Gravity-defying Moves

While there are certain basic rules to sepak takraw, the game varies according to the type of being played, as well as the place where it is being played. In a village, for example, there is often no referee. The winning player is usually the one who puts on the best show.

The intricacy and speed of the methods used to send the ball aloft are sensational. The basics involve the sole kick (using the arch or sole of the foot), the instep kick, knee kick, shin kick, shoulder kick, or head kick. The more advanced maneuvers are cross-legged jump kick, (crossing your left leg over your right and leaping up to kick the ball with the instep of the left foot). Another version is the cross-legged knee kick, for which the player crosses his left leg over his right above the right knee, and then leaps into the air kicking the ball with his right knee.

A spike is much more difficult in sepak takraw than volleyball, because slamming the ball down hard means getting your feet above the net. The movement required is a bit like a bicycle kick in football, jumping and flipping in the air to kick the ball. After a bicycle kick a footballer usually lands on their back, but professional sepak takraw players are athletic enough to execute a spike and land on their feet. A good spike or spiker is often referred to as the 'killer'.

The most breathtaking and difficult of these feats are known as the roll spike, where the player leaps into the air to kick the ball over the opposite shoulder, and the 'sunback' or stingray spike, a similar scissors kick but over the same shoulder. Perhaps the most brutal kick of all is the horse-kick serve, made famous by Thailand's Suebsak Phunsueb, who is widely regarded as the best player in the world. Suebsak has been confounding opponents for a decade by serving the ball to opponents at a blistering pace using the sole of his shoe.