Doubles service

Hi pingskills,

So I've recently been training doubles in preparation for the national private school table tennis championship. I can get there thanks to your guidance :)

My doubles partner is not as good as me. He makes a lot of mistakes. Even on high balls. And he isn't very good in topspining backspin balls. However, both good forehand and backhand topspin is very powerful. Only lacking of consistency.

So my question is, what serve should I use to incorporate him? I've tried backspin serves and he can't topspin backspin balls well. I've tried topspin balls and it went high. But he kept using his backhand and miss the ball.

Hi Eugene,

You can try to serve short topspin or no spin balls that will give your partner a higher ball with less backspin that he can deal with.  The other option is to serve long and fast and force your opponent to play a weaker attacking shot that will get your partner a topspin ball rather than a backspin ball to deal with.