Attacking serves

Rahul Ramesh Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois,

My friend in my club always smashes the opponent serve which has no backspin. And the question is how to hit or smash a serve which has a minimum amount of spin..... Would be happy if you answer this question as soon as possible...... because I have a national match....... and pingskills is the one which helped me to participate in a national match.!!!!!!!

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Rahul,

To make a smash off a serve you need to hit the ball at the peak of the bounce.

This is something that is easy to do. If the ball is short you need to Flick the ball. To make a strong flick you have to get it at its highest point. If it is long you can make a smash but this is a risky stroke unless the ball is particularly high. You are better to make a fast topspin stroke instead. This is a safer stroke and will be just as effective as a smash.

← Deceptive serving Backhand counterhit →

Arnab Ghosh Posted 12 years ago

But I think as most professional players do, one should play the first ball safe and return it as a chop as close to the net as possible, then attack if possible at the return. Its way more efficient that way.

What do you guys think of this?
Arnab.

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Hi Arnab,

You are right because the professionals tend to serve the ball short and often with backspin because they know that if they serve long it will be an easy attack. That is why most of their returns are short pushes as a response.

Arnab Ghosh Posted 12 years ago

Thanks Alois for that reply. I would also like to know if you would suggest players to always serve short with backspin like the professional players do or would you like them to serve long and maybe force an error as their opponents try to attack the long ball?

Arnab.

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Hi Arnab,

This depends on the level of the player you are playing. If they have a strong attack then you need to work at serving short. If they don;t have a good attack, and you are better than them in the open rally then it is a good idea to serve long and fast and try to draw the error on the return.

Long term though you need to think about learning to serve short well because the better level you get to the better your opponents will be at making strong attacks.

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Hi Arnab,

As Alois mentions, a short serve is an incredibly important tactic. However I don't think it's a good idea to serve 100% of your serves short. You should throw in the occasional long serve as a surprise tactic.

Arnab Ghosh Posted 12 years ago

Okay. Thanks to both for the advice.

Attacking serves

Table Tennis Service Return

Rahul Ramesh Asked 12 years ago

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Thoughts on this question

Arnab Ghosh Posted 12 years ago

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Arnab Ghosh Posted 12 years ago

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Arnab Ghosh Posted 12 years ago

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