Returning underspin serve

Table Tennis Service Return

Last updated 13 years ago

Jon Unknown

Jon Unknown Asked 15 years ago

Hi Alois

In last night's game I was thrashed by a right handed penholder who served choped, short to my BH. I returned with a push as short as possible, nevertheless he followed with a winning loop every time.

For that type of serve, what's the best way to return and where should I try to place the ball?

Cheers

Jon 


Alois Rosario

Alois Rosario Answered 15 years ago

Hi Jon,

Sounds like this guy might be good for starters.

What you were trying to do is what I would recommend first.  First thing to change to is to vary th eposition on the table short.  Some players are good from one side short but not the other.  Think about from you rown point of view, you probably feel more confident pushing short with one side more than the other.  If however you are not able to keep the ball short and low enough it may be better to push the ball deep and fast to the corners.

The other thing to try is to just roll the ball with a bit of topspin or even flick if you can manage it.  Sometimes these sort of players may like the ball coming back with any sort of backspin but might not like the ball with any topspin.

In that situation again, try different things, even if they may not be your strength.  Going with the same thing will probably lead to the same result.


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Thoughts on this question

dadyanke Unknown

dadyanke Unknown Posted 13 years ago

Hi ALois, 

sometimes chop results in two bounces on the side of the reciever after a serve done by the server whose point would it b?? some people say its servers point while rest of them say its recievers point, what do you say? 


Jeff Plumb

Jeff Plumb from PingSkills Posted 13 years ago

That is a really good serve and it is the server's point.

Ji-Soo Woo

Ji-Soo Woo Posted 13 years ago

If someone consistently serves short with heavy backspin then it's a great chance to practice your flip (I especially enjoy the backhand sidespin flip, as per pingskills' own training video).  Just adjust the angle depending on whether you are hitting long or into the net.  It's much harder, of course, if they have more variety on their serve (and can disguise it).  Actually, after I've started using the flip, I find pure backspin serves the easiest to manage.  It's those sidespin serves that muck me up!!  Can't wait for the Pingskills Service Return DVD...I need it!

dadyanke Unknown

dadyanke Unknown Posted 13 years ago

Hi again,

thanx 4 th answer 4 i was in dillema.well good serve will be in case that he backspins the ball but if he cunningly serves very slow then??? 


chip Phatak

chip Phatak Posted 13 years ago

It's still the same result. And its a well placed serve.


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