Returning a slow, no-spin ball from a beginner

Hi,

This may be obvious to some, but I have the worst time figuring out what to do when playing a beginner's awkward, high-flying, no-spin balls.   Ironically, I have no problems with fast, spinny, low balls.

 If it's close to the net, I usually "punch" it down with a no-spin swat, with high probability.  But if it's long, the swat technique becomes low probability, and I'm not clear on the best technique to use. 

If I wait too long after it's bounced on the table and passed it's top arc height, the ball's descent is very steep and my top-spin smash has a low probability due to the angle of the ball almost matching my blade angle.  If I catch it as it bounces on the table, I'm usually doing a block stroke.  My typical response is what I call a "bullet push", so it's a high speed push that puts some speed on the ball and some backspin and has a high probability of hitting the table.

Both the block and the push are high probability returns for me, but they strike me as weak, defensive returns, asking for more punishing slow, high-flying balls ;-).

What do you recommend?

thanks!

 -bruce

Hi Bruce,

You know this isn't as silly as it sounds.  I remember I used to have a similar problem with one player I always played, who used to stand back from the table and send in low flying lobs.

I think the issue here is that you don't have any speed to work with and so have to generate the speed yourself.  Also, as you say, the ball drops quickly because it doesn't have any speed or spin on it.

So think about making sure you are generating a full stroke and treat it exactly like a slow ball.  Also I think you need to make sure that you don't treat it like a really easy ball and work at getting into position so that you can generate the speed.  You also need to move quickly so that you get the ball at the peak of its bounce and it doesn't drop too low.

Hope this helps.