Service Return when spin is not known

Grenville Pereira Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois \ Jeff

I know I would have asked similar questions but the reason is that I am still trying to work on effective service returns and need more advise.

Many times I do not read the spin properly i.e of some strange service actions which opponents do not use regularly and I follow the approach in this case to:

a) guide the ball by angling the bat based on the side spin

b) hold the handle a bit loose to have a cushioning effect when I suspect the ball to have topspin but with the blade facing upwards I can manage the return if the ball does not have topspin as well,

Is this a good approach . I am able to push well and also started to flick but I wanted to know how to return a service when I am not sure on the spin but I do not want to take a risk to attack the ball.

Thanks

Grenville

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Grenville,

It sounds like you are getting the ideas.  If you are not sure the best thing is to push the ball to the middle of the table.  The really important part though is to make sure you watch and see what happens off your bat to learn for the next time.

Don't forget to allow yourself time to improve this.