Weird push (serve return)

Hey Alois and Jeff,

I was watching a match between Joergen Persson and Dimitrij Ovtcharov during the Energis Masters 2011.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOzeDBGiftA&feature=feedu

Could you explain how/why Ovtcharov returns Perssons serve so weirdly? The serve starts at 5:20. Why doesn't Ovtcharov use the forehand push? Instead he twists his wrist and uses the backhand.

Could it have something do to with his rubber? Although I think he uses smooth on both sides, so there shouldn't be much of a difference.

Thanks in advance.

Chris 

Hi Chris,

Ovtcharov prefers his backhand push to his forehand in this situation.  He feels he has better touch there so goes all the way over to play the ball with his backhand. 

It looks strange because most players will prefer their forehand.  This is quite legitimate as there isn't any real difference with your footwork for the forehand or backhand short push.

Try this out yourself.  See which side you prefer to receive the ball with on the short touch ball.  I used to prefer the forehand side and covered almost the whole table with my forehand short push.