OOAK Table Tennis Forum

Is it possible to do that? I take almost every serve with my BH ox pimples. Now I have found a problem with that. If they serve deep to my forehand then I make alot misstakes. So do you guys use forehand inverted to receive those serves or how do you deal with those? Specially when left hander serves its difficult for me.

Soba

Generally it's not a good idea to try to use your BH pips across the whole table - it gives you all sorts of movement and balance problems against a skilled player. However you will see a *lot* of people doing it, because they've developed a fear of FH service return and a fear of serve. This is a vicious circle.... the less often you use your FH and the more you rely on your BH pips, the harder you'll find it to return serve with your FH.

I'm as big a victim of this as anyone - my fh service return is much weaker than my bh, and I still often shuffle and use my bh especially under match conditions, however I am putting in a lot of effort on fh service return, and I'm improving.

The other thing I am now much better at is fast twiddling at return time, so I can return service on FH with pips.

Overall, it depends on your level and your aspirations. There are many many many players who just stand in the middle of the table and use their pips to return serve everywhere, and have either accommodated their game to the risks of the next ball wide to the FH, or just don't play at a level where it's a real threat.

In an ideal world: learn to return serve on your FH - gives you much more control, and makes you much less vulnerable.

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I play with LP on one side. I prefer to receive serve with my inverted, especially long serves!

I think we must have a plan B . When they want to make us more mistakes , they also start serving no spin balls to the Fh either long, short or mid distance, In my view, it is important to receive with inverted once they start getting an advantage because of our mistakes when receiving no spin serves with the pips , that´s why many of us have started learning to practise twiddling in the training sessions .

Once they get no advantage with no spin serves , their game usually deteriorates ,

Playing with long pips bh, I attack everything long to the 4h, don't have a 4h serve return problem. Just go through the learning process to do this. Then you will enjoy game more.

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I'll generally slide over to take short serves to the forehand with the pips, like inverted players are doing these days to flip the ball. But anything long to the forehand generally gets a forehand return from me. The one exception to this rule is if I can clearly see that my opponent doesn't understand how pips work and are getting a large advantage from that particular serve. In that case, I'll slide more to the middle of the table to receive, and slide over to pip the long serve to the forehand back at them. But it's most certainly not my preferred strategy - it's more tactical as needed.
Learning to attack long serves to your forehand with the inverted will help you during rallies too, you'll have more confidence that you read spin and can be aggressive. Most of the time I find that poor serve return comes from not reading spin well enough or not being focused enough on the contact point between ball and paddle. Really focus heavily, when an opponent is serving, on the very moment the ball touches the paddle, and what action the paddle takes right after. That will help you to read spin better, and improve your confidence in "going for it" on the return.
And sometimes, if you go hard after one early in the match, it might scare some opponents off from trying it again, as they think you aren't "scared" of those serves. If you start off by sliding over from the start, they will know that weakness.

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I love no/less spin serves to my FH ... Typically, I don't play a lot of FH topspin, nowadays ... However, any serve mid-to-long on my FH, without an insane amount of spin, and I'll top-spin it for an outright winner, typically down-the-line... Apart from this scenario, I'm not very consistent with my top-spins ... However, top-spinning no or less spin serves to my FH, I'd say I have a consistency of 90% or even more... Most players who play with me regularly, don't serve to my FH..

Even on my BH side, I have now started twiddling and receiving no-spin or less-spin serves, with the inverted side... However, I am yet to get consistent at that... Some players will serve, really long, fast and low... receiving these with the inverted side is an issue for me...

Even on my BH side, I have now started twiddling and receiving no-spin or less-spin serves, with the inverted side... However, I am yet to get consistent at that... Some players will serve, really long, fast and low... receiving these with the inverted side is an issue for me...[/quote]

I used to have a hard time every time I had to receive fast , low no spin serves with my pips . Once I started twiddling the problem disappeared. Also, a good strategy for me was to either sidewipe with the pips to their FH or step a little backwards and chop the ball . I especially used to do this when I played against fast rubber/ blade combinations . When I use the inverted I let the ball bounce nicely and then , block the ball back down the fh line .If they serve short or mid distance I tend to push or sidewipe aggressively .It is really great you started training your twiddling game.Consistency is a matter of patience and work .

Furthermore,pips like Detecs, Talon , DG have really serious problems when dealing with this kind of serves.They know these pips are dangerous but they also know they are terrible at dealing with no spin, hence, we need plan A - use the pips by sidewiping, chopping- , plan B twiddling - with your blade below table level so they don't know what you are going to do next - , plan C attack the no spin ball with your fh .- you must be quick enough to do this - .

If you receive the ball with the pips every time, chances are the ball will always come back long and easy for them to attack and it is really hard to return the serve low, that's why they use this strategy a lot .

Thank you guys for good advices. I think I have been too lazy receiving serves. I have just taken those with BH pimples. Now in practise game I shall start taking also with my FH inverted. Also I have to practise more my twiddling BH. Do you guys move more towards your FH corner in left hander serves pendulum from their BH corner? I have heard 2 different oppinions about that.

For me, it's not actual receiving with LP, that's an issue... The issue is with the quality (rather, the lack of) of ball, that I send back... With a lot of players, no matter, how hard I chop with LP, or block with LP, or swipe, they just blast my return...With the inverted side, I have the option to counter a no-spin fast serve, back to their BH, or simply send the ball down-the-line to their FH (which, a lot of time, is an outright winner for me). However, even if my BH return gets consistent, I won't overuse it, just to mix things up....

Another thing I'll sometimes do against players, who's game I know well, is that I deliberately return with LP, inviting them to topspin or hit... With some players, I play with regularly, I know where to expect the attack... If I block (I have fair consistency.. I'd say around 70%), it's almost always a winner, and if I chop with LP (I'd say 60%), it keep the ball in play, atleast...

Soba, after a lot of years of playing I still have the same dilemma as you. I do tend to move a little more towards standing towards the center of the table against lefties to return their serves. Not so far that I can't easily get back if they give me a fast one down the line to my backhand, but enough that if they give me one of those short wide ones to the forehand that they like to give a right handed player that it gives me a better chance of getting there. Really focus on trying to read where the location is going, which is something all of us should be doing anyway, but is especially important for a right handed player returning serves from a lefty.

_________________
"The greatest teacher, failure is"
USATT Rating: 1725
Blade: Stiga Cybershape Carbon
FH Rubber: Butterfly Tenergy 19 2.1
BH Rubber: Dr Neubauer ABS3 1.5

I think if you're going to take a short serve to you forehand with your backhand, you need to try and get a big angle to stop a fast attack to your backhand. I like to do it only on occasions, when I swipe it with the LP and put it short and wide to their forehand... this can really catch them at times.

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Yes Im allready affraid when my friend starts his lefty pendulum serves. But today I moved little more towards center, not too much and I got those serves better. I have moved too much I tried to take thos with my BH. Have to be very focused when he is serving.

Hou Yingchao does that, with extreme angles:

errr... isn't he a SP player ?