Step 14

To play your best, you must learn the proper tacticsfor your personal playing style. For example, ifyou're a hitter, you wouldn'twantto be serving thetypes of serves a looper would use! All players aredifferent, and although there are many "goldenrules," there are always top players who routinelybreak them with success. It comes down to know­ing which ones you can break and when. Thatcannot be taught here--only experience and intel­ligent thinking can do that.

SERVICE STRATEGYThe type of serves you'll use depends on yourstrengths and weaknesses. For example, if you'reweak against backspin you wouldn't want to servebackspin; a smart opponent will simply push themall back! You'd probably serve topspin. (Of course,if your opponent is a chopper, you're in trouble!)

When preparing to serve, watch your oppo­nent. See how he or she sets up. Does your oppo­nent stand way off in the backhand comer? Youropponent probably wants to return with a fore­hand. A few fast serves to your opponent's wideforehand comer might make your opponent setup more in the middle, and then you can serveinto your opponent's backhand. You can ask your­self dozens of questions like this. Does you oppo­nent seem to be getting ready to attack the serveor just get it back? How has your opponent re­turned your serves in the past? Most important,how do you want to follow up your serve? This iswhat should be going through your mind as youprepare to serve. It's before you serve that youmust do your thinking-once the rally begins, it'stoo late.

Most playersdevelopcertainsurpriseserves thatcan be used to win a point outright but are risky ifused too often. A good example of this would be asudden fast down the line serve to an opponent'sforehand, catching your opponent off guard andwinningthepointoutright.Theproblemwithserveslike this is that if the opponent is not caught offguard, these types of serves are often easy to attack.If the fast down the line serve doesn't win the pointoutright, the return will probably be an aggressivetopspin shot, and the server is alreadyon the defen­sive. So don't rely too much on this type of serve.

Advanced Service and Receive Strategy 133

Advanced Service andReceive Strategy

You shouldn't make a habit ofusing these surpriseserves every time the score is close, for example.You might have one or two that you hold backuntilyou really need it, but it's best to space these servesout over the course of a game, and then the scoremight not ever reach deuce. Examples of surpriseserves are sudden fast serves, very short servesafter serving long many times in a row, a serve thatlooks like it has a lot of spin but really has no spin,or a serve with a jerky motion or exaggeratedfollow-through to disguise the spin.

Serves can be divided into two categories: deepand short. Each is strong against certain types ofplayers and weak against others. They will eachallow your opponent only certain types of returns.

Deep ServesDeep serves (also called long serves) are ideal forhitters, blockers, and counterdrivers. They will setyou up to hit or block, and if that's your style, youshould use them frequently. Other styles shouldn'tuse them as frequently. Ifyou're a looper, the serveusually won't set you up for a loop, so you shoulduse a different serve. However, if your opponentreturns deep serves passively, by all means usethem.

A fast deep serve is best done to the wide back­hand comer, as fast and as deep as possible. Youshould vary the spin on it, but flat serves, as dis­cussed earlier, are usuallyveryeffectivewhenserv­ing fast. Try not to telegraph your intentions­surprise is important.

Although top players can get full spin on the balland keep it short, that can be difficult. Rather thantake some spin off the ball to keep it short, it's oftenbetter to go for full spin and let the ball go deep.

Serving deep is also effective in backing playersoff the table, keeping them from hitting the nextshot too quickly off the bounce. Deep serves alsoforce opponents to return the ball from as far awayfrom their target as possible (your side of the table),thereby forcing mistakes. Deep serves also cut offthe wide angles on the return.

When using deep spin serves, remember thatyour opponent has more time to react and moveinto position to return the serve, and a good playerwill often attack it with the forehand. Deep spin

134 Table Tennis: Steps to Success

servesusuallyaren'teffectiveagainsta good looper,butifyouropponenthas troubleattacking theserveor is too slow to cover the wide forehand (afterlooping with the forehand from the backhandcomer), thendeepspinserves to thewidebackhandare about the best serves to use.

When serving deep sidespins, note that a spinthat breaks away from a receiver is usually moredifficult to return than one that breaks in to thereceiver. This means that a forehand pendulum (orhigh toss) serve, which breaks to the receiver's left,is usually more effective served to the backhandthan a backhand sidespin serve would be, and viceversa. (The same goes for short serves.) Don'toveruse this, however-learn to use both types ofsidespins to both sides.

By serving to the wide backhand, you can keepmost players from looping. If they do step aroundand use a forehand from the backhand comer,they'll be out of position, and a good block to theforehand will oftenwin the point. However, ifyouropponent is fast enough to step around and stillcover the wide forehand, you should probably useanother serve. Ifyouropponentisanticipatingyourserve and stepping around too soon, a fast serve tothe wide forehand will win a quick point andpreventyour opponent from moving too soon nexttime. In general, don't serve deep too often or youropponentwill get used to it. Ifyour opponent startsattacking the serve hard with a backhand drive, it'stime to try another serve!

Tactical Reasons for Using Deep Serves:

• To set up smash• To back opponent off table• To force opponents to contactball at a distance

from their target (your side of table)• To allow full spin on serves• To cut off angles on return

Short Serves

A short serve is more difficult to attack than a deepserve, and most top players serve mostly short.Unless your opponent has a good flip (or a goodshortpush against a shortchop serve), a short servewill set you up for an attack.

Shortserves are used by almost anystyleofplay.They're most effective at stopping loopers fromlooping. (Because the vast majority of top playersloop, this is very important.) Loopersespeciallyliketo serve short to set up their loops.

Short topspin or sidespin serves are usually re­turned similarly, so they are covered together. Asidespin serve will tend to force your opponent to

return the ball to the side, but a good player willadjust, so you can't count on it. However, asidespin is important because it makes the timingdifficult for the receiver. Note that when a playerhas to reach in over the table to return a shortserve to the forehand, the natural racket angle isto go crosscourt. If you give your opponent asidespin that makes the ball go even morecrosscourt (such as a backhand sidespin) you willincrease the return difficulty more than using asidespin going the other way. The same goes for ashort serve to the backhand.

A short serve is a good way to bring a player inover the table. Opponents may then have troublewith your follow-up shot, if aggressive-they'll betoo close to the table to react. They might also be inan awkward position if they're caught offguard bythe short serve and have to reach for the ball (in­stead of stepping in).

Although you should vary your placement, ashort serve is often most effective to the forehandside. It's more awkward to return a short ball withthe forehand than with the backhand. The disad­vantage is that the opponent can then flip the ballwide to the forehand, forcing you out of position.The same, of course, is true of a short serve to thebackhand, except that here the angle is into thebackhand, which is easy to handle but takes awayyour forehand attack. Ifyour serve is being flippedto wide angles, try serving to the middle-it takesaway the extreme angles and makes your oppo­nent decide whether to return with a forehand or abackhand.

Short topspin or sidespin serves will nearly al­ways be returned long, usually by a flip. You don'thave to worry too muchabout thembeing returnedshort by most players, and of course they can't belooped. A good attacker can serve and then justwait for the deep return to attack. But if youropponentis flipping the servewell, you might haveto change serves, probably to a short chop.

A short chop serve can be pushed back short orlong, or it can be flipped. If you have a good loop,a short chop serve will set you up over and over toloop againstmany playerswho simplypush itbackdeep. Ofcourse, as you play better players, more ofthem will either push it short or flip it. Ifyou mix inchop and no-spin serves, your opponent will havea hard time adjusting to both. (A very low no-spinserve is surprisingly hard to push or flip effec­tively.)

A short push against your short chop serve willtake away your serve advantage unless you movequicklyand flip it. Buta goodflip againstyourservegives your opponent an advantage, so you shouldtry not to let him do it effectively. Keep the serve

very low and an aggressive flip return becomesdifficult. Chop serves, especially heavy ones, aremore difficult to flip than sidespin or topspin onesand should be used if the opponent is flipping well.In that case, you might even consider serving deep.

Tactical Reasons for Using Short Serves:

• To stop opponent from attacking, especiallywith loops

• To draw a player in close to the table• To force opponent to reach for the ball

RECEIVE TACTICS

How you return serves depends on your playingstyle, especiallyagainst a deep serve. Obviously, anattacker wants to attack the serve or at least set upto attack the next ball, while a defensive player willreturn the serve more conservatively. However,regardless ofhow you plan to return theserve, youropponent has an advantage when serving. If youcan break even on your opponent's serve, you'llwin for sure. Ifyouaverage 2outof5points onyouropponent's serve, it will probably be a close match.

The most important things to consider are thespin on the serve and the depth. When receivingyou should divide sidespins into two types ofsidespins: those that break away from you andthose that break into you (see Figure 14.1). A typi­cal backhand sidespin serve will break into you ifserved to your backhand, but break away fromyou if served to your forehand side. In both casesthe spin is the same, and the ball breaks the sameway-it simply is served to the opposite side ofyour body, so the orientation changes.

If a serve is breaking into you, you'll have tocontact the outside of the ball-the far side of theback of the ball. If the serve is breaking a~ay from

'\ ~~::;ng

~~.-......:-

Breaking -\ Breaking inaway ~

Figure 14.1 When receiving, divide sidespins into twotypes, depending upon your midline.

Advanced Service and Receive Strategy 135

you, you'll have to contact inside the ball-theinside back of the ball. These two adjustments willmake the ball go in the direction you're aiming. It's?enerally far easier to return a ball that is breakingmto you (whereyou contact onoutside ofball) thanaway from you (where you contact on inside ofball).

Returning Deep ServesUnless you're a chopper, there's one rule of thumbwhen returning deep serves: Attack! It doesn'tmatter whether you attack by hitting or looping,but you must attack. The reason is simple. You'rehitting the ball from farther away than you wouldagainst a short serve. This gives your opponentmore time to react to your receive. If you returnpassively, your opponent can just tap-dance intoposition, take a big windup, and WHAMMO!Point's over.

Because it's so important to attack deep serves,it's fortunate that they're easier to attack than shortserves. If they weren't easy to attack, everyonewould serve deep. The table isn't in the way, andyou have more time to react to the ball, so there's noexcuse for not attacking a deep serve (unless youdon't do it for tactical purposes, or if you're achopper).

Generally, if the serve isn't too fast, you want toattack thedeep servewithyour forehand. Ifyoucanloop, this is your chance. There's nothing like agood loop to take away a server's advantage. Youcan even stand off to the backhand side somelooking for chances to use a forehand loop return:Of course, don't stand too far to the side, or youmight watch a service ace to your wide forehand.You might want to backhand loop deep serves tothe backhand to save yourself the stepping around.

If you can't loop the serve, then drive it, eitherforehand or backhand. Then get set to smash,counterdrive, orblock, whateveryour style is. Iftheserve is fast and deep, use the speed of the ball tocounterdrive it.

Tactics Against Deep Serves:

• Attack!• Loop if possible.• Against fast serve, use speed to return ball

quickly.

Returning Short Serves

There are three ways to return a short serve. Youcan push it long, you can push it short, or you canflip it. If the serve has topspin, the most common

136 Table Tennis: Steps to Success

receive is to flip it. You can also learn to "chopblock" the ball. Some top players can even chopblock a short topspin or sidespin serve back short,similar to a short push. A chop block is simply ablock where you chop down at contact to createbackspin.

Against chop, the simplest return is a long push.At the lower levels, it's the most common and mosteffective return, but at the higher levels it's usedmostly as a variation. The problem is that it givesyour opponent an easy chance to loop or hit. Italmost always gives the server the initiative. Theadvantage, of course, is that it's easy to do, so youwon't be giving away points on missed returns.Some players, even good ones, have trouble with alow, heavy push, and even those that are goodagainst it can be caught off guard if you throw it atthem now and then. Also, sometimes your oppo­nent is just too slow to step around the backhandand attack against it. Or he might be a defensiveplayer. Ineithercase,allyouneed todois pushdeepto the backhand (use a fast or spin push) and you'resafe.

Oneofthe mosteffective returnsofservesagainstshort chop serves is a short push. It keeps youropponent from looping and, if kept low, is difficultto flip well. Doneproperly, it takesawaytheserversadvantage. It's the most common receive at thehighest levels against a short chop serve. The dis-

advantage, of course, is that it requires far moretouch than a long push, and you'll make moremistakes. Unless you'reaverygoodblocker, a shortpush is extremely important.

A more aggressive receive is the flip. It can bedone against any type of short serve. A good flip isa must for everyone. It allows you to attack theshort serve (or a short push) and take the initiativefrom the server in one shot. Of course, it's evenmore risky than a short push, and the penalty fortrying to get the initiative on the opponent's serveis that you will give some points away if you fliptoo aggressively and miss. You have to judge howoften to flip. Done too often, the opponent getsused to it and might even attack it back. It's best tovary your receive, using all three receives againstshort chop serves, and also vary the placementand speed of your flip versus short topspin orsidespin serves. And keep in mind that the verythreat of a flip is often enough to keep your oppo­nent from attacking a more passive receive effec­tively. He has to guard against your attack andcan't anticipate your receive.

Tactics Against Short Serves:

• Push suddenly to wide angle.• Push short.• Flip at wide angles.

Service and Receive Strategy Drills

1. Setup Serves

What serves will set you up for your best attacking shots?

Success Goal = List at least 3 types of serves that set you up for your best attacking shots

Your Score = (#) __ serves listed that will set you up for your best attacking shots

a.

b.

c.

Advanced Service and Receive Strategy 137

2. Serve and Attack Game

Play games with your partner where you use only the three serves you chose in Drill 1. Your goal is not onlyto win the point, but to do sobyattacking after each serve, ifpossible. Ina real match situation, you wouldn'twant to be so predictable, but here you're familiarizing yourself and practicing against all the possiblereturns against your favorite serves.

Success Goal = Win at least half the games you play with your favorite serves

Your Score = (#) __ games won with your favorite serve

3. Surprise Serves

Whatserves do you have that will oftenwinyou the pointoutright, orgive you aneasy winner, bysurprisingor catching your opponent off guard?

Success Goal = List at least 2 surprise serves

Your Score = (#) __ surprise serves listed

a.

b.

4. Surprise Serves Games

Play games with the score starting out at deuce, 20-20. (Remember-you have to win by two.) The servershould try to win the point with a surprise serve of some sort.

Success Goal = Win at least half the games played

Your Score = (#) __ games won, (#) __ games lost

138 Table Tennis: Steps to Success

5. Receive Strategy

Ask a partner to randomly serve a variety of serves to you. Identify at least two types of receives that youfind effective against each serve. Reread this step if you don't remember your options!

Success Goal = Identify at least 2 types of receives against each type of serve

Your Score =

(#) __ receives against a deep side/topspin serve to forehand

(#) __ receives against a deep backspin serve to forehand

(#) __ receives against a deep side/topspin serve to backhand

(#) __ receives against a deep backspin serve to the backhand

(#) __ receives against a short side/topspin serve to forehand

(#) __ receives against a short backspin serve to forehand

(#) __ receives against a short side/topspin serve to backhand

(#) __ receives against a short backspin serve to backhand

6. Receive Strengths and Weaknesses

Playa match with a partner. Answer the following questions:

a. What types of serves are you strong against?b. What types of serves are you weak against?

Success Goal = Name at least 2 serves that you're strong against and 2 that you're weak against; decidewhy you are weak against certain serves and take measures to improve

Your Score =

(#) __ serves that you are strong against

(#) __ serves that you are weak against

(#) __ serves that you are weak against, but understand the reason why, and so will improve