Csilla Bátorfi is a Hungarian Table Tennis Legend. She was the first female player to compete at five Olympic Games from 1988 to 2004.

Csilla controlled top spin play, easily changing the pace and tempo. She was famous for her powerful & unpredictable service. Her high toss service, with masterful and dexterous wrist skills to change the spin on the ball, set her apart from all others of her era.

She was the European Champion in Women’s Teams in 1986, 1990 & 2000 the European Champion in Women’s Teams.

In 1988, 1990, 1994 & 2000, she was the European Champion in Women’s Doubles.

In 1994, she was the European Champion in Mixed Doubles.

In 1986 after winning the European Championship in Women’s Singles she was voted Hungarian Sportswoman of the Year.

She was also the Europe Top 12 Winner in 1987, 1992 & 2001.

Currently she is the Chief Trainer at Kinderakademie FC Bayern Munich.

During this lecture she presents her view on what a table tennis player needs to have a good service & why “a good service” is essential for every player in modern Table Tennis.

Part 1

In Part 1:

  • How she started to develop her high toss serve, and the problems she had (0:00–3:03)
  • She presents the key points to learn the fast long serve (3:03– 4:10)
  • The coaches part in helping his/her players to learn, develop & perfect their serve, the 3 main problems: the lack of balls, it’s boring & it hurts (4:10–7:23)
  • She presents the key points to learn the side spin serve (7:23–8:03)
  • Explains the best way to hold the racket to play a forehand serve, the importance of backswing & hitting the ball near the body and near the height of the table (8:03–11:20)
  • She presents the key points to learn the down spin & without spin serve (11:20–13:01)
  • How learning the serve helps a player to develop his/her receive & how to stimulate your player to use the entire table tennis table (13:01– 16:46)
Part 2

In Part 2:

  • Csilla watches some videos and explains the difference between the various techniques (0:00-2:44)
  • She demonstrates the high toss, fast long & side spin serve (2:44-3:29)
  • How a player has to adapt his/her tactics to stay effective & how to develop a young players serve depending on his/her talents (3:29-7:04)
  • She shows how to use the hips, why backswing is important and when you need to stop the racket to make different forehand serves (7:04-8:30)
  • How much you need to practice, why it is fun to have a good serve & tactical differences between the old and new rules and how it changed the game (8:30-11:44)
  • She demonstrates the down spin, without spin & under the foot serve (11:44-12:39)
  • How having a good serve makes you a better receiver & how much it helps you to read other players (12:39-16:32)
Part 3

In Part 3:

  • The difference of using the serve in singles and doubles (0:00-1:36)
  • How she had to learn to serve mostly by herself, how much a player has to practice their serve per week & why it is important for them to practice by themselves (1:36-4:22)
  • Csilla shows different serves (4:22-5:02)
  • How to utilize the hips and synchronize all the elements to get the perfect serve (5:02-6:26)
  • How she perfected her high toss serve, why table tennis is a precision game & why a good serve gives a table tennis player so much advantage (6:26-9:52)
  • Csilla shows her high toss serve (9:52-10:26)
  • Why her high toss has that exact height, what percentage of a players serve should be long serves & why girls use less spin in their game than boys (10:26-12:04)
  • When is the best time to practice a serve, at the beginning, middle or end of the training session, should you vary the time of practicing the serve depending on the length of the training session (12:04-13:42)
  • What types of serves she liked to use at match deciding moments & how she practiced her serve all throughout her career (13:42-15:31)