mindset-on-serve-receive
derikgonzales asked 4 years ago
Hi Coaches!
This has always eluded me on my game. I play on the lowest level on our competition and often I get caught on long serves, either slight backspin or no spin. These serves come in quite fast on my bh and im not really sure why I hesitate to topspin it back. This happens during the competition. I think Im too slow in anticipating the serve or indecisiveness on what shot to return it with, does this become better with experience? Any points on how to improve this? I ended trying to push it back but ended badly as it popped on the table. Any ideas would be great.
Cheers
Tom Academy Coach answered 4 years ago
Hi Derek,
Yes myself and Dan have actually worked with a few players who have this problem and it will get better with experience for sure but some things to look out for and thatvwill help are these: Try to always expect a long fast serve and be ready, if it comes short it’s easy to step in to reach it and you will still have enough time.
Also when you play a backhand topspin against these types of serves you need to play a confident shit and not too slow otherwise the spin and soeed acmmcan take the ball into the net or off the side, so try to get used to playing a brave and positive return focusing on a good amount of spin.
Lastly if you feel you have time and you are ready some players prefer to pivot around and use the forehand to topspin these serves. This is inly really suitable if you spot the serve early and you have enough time to move around correctly, so mostly I would focus on getting the backhand right but sometimes this can be useful if th serve is a bit weaker or slower
I hope that’s helpful! Cheers, Tom
derikgonzalesThanks tom, think I will force myself to do this often during social games. Cheers
