How to deal with long fast serves
Receiving
Krishnagopal Thogiti Asked 7 years ago
Today, I played with one of my play buddies. He served a long fastball to the corner. How to deal with those. As it was a serve, I didn't know where he would serve long, short, left, right. Hence I stood in the neutral stand around a foot back from the edge of the table.
I tried to loop the ball with topspin or counter hit the ball. The ball either went into the net or outside the table. I am very much frustrated.
I want to know how can I return the ball in the best possible way.
Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago
Hi Krishnagopal,
This is normal. It is good that you are standing in a central position to cover all four options. The next thing is to make sure you are watching the ball from the server's hand. This watching will give you a little more time to see where the ball is coming. The if it is long, you should make a simple topspin stroke to return the ball. Don't try to make a big stroke, just use the speed of the serve to return the ball.
We do have a tutorial on something similar to this. Returning the flat long serve. If yo look in the Intermediate Receiving section in particular you will see a few options there for video answers.
Recommended Video
Returning Examples Commentary
Alois and Jeff commentate on some footage of Alois returning serves and explain his thought process as he gets ready and then executes his return of serve.
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