serving-short-but-3rd-ball-attack-is-tough
Kevin Tang asked 2 years ago
Whenever I serve short, I often get tough backspin balls back – either long pushes or short pushes, which makes it hard for me to 3rd ball attack – I oftentimes have to just push again which makes it so I’m now just in a rally.
Whenever I use longer serves, I get better 3rd ball attacks. What’s the mindset behind serving short (like most coaches recommend) when it seems that I can’t really attack the 3rd ball as well?
What kind of 3rd ball attacks should I be looking for if I serve short?
Tom Academy Coach answered 2 years ago
Hey Kevin, yes sometimes this can be the base. The problem is at the higher levels if you serve long the opponent will attack very strong and you never get a chance to do a 3rd ball attack, so of course then it’s important to serve short and stop them attacking it.
If you serve short sidespin then more often you will get loose push returns where you can look to attack, sometimes if you serve backspin you can get a difficult ball back with a lot of spin or the opponent can keep it tight. So I would recommend trying more short sidespin serves and then being ready for your 3rd ball with a topspin attack and also still keep mixing in the longer serves to keep the opponents guessing! 🙂
