I always have trouble returning fast, long serves to my backhand and forehand. They come at me very fast and many times I make an error. What is the best way of returning these serves? Kindly advise Tom.
Junaid – Intermediate player – India
Tom’s response…
Join the club! I also have trouble dealing with long, fast serves. I have good days and I have bad days. I’m going to focus on what I do when I have my good days.
Firstly, you have to read when the long, fast serve is incoming. Usually the server will give a little clue, and that clue is a bigger backswing. When I see this I know it’s very likely the serve will be longer and faster.
Since the serve is going to be deep, I make sure I give myself a little space between myself and the table. This gives me more room (and time) to deal with the serve.
Of course, I also have to try and read what spin is on the serve. Usually a fast, long serve is topspin or sidespin/topspin. But some players are also good at doing long, fast backspin serves. So I watch my opponent’s bat to see if they are cutting the ball (backspin) or hitting through the ball (topspin).
If I have read the spin correctly, I am now in position to return the serve. If the serve is topspin or sidespin/topspin, I can return this with a block (very basic return) or ideally a short counter-topspin. I don’t need a long stroke to return this serve, as this means I’m likely to mis-time my shot or overhit my return. A short stroke (drive or topspin), with medium speed will return the ball quickly and put my opponent under pressure.
If the serve is backspin or sidespin/backspin, I can return this with a push (very basic return) or ideally a loop. If I loop, I may need to shorten my stroke slightly to make sure I get the correct timing, but it has to be a positive swing to counter the backspin.
If you find an opponent is serving long and fast a lot, it’s probably a good idea to take half a step back from the table when returning all serves. This will give you more room to execute your shots.
Here’s a video I made a few years ago on this topic. It’s worth watching so you can see a visual demonstration of what I describe above.
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