Returning a very spinny and tricky serve
Receiving
Tanishq Tripathi Asked 9 years ago
Hi coach
I am an intermediate player and I am from India I had played in various competitions and the one big problem which I came across is returning the spinny and tricky serves.
There is one of my rivals whose serve always troubles me as his serve is quite spinny and speedy and throughout the the match I lose most of my points in returning his spinny serves these spinny serves have a great speed.
So plz suggest me some ways to tackle this situation.
Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago
Hi Tanishq,
You are right that returning serves is the most difficult part of the game.
The most important thing is to look at the contact of the bat on the ball. Over time you will start to recognise the type of spin he is putting on. Then don't try to do too much with the return. Just use the angle of your racket to counteract the direction the ball wants to go to.
Recommended Video
How to Return Spin Serves in Table Tennis (and Stop Misreading Them!)
Struggling to return spin serves? You're not alone! In this video, we break down how to read spin, adjust your bat angle, and return serves effectively—so you stop giving away easy points.
What You'll Learn:
🔹 Skill Breakdown: How to identify different types of spin and adjust your return technique.
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Mastering serve returns is one of the fastest ways to level up your table tennis game. Try these tips and let us know in the comments: What’s the toughest spin serve you face?
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Nicolas Matthew Posted 9 years ago
Also about the speed of the serve, keep your distance and the table around the length of your arm. This will ensure more reaction and thinking time before receiving his serve.
Tanishq Tripathi Posted 9 years ago
Hi Coach
If the serve has great spin and and great speed and it comes at the backhand as if it comes on forehand I can attack it by topspin but what about backhand ?
Hi Tanishq,
You can topspin with the backhand as well. Try standing a few centimetres further away from the table when receiving. This will give you a little more time to see the serve and play your shot.
Use a topspin stroke like the Backhand Topspin Off Backspin stroke.
Bungo Bobbo Posted 9 years ago
I was losing quite badly (2 games to 0) and was down 3-1 so I chose to sacrifice a point by keeping my blade still and parallel to the table when the opponent served. It clearly showed the spin on the ball when it launched off, and I learned how to attack it. I still lost the match, but it was 4-2 instead of 4-0. This was, of course, a desperate move to learn a serve return that had dismantled me.
Interesting idea Jehron.
Does anyone else think this is a good idea?
Jean Balthazar Posted 9 years ago
I do think it's a good idea. Normally I will try to adjust my returns attempts gradually based on what I think is in the serve and what I tried to do with my return, but sometimes when you're totally bamboozled by a serve that just doesn't have the effect that it seems to have when you look at it, just presenting a dead vertical bat to it once and see how the ball actually bounces of from it, is probably a good investment for the rest of the match.