Side Spin Return !!

trilochan singh Asked 14 years ago

Hi Coach,

If a sidespin serve come to backhand and goes away right side of table when it touches the bat. I can return it with shifting to my left and use my forehand to give underspin return to it or return with topspin shot. I want to learn how to give underspin return to that serve using my backhand. whenever i try to return this with my backhand, it jumps and produces a weaker return or sometimes it goes out of table (right side of mine) coz while using backhand natural tendency of bat is left to table and it add up that kind of sidespin to goes further right to the table.

Plz advice.

Thnkx in advance.

Jeff Plumb Answered 14 years ago

Hi Trilochan,

Learning how to return sidespin serves can be frustrating but it sounds like you are making good progress. You seem to understand how the spin if reacting when it hits your bat and are able to return the serve with your forehand.

The good news is that the principles are exactly the same when using your backhand. The bad news is it still takes practice to get it right.

You mentioned that the ball is still going to far to the right when using your backhand. So the only way to counter this is to aim further to the left. You also mentioned that the ball jumps a little too high when using your backhand. This means you probably need to close the angle of your bat slightly which will have the effect of keeping the ball a bit lower.

The best way to improve this area of your game is ask a training partner to serve this serve to your backhand over and over and over again. Ask you partner to try and serve the same serve with the same spin. Then you can simply keep adjusting your stroke until you get it right. Once you are comfortable doing this you can get your opponent to vary the serve slightly and see if you can still return the ball well.

Remember that this is one of the most difficult parts and most important parts of the game so take the time to practice it often.