Receiving
Hi Jeff and Alois,
I recently got pummeled and realized, I have no response to fast serves or topspin shots to my backhand.
I'm a right handed-shakehand player, so I'm constantly hitting at too hard an angle and the ball goes sailing to the right.
Since my practice buddy uses a long sidespin serve that breaks to the inside, it's really to find the timing and footwork?
What should I try in practice to shore this up?
Hi Frank,
Try to shorten the stroke on the backhand when the ball is coming faster. You may be trying to do too much with the stroke which will mean you run out of time.
Also think about making a small adjustment with your legs to get behind the ball. You can either move your feet sideways quickly or just start wit a wide base with your legs and transfer your weight to your left leg so that your body moves to the left and you get behind the ball on contact.
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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