Returning long side spin serves

Toni Ng Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois and Jeff,

I'm playing a social comp and I find myself in trouble returning long side spin serves. I'm still working on using backhand topspin to return the serves as in one of your videos but I haven't got the confidence to do it in a match. I often return the long side spin serves by pushing/chopping. The problem is that with the long serves, my returns are often high and the other player can dominate the point. My next opponent prefer to do long sidespin serves and our recent practice matches are very tight. Can you suggest tips to give me an edge in the coming match. Thank you very much.

Toni

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Toni,

This is a difficult one. Playing the backhand topspin is probably the best long term solution but in the short term, it may be to push the ball back on the table and focus on keeping the ball as low as you can. The other option is to move a little more to your backhand side and if the ball comes long attempt to go around and play a forehand topspin instead of a backhand. At least this will give your opponent something to think about.

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Toni Ng Posted 12 years ago

Thanks Alois for your advice, I'll to put it in the next match.

Alois Rosario from PingSkills Posted 12 years ago

Good to hear, let me know how it goes.

Nicho Marpaung Posted 11 years ago

Another great option is just to block the ball. But in order to do this you must read the spin and depending on the spin, decide the angle of your bat.

If the ball is spinning in left direction, angle your bat towards the right direction when blocking. If tthe ball is spinning in right direction (clockwise), angle your bat towards the left direction. This is to prevent the ball to going out from the table.

You can experiment with the angle and the placement.

Ninux Ad Posted 10 years ago

Well as Alois said , Move a bit to your backhand and hit a controlled topspin ( Do not attempt to kill the ball) move immediately to your ready position is the long term solution it works 100% if the serve is aimed anywhere between your playing elbow and body. But if it is to your deep back hand then you should use only your back hand loop if its underspin or backhand drive is its topspin. Once you practice this sequence with drills you will come to know when to hit forehand and when to hit backhand.

Thanks