Receiving deceptive serves

Jeff M Asked 9 years ago

Hi Alois and Jeff, I have a basic understanding in receiving serves that are obvious, but there is this particular player at our club that is very skilled in producing deceptive serves. It is giving me a lot of problems, because he serves short, with a variation of back spin and top spin. The deception area that he uses include adding a motion after the contact of the ball, and the stomp of the foot. Do people always contact the ball when they stomp the foot? If not, would people stomp the foot before contacting the ball or after contacting the ball to add deception to the serve? If so, what tips can you give me in trying to read the serve? Should I try to avoid listening to the stomp since it will add confusion to myself? Thanks

Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago

Hi Jeff,

The most important thing is to watch the ball and the contact of the serve.  This will give you a lot of information as to the type of serve it is.

The stomp and the additional motion after the contact of the serve doesn’t matter at all and you will start to not even notice it if you are totally focused on the ball.