Receiving short serves on forehand

Receiving

Ravinder Verma Asked 7 years ago

I am a Right Hand player using Shakehand grip.

My specific questions:

Should my feet be moving while preparing to receive a serve?
My mind often goes blank for the few microseconds. Generally, I find it difficult to decide upon a strategy and anticipating while receiving serves whereas I am very good in anticipating the ball-in-play later during a point.
Most important - short serves on forehand - should I ALWAYS use forehand to lift or do I occasionally use my backhand?
In any case, please send me a link to receiving serves.

Alois Rosario Answered 7 years ago

Hi Ravinder,

If the ball is short on the forehand you can use your forehand or you can step around and use your backhand if that feels more comfortable.

The options are to push, flick or if the ball does go long then topspin the return as well. You can use the Banana Flick as a further option.

Take a look at the tutorial on Deciding Which Return to Play. That might also help.

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Judging the Length of a Serve

A really important skill in table tennis is to be able to judge if a serve will be short or long. If it's short you won't be able to take a full swing at the ball and hence will need to use either a push or a flick to return the ball. However, if it is coming long then you can make a topspin attack. In this video we give you some tips to help you judge the length of the serve and hopefully this makes you a better returner.

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