Bài 7 : _Receiving options (Các tùy chọn trả giao bóng):
So now you look at the type of stroke you can use when returning serves. The three main categories, first is the push, secondly, there is the flick or the flip and then thirdly, you can attack the ball either with the topspin or a counterhit. So when we use these different strokes, when the service's short then you got two options: you can push the ball or you can flick or flip the ball. So what is a short serve? A short serve is a serve going to bounce at least twice on your side in the table. So that means it makes it difficult to attack because it's hard to swing through properly to attack the ball so short serve at least two bounces on your side of the table. So for that you need to move in and you can make the push or the flick. So the short serve can have different types of spin. If there is a lot backspin on the short serve, the best option is to push the ball back. With the push you got the bat at the right angle to get the ball back on the table. If they got sidespin on the serve or no spin or topspin, that's the time that you can start to think about making the flick or the flip. So for the heavy backspin use the push, for sidespin or no spin or topspin you can start to make the flick. So with Jeff's serving - short backspin, my first option is to push the ball back. By pushing the ball, I got the bat at the right angle to counter the backspin. I can also push the ball long and fast. You can also flick the backspin but you need to open the angle with your bat to counter the backspin. If Jeff serves topspin, it's easiest to flick the ball because you're coming over the top of the ball and bringing topspin down. A difficult option is to push that topspin serve back, it requires a bit of touch and feel to get that ball low and short enough. So you're required really soft hands and very vertical bat angle. Off the sidespin serve, you need to alter the angle of your bat to make sure the ball is going straight back on the table. Jeff can also put backspin with the sidespin which means I need to lift the bat up and angle for the sidespin. If Jeff puts sidespin and topspin, I need to come over the top and again change the angle for the sidespin. The short no-spin serve can be difficult to deal with. Again you need a good touch to keep the ball short on the other side, keep your hand really nice and relaxed and come quite vertical down the bat for the ball you can also flick the no-spin serve. So remember the options of the short serve, I push short, push long or flick. So off the tomahawk serve and the pendulum serve and even the backhand serve, it's almost a given that there will be a little bit of sidespin on the serve. So with the tomahawk, it's difficult to do without any sidespin on it so what I'm watching for when I'm receiving the tomahawk serve is whether it has a bit of topspin on it or it has a bit of backspin on it or whether it's basically just pure sidespin but it's a given that this can to be sidespin on the serve. The same thing with the pendulum serve. I see this can be sidespin on the serve whether a little bit or a lot but then what I'm watching for is whether this backspin on it or topspin on it. So based on whether there is an backspin or topspin on that serve, I'm going to decide what type of return I'm going to make. Now it's a given that I'm going to expect sidespin on it which I need to counter. So a short backspin, I'm going to push the ball back short, short topspin I'm going to flick, no-spin flick, backspin flick, Oh heavy backspin flick was difficult, push is easier, backspin short push, flick that topspin serve. Tomahawk topspin I'm going to flick it, tomahawk backspin short push, tomahawk topspin flick, tomahawk backspin short push, tomahawk backspin long push. Pendulum backspin Oh good serves, pendulum backspin short push, pendulum topspin flick, pendulum backspin no spin flick, pendulum no spin flick, pendulum backspin- ohh short push. So let's look at the long serve. So a long serve is a serve that can be about only once on your side of the table, so if they serve it bounces once on your side the next bounce would be off the table on to the floor. So off this type of serve what we want to do is we want to try attack that serve either with a topspin or a counterhit. Now the reason that we can attack it is because that second bounce is off the table which means we can swing through a lot easier to make your attacking stroke. So off a long service we're going to try topspin the return in most cases so what type of topspin we make that depends on the type of spin that is on the ball so whether there is backspin or whether there is topspin and again we can give that most the time this can be sidespin on it. So if there is backspin on this long serve I'm going to have a more vertical stroke to lift the backspin. If there's topspin on this long serve, I'm going to go more forward to make sure the ball doesn't go off in the table and goes down onto the other person site of the table. So off a really heavy spin long serve, what you want to do is push the ball really finely that will start to get the ball moving in the direction you want it to. So if it's spin really fast with sidespin this way, by touching it very fast it's going to put your own spin on the ball so that will convert all of sidespin into the topspin and then you're bound to get the ball to go where you want it to go. If that's a lot of spin on the ball and I get thick contact on it, the spin can fly way but if I just touch the ball very lightly and put my own spin on it then that sidespin can have less effect. So let's have a look. So heavy serve just touch the ball lightly and I never put my own spin on the ball so here I'm putting to some heavy topspin on it and the sidespin doesn't really have any effect at all, if I get the ball thickly without spin, the ball flies off sideways. So if unsure of the spin on the ball, the worst thing you can do is try and guide the ball back because that way the ball is staying on your racket for long time and all the effect of the spin is coming into play. The best thing you can do is to be a little bit more decisive and spin the ball yourself or hit the ball a little bit faster so you want less time of the ball on the racket and by spinning it heavily, you're giving the ball its own spin and its own direction rather than relying on the amount of spin on the serve. So let's look at these long services. Need to make sure on positive with these returns, make sure that nice speed with my racket to counter any spin that Jeff's putting on the serve. So that sidespin with backspin, backspin in my backhand, no spin- move across and make that topspin, need to be decisive with motion, lots of speed on the racket to counter any spin Jeff puts on. So topspin is what we want you to work towards, so every time the ball comes long on the serve we want you to get there and try topspin in return. Now in the match situation, if you're losing a few or too many points, to start off with what you can do is think about pushing or chopping or blocking that return. Now remember though, eventually we want you to aim towards being able to topspin those returns because that will put you into a much better attacking position, pushing chopping and blocking gives your opponent the chance to attack at you. So a long topspin serves, you can block or counter the return. The important part here though is to make sure that you're placing the ball well otherwise it will be very easy for your opponent to attack. So just use Jeff's topspin to block the ball back, all the time I'm naturally countering this with a little bit of sidespin that Jeff puts on the serve. So with a long backspin, the best way is to either push or chop the return. So here the principles of the rudder coming to affect, so with the sidespin backspin serve, I need to have the bat nice and open so that I'm countering the backspin and then I need to angle the back to the side to counter the sidespin as well. The next principle here is because you're playing a defensive stroke, it is really important to try and get the ball lower over the next. So in the match situation, the first option is to try and make the strong topspin, if it's not working then you can try the push or the chop but remember in a practice situation, what you're aiming for is to practice the topspin commit to the stroke, try and do a nice heavy spinning topspin and get your bat moving nice and fast to counter the spin on the serve
Receiving options:
Off a short ball you can push short, push long or flick
Off a long ball you should play a topspin
Choosing the appropriate depends on the length of the ball and the type of spin