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Looping/Smashing the ball back on a serve

Receiving

Michael C
Michael C Asked 15 years ago

Hi There,

I am an average player and when someone serves to me it is usally spinny and a bit high but when i try to loop/smash the ball onto the table it either goes out or hits the net.

Do you have any tips or videos to help me out?

Please reply ASAP :D

Alois Rosario
Member Badge Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Michael,

We have just the lessons for you.

Firstly you should try to make a topspin off these shots.  Because the ball has spin you will need to brush the ball to try to negate some of that spin.  Use the Forehand Topspin stroke.

If the ball is really high then maybe you can smash it.  But remember if the ball has a lot of spin, the spin will take effect if you are smashing it because you are not generating your own spin.  Take a look at the lesson on the Forehand Smash.  

I think these may solve your problems.

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Recommended Video

Judging the Length of a Serve

Judging the Length of a Serve

A really important skill in table tennis is to be able to judge if a serve will be short or long. If it's short you won't be able to take a full swing at the ball and hence will need to use either a push or a flick to return the ball. However, if it is coming long then you can make a topspin attack. In this video we give you some tips to help you judge the length of the serve and hopefully this makes you a better returner.

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Thoughts on this question (4)

Axel Haapalahti

Axel Haapalahti Posted 15 years ago

What I like to do is make attacking stroke directly after my opponent has served, when my opponent returns the ball it's a little bit high in the air and there is my oppertunity to smash. I start by smashing the ball a little bit loose, then I start to smash a little bit harder and thats how I got better at smashing
Ji-Soo Woo

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 15 years ago

And pingskills will also be releasing a DVD on return of serve early 2011 which should assist you as well.  In fact, it will be a must-buy for a lot of people because let's face it, if you ask 10 people what their biggest weakness is, you'll probably get at least 7 people say it's their return of serve.
muhsin yesilada

muhsin yesilada Posted 15 years ago

one principle i like to follow is, never try and push or chop a long ball on a serve allways attack it. also once you get to a higher level of table tennis and your playing mor advanced oppenents you will need to have some variation in your counter shots.
Curtis Lewis

Curtis Lewis Posted 15 years ago

I second what JiSoo says on the difficulty of service returns.  It's probably because a lot of players don't realize the many variations a serve can have.  If you are going to smash a serve back, a good rule of thumb for me is to see if the ball is more than twice the height of the net.  That way you have some room to work with.  If its really spinny, you'll probably just have to push it back, with a little underspin.  or you could flip it with your backhand... 

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