returning the fast low serve
Table Tennis General
Last updated 14 years ago
alex Unknown Asked 14 years ago
there's this guy at our club (yeah, he's the one who always wins) who has been sweeping me away in games with his serve. he hits it fast and low and makes returning it a right pain. I can't clear the net because i don't have enough room to make an upward stroke to carry the ball onto his side. i tried angling my bat upwards but this just pops the ball and then he smashes it. do you have any tips on how to stop this? thanks!
Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago
Hi Alex,
Try pushing the ball back but you need to brush the bottom of the ball to generate your own spin and keep the ball low.
This is a difficult part of Table Tennis.
Take a look at the lesson on the forehand push. This may help you out.
Thoughts on this question
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Ji-Soo Woo Posted 14 years ago
Does he have a good short serve as well?
If he doesn't, and he always does long fast serves, you could cheat a bit and wait further back off the table. With a little more time to do your stroke, you should be able to put enough topspin to dip it down on the opponent's side. Seems a waste not to attack a long serve.
Also, just a thought but does he toss up the ball sufficiently? It is much easier to do fast serves off low (illegal) tosses and sometimes when you see people with great fast serves at club level it is because they actually don't toss the ball up 16cm. Just an observation.
Ji-Soo Woo Posted 14 years ago