Combating the uncomfortably high return

Table Tennis Strokes and Technique

Last updated 13 years ago

Andrew Pape

Andrew Pape Asked 13 years ago

Hi,

Many of my opponents have no idea how to return my top/side-spin pendulum serve, including an A-grade player I recently played. The problem was that the ball would be returned too high, and land on the baseline in my backhand corner. I had to move quickly to play a forehand smash, and I made a lot of mistakes. I should have been able to put the 3rd ball away each time, but I realise now that I have too big a back-swing. This caused me to miss-time the smashes. Another problem is that I was playing a game to 21 pts, and even if I had good smashing technique, I have poor stamina, and am incapable of hitting too many winners per game (especially forehands). I've spent ages developing serves, but my spin is coming back to haunt me. After I missed a few easy winners, I got frustrated, and this in turn made me miss more. Also, with each swing, I'd lose stamina, reducing motor control and leading to more mistakes. I realised that I wasn't going to overpower my opponent, so changed tactics and played a counter-attacking game. When I first got coaching, the coach immediately saw my long back-swing. I spent about a year to correct it for my close-to-table counter-hitting game. But fixing the drive didn't fix the smash or the loop.

How do I shorten the length of backswing for smashes and loops (is there an exercise to get rid of my bad technique?), and what would you do with serves? Perhaps I should use the spinny pendulum serves at strategic times, like at the start and near the end of the game? Maybe I should mix up the spin on the pendulum serve (ie use back/side-spin) to encourage the opponent to hit the ball into the net, freeing me from having to play an exhausting winner?

Cheers,

Andrew.

Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Andrew,

It is great that you have developed the serve to a stage where you are receiving high returns.  Don't be too frustrated at that.

I would try serving the ball to a different place on the table so that the return wasn't coming to the backhand corner so much.

You could also do as you said and mix the serve spin so that they are hitting some into the net as well.

I would try to keep smashing the ball.  Just work on reading the serve earlier and moving into position quicker to make the attack.  The other thing to remember is that you don't have to smash the ball hard just because it is high.  Think also about placing the ball and keeping your opponent away from the table so that the next ball light be a bit easier again.

Look at it as a positive that you are receiving the high returns and then work from there. 


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