Serve reply

Hi coaches,

I have an opponent in my club who always does the same type of serve, a short sidespin serve. My question is when i can topspin the serve without having the fear of the miss? I mean, i usually just push the ball back, but my opponent attack the 3rd ball. So, when can i understand that i can attack the serve?

Hi Omonoiadam,

If the ball is only going to bounce once on your side then you can topspin it.  If it going to bounce twice then it is probably better for you to push the ball back.  If you are finding that your opponent is getting an easy ball to hit, then think about getting the ball shorter and lower.  You can do this by having your hand more relaxed and not giving it any forward momentum yourself.

In practice you can also put a little target on the table about 30 cm from the net and try to hit the target.