Feel on returning serve

Alois Rosario Answered 18 years ago

Hi Edo,

To be able to tell the spin you need to look at a lot of things.  One is the contact of the bat on the ball, the second is the flight of the ball.

The backspin serve will have a softer sound on cantact on the bat because of the brushing contact.  It will be a more direct bounce as well.  It should come through lower and skid through.  This however is extremely difficult to see until you have done it thousands of times.  The only answer is to receive a lot of serves.  Try and get a practice partner to serve lots of different types of serves to you.  If you don't have that you may need to enter a regular competition and play against lots of different types of opponents. 

Returning serve is one of the most difficult parts of table tennis.