Doubles service return, backhand or forehand
Receiving
Arjan van Luttikhuizen Asked 10 years ago
Hi Alois and Jeff,
Lately it seems as if my service return gets significantly worse when playing in doubles. I completely miss the ball off to the side or constantly feed them into the net and I ask myself why, why do I stumble even against easy serves? Playing the same people in singles goes fine!
In doubles I'm used to receiving almost all serves on my backhand, standing at the forehand corner. Do you think receiving with a more open forehand side, standing close to the middle of the table is better?
Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago
Hi Arjan,
It may just be your positioning at the table. Try to think of the right half of the table as the area you need to position yourself for. So adjust your feet angle to accommodate this.
The serves coming at a different angle can throw you out of balance.
Work out whether you feel more comfortable receiving with the forehand or backhand when standing in that position.
The other consideration is to make sure you are out of the way of your partner for the next ball.
Recommended Video
Judging the Length of a Serve
A really important skill in table tennis is to be able to judge if a serve will be short or long. If it's short you won't be able to take a full swing at the ball and hence will need to use either a push or a flick to return the ball. However, if it is coming long then you can make a topspin attack. In this video we give you some tips to help you judge the length of the serve and hopefully this makes you a better returner.
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Johan B Posted 10 years ago
I prefer covering the entire area with my forehand when receiving. As a surprise, I'll sometimes switch over to a backhand position once they throw up the ball. This is especially nice when they're basically doing everything they can to keep the ball too short for a forehand flick (which would go predictably cross court), and you surprise them by stepping around and playing a backhand down the line.
Whichever you choose, try to do a lot with your returns, because they can do a lot less by way of surprising you with placement :)