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[729 fx]

During the serve, do you throw the ball vertically or at an angle near to vertical (like Ma Lin)? And what is the reason for doing that?

[varghese]

The ITTF rule says the ball need to be thrown 6 inches high straight up. The server should not spin the ball. There should be absolutely zero rotation on the ball. I have been part of some discussions where Ma Lin's serves are legal or not. Since I have not seen referees penalizing Ma lin for his serves, I think his serves seem to be legal. I think the ball he serves are still vertical but curve down after a certain height. I can only say that Ma Lin has so much control on the ball to make that happen.

In the case of Ma Lin, he has so much deception in his serves. There are some International referees who have refereed matches between Ma Lin and others have told me Ma Lin is a man of deception while serving. In my opinion, Ma Lin is getting an advantage of tricking his opponents. He does not give a room for his opponent to predict what he is doing on the ball - whether it is top, under.

At one tournament last year, I introduced a certain high toss serve. All the players who have played against me had trouble figure out what was I doing. It's all about tricking the opponent so that they don't predict what do you do.

[ejunkie]

The more close to the body the ball is the easier to control the serve (with the body and legs--it's a full stroke like any other shots; see LGL) So a slight angle is prefered as long as it is not illegal.

[729 fx]

Yes, that is so true.

Tossing the ball high up when serving normally keeps your opponent in awe (especially the novice one, not the experience one). One actually should look at the bat of the player, not the ball.