Improving your serve in Sepak Takraw

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Service is undoubtedly an important aspect of sepak takraw. Regarded as an offensive move, a good serve can prevent the opponent from rallying back, earning the server’s team a point. Here, we shall look at some tips that will help a player to improve his or her serve on the court.

Stance

Anticipating the ball from the feeder is imperative. In order to be ready to serve whenever the ball is fed to you, you must always maintain a preparatory position, and be alert. Stand with your feet apart and bend your knees slightly. Then push your weight forward a little, and keep your body pressed down. When serving, your weight will be shifted to your support leg, so it is necessary to ensure that it is stable. Keep bending on that leg as you serve with the other.

Relax

While it is important to be alert and ready for the ball, being too tense could be counter-productive. Do not concentrate on hitting the ball hard in order to sabotage your opponent’s chances of volleying, as focusing too much on strength might well cost you the perfect serve. Instead, you should kick the ball in a controlled and relaxed manner, working on your kicking technique.

Timing

Sepak takraw is a high-speed sport. This often makes it difficult for players to accurately gauge when the ball is coming and where it is coming from. Although this is a problem that occurs for both sides when rallying, servers may use it to their advantage. It is, therefore, imperative that the feeder and server find an opportune moment to execute a serve. This kick should also be extremely quick, so that the opponents would not have enough time to react well to it.

Practise, practise, practise!

As with any other sport, practice is of the utmost importance. Work together with a feeder, and practise serving without the distraction of an opponent. Work on just one type of serve at a time, and only move on to the next technique when you perceive significant improvement.

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