Problem with sidespin on long/half-long serves to the forehand

Hi,

I noticed that I have a major issue when returning those a bit longer serves to my forehand. The issue is if I topspin or loop those serves back diagonally, back to the forehand of a right hander, then my return always contains a lot of unintenional sidespin :( Usually the received serve contains left-sidespin, the ball is dragged to my opponents backhand, but I do not think that matters.

I must be hitting the ball on the right side, but I do not really know if this is because I am bending my wrist on the return or maybe not moving enough into position? Not sure if should move to the right or left to avoid this or what else to focus on to avoid hooking the ball :( The return contains more sidespin than topspin. I notice that a return down the line usually contains much less sidespin.

Any advice on what to focus on?

Hi Martin,

I would focus on keeping the wrist straight on contact with this and brushing right up the back of the ball.  If you can do this with some speed you will get pure topspin going back to your opponent.