Returning a pendulum serve

Hi Jeff,

I was wondering...  When i played a penhold player, he used a pendulum, and reverse pendulum serve..  For some reason, the only return i could do, was just loop the thing... I don't know how much spin was on it, but i couldn't push it back like i usually do. 

Thanks

SAM 

Hi Sam,

He was probably getting quite a lot of spin on the ball which made it harder for you to push.

When you topspin the serve you are putting your own spin on the ball which means you are getting rid of some of the spin your opponent has put on the serve.  This sometimes makes it easier to cope with.  If the serve comes long you should try to topspin it.  If the ball is short then you will need to push of flick the return.