Return my own serve

Hi coach,

I have a serve which I taught my friend and I can't return my own serve!! It's a super fast, low, backspin + sidespin serve which bounces twice on the table, and I've tried flicking it but the backspin prevents that, and it's really hard to push because it goes so fast.

Can you teach me how to return my own serve?

Thanks, Andrew

Hi Andrew,

That is an interesting problem.

It would probably be better to push it back because it has backspin.  Have your hand soft and relaxed to try to absorb some of the speed.  Take the ball as early as possible while it is close to the net and low to the table.