Short pimple lobs

Hi Alois. I am having a lot of trouble with a player who often uses his short pimple side to hit slow lobs deep in response to my topspin shots. He often plays these below the table but l think he is using a topspin motion. The ball when it lands on the table has no speed and tends to "die".  This makes it hard for me to attack back with topspin or any shot at all. I tend to push back slowly as l am not really sure what the ball is doing. How can l play an attacking shot back? If l try a smash do l close the bat face or is topspin the best alternative?

Hi Doug,

The best thing is to play a topspin.  If the ball is slow, make sure you are coming forward into the ball on contact.  The short pimples won’t generate as much spin so the ball will not come through to you as fast.