Table Tennis Doubles Hand Signals

Written By Matthew Lim

As far as I know, there are no universally agreed hand signals for table tennis doubles serves. You can just discuss with your partner before the game to agree on them.

Below are the ones that I find generally useful. The general rules are:

  • Showing pinky (last) finger indicates backspin

  • Showing thumb indicates topspin

  • Not showing pinky nor thumb indicates no spin

  • Showing index (second) finger indicates long

  • Not showing index finger indicates short

Some might indicate sidespin by pointing a finger left or right.

Some might indicate long by waving their hand forward but I find even when done under the table, the opponent can see the arm waving, giving away unnecessary info to the opponent. So I prefer to just use the index finger to indicate long or short.

Matthew Lim
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