Analysis of movements on return of serve

From the ready position what is the exact point of time i should take my body up for the stroke on a service of the opponent. is it the moment he contacts or after his contact with the ball or during the time it is between his racket and net or when it has crossed the net ? i am able to decide the kind of return i have to do but i am missing the timing. alois kindly guide me

Hi Singaraju,

Take a look at this picture attached.

It is a match between Zhang Jike serving at the far end and Fan Zhendong receiving at the near end.

As Zhang Jike throws the ball up, Fan Zhendong lifts his upper body upwards.  Both players do this on each other’s serves.

Then let’s examine the actual movement of the legs:

The angle of 124 is where Fan Zhendong is at the start of the serve.

The angle 125 is where Fan Zhendong is when Zhang Jike actually contacts the ball on his serve.

The angle 119 is where Fan Zhendong is when he hits his return.

The angle 112 is where Fan Zhendong has moved to for the 4th ball in the rally.

You can see there is a lot of movement before he makes the actual return and then more movement to hit the 4th ball.