Receiving
Hi guys, please can you give me some advice on playing a good return of serve and reading an opponents serve, I think this is my biggest weakness and I lose many of my games because of this 1 problem, I dread looking at my opponent's at the other side of the table all using crazy spinny serves that I have no idea what to do with, I either go into the net or miss the table, and even when I return them a lot of the time it is too high and they can just smash the ball past me, I have tried everything and it is very frustrating, a lot of the time I just hit the ball hard and hope for the best, but this only works rarely, also do you have any advice on how to make my own serves more effective, I do have a good range of skinny serves but I don't know when to use each serve and I tend to just play them at random to mix things up, any help is appreciated. Thanks.
Matt
Hi Matt,
Big question. Learning to recognise spin is the first step. With this you need to watch the contact of their serve. Then it is a matter of learning the angle of you racket that you need to return that spin.
We have 2 whole sections of our site dedicated to these two topics. Receiving Secrets and Serving Secrets.
Struggling to return spin serves? You're not alone! In this video, we break down how to read spin, adjust your bat angle, and return serves effectively—so you stop giving away easy points.
🔹 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?
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