How do i play side spin

There is a guy at our school who serves and plays with a lot of spin and i can never beat him. I would like to know how to return a spining ball. I have tried play a standard block and i also have tried countering the spin but it always goes off the side of the table. what am i doing wrong

Thanks

Andrew Carlin 

Hi Andrew,

Just use your bat like a rudder.  Angle it to counter the spin. If the ball is going off to the right, angle your bat to face the left and vice versa.

Returning spin is the hardest part of table tennis.  Play against a lot of people and try to play as many different serevs as you can.  Then you will master the return of serve.