variant

Call sheet · One-week shooting schedule

Watch order

Day 01OPENING

Watch 4 killer serves once^[26]. Drill the short pendulum backspin off-table (Hodges progression) before going on-table^[9].

Off-table → on-table
Toss + brush bottom of ball

Day 02PAIR

Watch Backspin and No Spin Variations^[13]. Drill the pair from the same arm path; cue is contact-near-handle for no-spin^[14].

Same motion · two balls
Tap flat for the float

Day 03SPEED

Watch SUPER FAST long serve with Drinkhall^[24]. 50 reps to the elbow, low toss, first bounce on your own endline.

Low toss · low contact
50 reps → elbow target

Day 04AXE

Watch EASIEST Serve to Learn — Tomahawk^[39]. Drill short tomahawks to opponent's forehand.

Tip-up grip · throw the axe
Short to FH · 95% rule

Day 05AUDIT

Service-game audit — Lodziak's 3rd-ball drills^[31].

Half-long backspin
→ FH topspin attack

Day 06+UPGRADE

Add the reverse pendulum via the TTD Academy 5 steps^[7] only after the first three serves are automatic.

Wrist → forearm → body
Vary contact · drill solo

⊠ Cutting-room floor — what to skip

Pongfinity for serve learning^[63] — entertainment, not coaching.
Adam Bobrow as primary instruction^[62] — fun, demo-heavy; supplement only.
Killerspin / Megaspin product channels — retailer marketing, sparse on technique.
Channel re-uploads. Several pendulum tutorials surface on a "Table Tennis Junkie" mirror channel rather than the original PingSkills channel; verify the uploader before subscribing.

END · REEL 1 · 4 SERVES · 4 CHANNELS · ONE WEEK · ALL FRAMES SOURCED FROM YOUTUBE / OFFICIAL CHANNELS

Short pendulum· backspin / no-spin pair

Long fast no-spin· to the elbow

Forehandtomahawk

Upgrade ·reverse pendulum