Left Hander return

lefty from thailand Unknown Asked 15 years ago

i always have a problem with the long serve .i am a lefty,my opponent served to my forehand at the end of the table.i return crosscourt by forehand topspin(hook) the ball droped to his backhand side but he moved  to the left of the table and smashed to my back hand side. i am not often return that kind of ball. what should i do? the second question is,when he serve to my backhand ,he just serve ordinary short ball no spin but the ball drop very close to the net as the same i can't handle with it. pls help me. sorry for the language.because i am not good at english. just the man from thailand who love pingpong and your website. thank you again for your kind ness.                   lefty from thailand.   

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Soonthorn,

Thanks for your questions.

If they serve long to your forehand I always found a good reurn was to play that ball down the line.  Many players don't like that ball because they move over to their backhand corner after they serve wide to the forehand.  Just spin the ball with topspin and place it well.  It doesn't need to be fast.

When they serve short to your backhand with no spin, try to fick the ball.  Take a look at the lesson on Backhand Flicking.  Otherweise, use a very soft grip and drop the ball short back to them.  Because it is close to the net it is a little easier to get the ball short back on their side.  The problem is because he has no spin on th eball the ball will tend to pop up high.  That is why you need very soft hands with little forward motion to push the ball back short.

I hope this helps you next time.