Returning short reverse pendulum

Hi everyone. I have a mate in my training club whose serve is the reverse pendulum with topspin and sidespin. The problem is that the serve is really short and normally the ball bounces once it passes the net so when I manage to reach the ball it is almost in the second bounce in my field. When I touch the ball with the racquet, i normally do it with the racquet facing the roof because i just want the ball to go back over the net. The prolem is that when I touch the ball it goes up and long. 

I dont understand how to return that kind of serve if the ball is low and close to the net.

Sorry my english.

Mariano

Hi Mariano,

First, your English is very good.

To return this short Reverse Pendulum serve it sounds like you need to come down more on the ball.  Make your stroke more vertical so your stroke makes a line straight down.  If the ball is going up and long then he is probably getting some topspin on the ball.  Most players will serve this serve with sidespin and topspin because it is difficult to get this serve good with backspin.

Another thing that you can do, if it is always going up high is to try to Flick the return.  This will make it easier to get over the ball.