Short or half Long Serves into my forhand
Gabriel Kozakevych asked 2 weeks ago
Hi so i have big Problems against Side backspin Serves that are into my forhand the Problem is my forhand flick Is to slow and my opponent gets immediately the Initiative in attacking also If i Push this serve my opponent also immediately gets His First Attack in also i dont want to Play a Backhand bannana from the forhand Side because it oppens really my whole Backhand Side. And also Here i am really dont know how to receive this serve without giving my opponent the opportunity to Attack first. So i had a Player with pimpels and He was left handed He Just Play me in a half Long Side backspin Serve or short to my forhand i struggle with a fast forhand flick Here and than i Push it He immediately Attacks it with the pimpels and the ball IS coming Back very akward because it has Side backspin from the serve from my opponent so its Not neutralized from the First serve and its a strong attack to my Backhand and i really Push the serve with backspin so what should i do on these short or half Long Serves into my forhand i Just dont See Here a normal solution to make It difficult for my opponent Not to Attack because the half serve with Side backspin IS also difficult in my forhand to put It short ?
Tom Academy Coach answered 2 weeks ago
Hey Gabriel, I think many players struggle with these type of returns. There are a couple of things that will really help, first off is working on your forehand flick and gradually getting more comfortable with playing it a bit stronger so it’s not easy for the opponent to attack. Of course this will take time so another thing which is really important here is the placement of your flicks and making it hard for the opponents, even a slow flick can still be effective if you manage to get them out wide or right into the body.
Also being able to play an aggressive push on these side spin type serves will really help, so getting someone to serve them to you in practice and trying to come around the side of the ball and push through to keep it low. This video I think will really help you so check this one out:
Personally I find playing a push back much easier than a forehand flick which can be a hard shot, but everyone is different and you might find after some time working on it your flick becomes a good weapon! So starting to try to really focus on this area of your returns and improving it will help, but for the short term placement is very important if you shot quality isn’t always the best. Try to look for where the opponents are weak and play them into those areas, also returning into the body/crossover is always good because they have to move into position and don’t get an east ball to attack straight away. Tom
