Ma Long's service receive

Mehmet Demir Asked 8 years ago

Hi coaches

I want to ask you about ma long's service receive. you said before if opponent give ball right side spin we must change angle of bat left side but at below video (at 04:31) fan zhendong give ball right sidespin and ma long change bat angle right not left... why he do this? here is video https://youtu.be/-WXAAAdGJ7o

second question ma long almost receive every service with forehand push he didnt use backhand? why he do this (can we receive all service like this? It would be right to focus on all service receiving the forehand without dealing with other forms of receive)

sorry for my englısh I hope I could explain

Alois Rosario Answered 8 years ago

Hi Mehmet,

If you watch closely he does change the angle very much to face the right on contact to counteract the spin.

You can receive with either forehand or backhand whichever you feel more comfortable with. Ma Long probably feels that the forehand against this serve gives him a better angle. You should develop both returns as different players have different serves that will be awkward to deal with using one or the other.

What You'll Learn:

🔹 Skill Breakdown: How to identify different types of spin and adjust your return technique.
🔹 Common Mistakes: The biggest errors players make when returning spin serves—and how to fix them fast!
🔹 Viewer Q&A: Answering your top questions about handling tricky spin serves.
🔹 Train Smarter: Drills to help you practice and improve your serve returns.

Mastering serve returns is one of the fastest ways to level up your table tennis game. Try these tips and let us know in the comments: What’s the toughest spin serve you face?

Watch Now

Thoughts on this question (2)

Johan B Posted 8 years ago

The reason he plays it like this is to force his opponent to the kind of lifting topspin you see along the side of the table. His opponent is pretty much forced to make a slow spinny topspin onto the table, which Ma Long is ready to kill with his forehand (or, apparently, chop block for fun)

Mehmet Demir Posted 8 years ago

thanks a lot coaches and johan B