Blocking a Fast Flat Topspin

hi alois and jeff,

i have a friend at coaching who play an allround game. i have no problem playing him except for a strange forehand shot he plays... he uses it to loop my backspin. i push rather hard and yet he manages to play a forehand stroke(leftie) that seems to be a combination of a smash and a topspin! it come very fast at me and he hardly misses.

any advice on how i could receive such a shot? if i try to block it , the ball goes into the net. help!

thanks and u guys still rock 

Hi Shripathi,

Firstly think about giving him a lower push so that it is more difficult for him to make his fast topspin shot.

Then when he makes the shot because it is so fast, you need to lift the ball a little.  The speed of the shot will make it feel like the ball has less topspin than it does and it comes out of the bat quickly.