Receiving fast tomahawk serve into the body

Abhinav Upadhyay Asked 9 years ago

Hi Alois,

I have had trouble in receiving long tomahawk serves from right handed players into my body (me being a lefty). It's right into my body and a bit fast as well, I am unable to do the pivot footwork and do forehand topspin. If I try to use my backhand block or topspin, the sidespin dominates and it goes towards the side. What can I do?

By the way, wanted to say, I have been catching up with all the Ask The Coach shows, have to say that I really enjoy watching it, the discussion is quite engaging, and I like the jokes between you and Jeff as well, keep it going :-)

Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago

Hi Abhinav,

Glad you are enjoying the Ask the Coach Shows.

I find this one the most difficult serve to return just because of the angle of the ball coming into me. I find it is more to do with the sidespin and getting the angle of my bat right.  Try to open the angle of your bat up with your wrist.  This will counter the sidespin on the ball.

The issues with the placement being into your middle can be solved by having a wider stance.  With a wider stance you don't have to move as much and can sway to the side to either use your forehand or backhand.