Opponents Return of Serve is too fast

Tim Yearneau Asked 13 years ago

Our School is having a little PP tournament.  One of the players is exceptional and has a lighting quick fast paced return which nets him a tremendous amount of winners.  As an example, one server served to the receivers forehand, towards the corner.  The serve was medium height in terms of bounce. the receiver, the exceptional player, pounced on it with a lighting fast flick of the wrist and slammed it down the the line on the server's backhand.  The server had no chance.  What is the best way, as the server, to prevent this player from doing this?   What is the best way for a server to handle this kind of player?  Thanks in advance.

Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Tim,

The best remedy for this is to serve the ball low and close to the net.  As you develop your game you will find this a really useful serve.  At the top level most players will serve this type of serve.  It will take some time to master now but if you do, you will have a serve that is effective as you improve your game.

Start by putting a target on the table about 30cm from the net.  Try to hit the target and still keep the ball just skimming over the net.  Practice this till the tournament and see if you can stop him from attacking you.