Position after backhand serve

Hi alois and jeff,

My coach has taught me a new backhand technique and wants me to focus on bh for a while now . He says best way to get feeling for bh is to practice backhand serves and play a lot of 3rd balls but i havent had much success with a 3rd ball after backhand serve cuz i cant seem to flow into a ready position. Where do i stand to get a good ready position after the bh serve?

Also i notice most of the balls tend to come to my forehand . this is probably due to the sidespin . is there nothing that can be done about this?

Just like the pendulum serve where u serve into backhand wide of the other player) where do i serve with this?

Lastly how to handle short balls?

Thanks a bunch!

Hi Shripathi,

With the backhand serve stand as close to your ready position as you can.  This is quite easy with the backhand serve.  Some players like Ovtcharov stand a long way over to their forehand side.  This works for him but it is not a stance I would recommend to most players.  If you do this and they return the ball to your forehand it does become an awkward angle for the next ball.

Stand a little to the backhand side of the middle line where you would stand for your Ready Position.