Position after backhand serve

Shripathi ramakrishnan Asked 12 years ago

Hi alois and jeff,

My coach has taught me a new backhand technique and wants me to focus on bh for a while now . He says best way to get feeling for bh is to practice backhand serves and play a lot of 3rd balls but i havent had much success with a 3rd ball after backhand serve cuz i cant seem to flow into a ready position. Where do i stand to get a good ready position after the bh serve?

Also i notice most of the balls tend to come to my forehand . this is probably due to the sidespin . is there nothing that can be done about this?

Just like the pendulum serve where u serve into backhand wide of the other player) where do i serve with this?

Lastly how to handle short balls?

Thanks a bunch!

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Shripathi,

With the backhand serve stand as close to your ready position as you can.  This is quite easy with the backhand serve.  Some players like Ovtcharov stand a long way over to their forehand side.  This works for him but it is not a stance I would recommend to most players.  If you do this and they return the ball to your forehand it does become an awkward angle for the next ball.

Stand a little to the backhand side of the middle line where you would stand for your Ready Position.