Receiving very (yes very) fast long services
Receiving
knarf ... from France Asked 5 years ago
Dear Coach,
Thanks for your help (and your indulgence on my writing, as English is not may mother tongue): I used to play against a player who serves very fast and long (slightly topspin, but not that much). He generally serves either in diagonal (from his right angle of the table, to my right angle) or parallel to the table (from his right angle to my left angle). The ball is very fast and long bouncing very near my edge of the table.
I have no time to do anything, but try a block. But the ball is so strong and fast that most of the time the ball bounces on my bat and goes outside of the table (this is why I think there is some topspin effect). I tried to angle down as much as possible my bat, but the ball still goes too far away (I mean, 5 to 10 cm too long). And if I angle it down more, then the ball hits the edge of my bat.
I tried to topspin, but cannot do the full movement, as the ball has already gone beyond my bat. Same if I want to chop it. Or generally the ball goes back up and I finish with a smash on the third ball...
So, how can I return such services?
Thanks very much for your advice.
(French) knarf
Alois Rosario Answered 5 years ago
Hi Knarf,
The fast serve can be blocked or you can put a little topspin back on the ball. You don't need to do a full topspin stroke but just a small topspin action on the block to get the ball back down onto the table.
The other thing that will help is to have a more relaxed hand. This will absorb the power on the ball.
Think mainly about the direction of your return. Try to put the ball into a difficult place for you opponent.
Glad you are enjoying the site and that we able to help.
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John Kao Posted 5 years ago
Hi Knarf,
Sometimes, when the ball is travelling very fast, it will generate a little topspin by itself due to its half-rolling-half-bouncing movement on the table. So if you see a quick-serve, close your bat angle a little bit to counter the topspin even though your opponent did not generate it :)
knarf ... from France Posted 5 years ago
Hi Rosario,
Thanks for your answer. I feel that I'll try to return with a relaxed hand, as if I was absorbing the speed. I trust I did it sometimes without being aware of it. And it worked. At least, the ball came back on the table... ;o) But now that you mentioned this point, I'll try to do it "consciously". For the small topspin effect, it should come on a second time probably... I'll let you know.
John Kao, thanks for your explanation. Yes, it is surely the case: the rotation comes from the speed when the ball bounces on the table and does like a topspin. The problem is that I tried to lower the angle of the bat, as you said, but the difference between: the ball hits the bat and "flies" beyond the table of the opponent, and, the ball hits the edge of the bat is very thin. I trust less than 0.5°.
So, I will work on the "relaxed" hand and then, once I can return, work on a small topspin to surprise my opponent.
Thanks for your kind support,
All the best
knarf
Great news Knarf. Well done on making the changes and improvements.