Receiving pendulum serve
Service Return
Grenville Pereira Asked 11 years ago
Hi Alois / Jeff
I need help in receiving pendulum serve from a right hander. as I am a left hander the serve goes across to my forehand.
It has heavy side spin and the ball spins off my bat. I am not sure on the amount of topspin or down spin on the ball.
The serve is sometimes short and sometimes long but mostly served cross court to my forehand. What can I do to be consistent to receive variations of these pendulum serves.
Thanks
Regards
Grenville
Alois Rosario Answered 11 years ago
Hi Grenville,
One of the keys I find with this return is to get close to the ball. I find the trigger of getting my nose close to the ball helps me. From there I have better control.
Next it is a matter of watching the ball all the way and following the bounce and spin. This like any other return of serve requires experience of those serves. Get someone to serve this serve repeatedly at you for as long os possible.
Thoughts on this question
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Grenville Pereira Posted 11 years ago
Hi Alois
Thanks for the points you mentioned. I too felt that I was reaching out and did not have control. I will keep this in mind while receiving this serve to move closer to the ball.
Also another point was that when I topspin the ball goes over the table or the side spin from the serve tends to affect my shot . How do I avoid this .
Thanks
Regards
grenville
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago
Hi Grenville,
Yes give the getting closer a try and let me know. As for the going off the end and side this is a matter of reading the spin on the serve. Learn with each return you make and watch to see what happens. Build up that database of information that we talk about.
Grenville Pereira Posted 11 years ago
Hi Alois
On facing the same opponent again , I remembered the points that was discussed and implemented the same.
As he was angling the ball across me , I moved as close to the ball as possible and found that I was more consistent in returning the serve by topspinning or counterhitting . I was able to win by scores of 21-9 , 21-8 when previously I used to have scores of 21-19 , 20 - 22 ( loss ) . I knew that the big difference was the service return . Thanks for the key points you mentioned.
I am still in the process of learning and building up a database for his variations . I am also not too comfortable with the forehand flick which I want use consistently against his short pendulum topspin, which I am working on.
Regards
Grenville
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago
Hi Grenville,
Wow that is a big change you have made. Well done. Now for the flick and he may not get any points!
Grenville Pereira Posted 11 years ago
Hi Alois
I know it sounds impossible but actually this is the only opponent which has a right hand pendulum service with variations and I was not used to the same. In the simliar way he was not used to my pendulum serves as well.
When I used to take a lead with my serves say 4-1 , he used to catch up to say 5-5 and the matches used to go neck to neck.
Now with taking his serves I am able to keep the score to say 8-2 or 7-3 and once I get a lead normally in a match I tend to feel more confident and open up and start using aggressive shots like forehand topspins of difficult balls and so on.Once i get a lead I normally capitalize on it .
The forehand flick is something I always wanted to be a part of my strokes , but not yet and I am working on it using my robot and studying your videos repeatedly.
Thanks
Gren
Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 11 years ago
A small change with your receive and having a lead can also make him more tentative with his serve. All good for you.