Returning short heavy backspin serve

nick persad Asked 10 years ago

What is the most effective way to return a short ball with a lot of backspin or sidespin in an attacking way because all I have been doing is pushing the ball back over but as I may stretch it may go high and I get smashed so how to play an attacking ball on that type of ball.

Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago

Hi Nick,

You can make a Forehand Flick stroke.  You need to allow for the backspin on the ball by opening the face of your racket or putting more topspin on the flick to grip the ball and lift it over the net.  It is not an easy stroke, but it is possible.

If you open the face, the ball will go faster but you don't have much margin for error on the stroke. If you put topspin, the return will be safer but also slower.