Judging serving length and spin

yeh max Asked 14 years ago

dear sir,

i have see you receiving video and i am try to play with my friend

i am a left hand user . he always serve the ball to the middle between my body  and left  hand

i see your video and keep as low as polssible , but the ball out his hand is very fast. i mean is serving processing is very fast i can not see what spin is and the ball not too short or too long  when receive his serve i am alway confused about if the ball is short ball or long so i can not make good receive action every time i return the ball the ball will too high!

thank you very much      

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Yeh,

Watch the ball very carefully when he is serving.  Judgement of whether the ball is short or long will improve if you keep watching this.  It is not something that can be taught without experience.

Similarly seeing the spin of your opponent is again a matter of firstly understanding the action of the server and then being able to process it quickly enough to react and counter the spin using the angle of your bat.

See if you can get someone to serve to you during your training time and just practice watching to see if the ball is short or long.  In training you can even leave the ball and see if it bounces once or twice on the table.  Eventually you will start to judge this well.