Dead service problem

[olvarox]

Hi there

I've been struggling last weekend during competition. I lost a match against a much worse player then myself, because I couldn't handle his service.

The guy just used his forehand to do a kind of drive - dead spin - service extremely deep into my FH or BH and I couldn't predict where it was going.
Normally, I like deep services with sidespin, underspin, topspin, whatever, and I know what to do against them, but here I was just baffled.

Either I tried to topspin them, but missed the first 5 or 6 times because I was probably too late, so I tried to chop them, usually making the ball go long and eventually I ended up more or less blocking them, with my opponent greedily waiting to do a kill shot (which worked every ******* time).

I was extremely frustrated, cuz this guy couldn't do a topspin, a drive, a chop, a block, and still easily won this game in three straight sets.

Has anyone got a good idea how too humiliate this guy next time I play him?

--> In other words: how can I best return this no-spin-dead-ball-deep-service


Thx for your advice in advance...

 

[Matt Hetherington]

I used to have trouble with these kinds of serves also, particularly to my backhand. The trick is to develop a half loop-half drive countershot. Basically you are looping the ball with a shorter swing and using just your arm to generate the power for the return shot. Getting the bat angle right is crucial for the shot, but it is a quick and efficient way of returning these serves, best returned to the body or wide to the backhand to set up for a stronger attacking stroke on the next ball.

 

[WiWa]

When you don't have time to loop, placement is vital. Chopping is an option, but it is maybe hard to get decent backspin on a fast dead serve. I think a countershot as Matt described is the best solution here. More like an active block. Send the ball in the direction you want, accelerating it, so it will come back at him faster than he served to you. Kind of a slap, Matt's are of expertise If you get really desperate from it you should just gamble where it comes, and be ready to loop from there. If you get it right, you have a direct point. If you don't get it right, you can always do a chop/sidespin save to keep yourself in the rally.

 

[Der_Echte]

Another good solution to this problem with incoming no-spin balls is to loop them with a different outlook. The speed will help you get sponge penetration. You must reduce your power on this shot, unless you can absoulutely time it and are in position. You use half power and you have to lift slightly with your stroke. Seek to make heavy spin and place it deep, hopefully to his crossover, penholder BH, or wide FH. Avoid middle forehand and middle backhand like the plague.

You still have to know the direction and location of the incoming dead fast serve, but you do not have to rush. You do the opposite. You take your time and do NOT use a long swing. You simply get behind it, whether FH or BH and do a slight lifting stroke (not as pronounced as when you loop vs underspin) you hit through the ball with a shorter stroke than normal, but still hit through the ball. Use reduced power and a small upwards stroke direction and land it deep. Once you get the blade angles and stroke direction down, this becomes a reliable return option that will set you up or even win the point.

Still, you have to overcome surprise and recognize the no spin, pace, and incoming placement.

You can do this stroke with arm & wrist as you do not need much power, or you can do it with the whole body for more control. You will judge how much body you can use r if you have to use arm/wrist. There is no wrong answer with either way. The key is to not rush, be in position, recognize the dead ball, reduce power, and go for deep placement with heavy spin. This will trouble most opponents if you placed it right.

 

[Der_Echte]

This is one of the easiest things to practice. Anyone can serve a medium fast deep knuckle and get you to loop without trying to powerloop the ball to death. You simply try your shortened and reduced power stroke to give back a spinny deep ball well placed. You will be surprised at how quickly you can learn this shot. The problem is recognizing it in a match and not panicking or trying to go for too much power or rush the shot. You have to let the ball come to you and use a low power shot. That is an easy thing to do once you are not rushing into failure.

As you stated, the worst thing to do is try to chop without knowing the angles, you will spray it everywhere. Another worst thing to do is receive it passive, easiest way to give away an error or killshot chance. You can try blocking, but opponent is looking for such a weak ball and is eager to kill it. You need to either find a way to use a relaxed wrist and give back a low light cut halflong or short, or you need to make a topspin to a difficult spot. Other returns are not very high percentage or effective. Trying to cut a ball that you are misreading the spin is an invitation to a miss or killball for opponent.

 

[olvarox]

Thx for the quick replies.

I guess I'll have to ask a training partner to give me a bunch of these serves, so I can practise the shortened powerstroke. I must say it is definately one of my weak spots.

 

[WiWa]

Thx for the quick replies.

I guess I'll have to ask a training partner to give me a bunch of these serves, so I can practise the shortened powerstroke. I must say it is definately one of my weak spots.

In fact it brings us automatically to the strategy to use against a player with strong loops, but a long stroke. Serve fast with variety in placement

 

[Mr. RicharD]

If the service is long you need to stay low and loop the ball period. If it's short you need to go in quickly and hit forward not upwards or downwards while keeping your elbow low. At a much higher level in the U.S. many players rely on dead services because they prefer to rally here. So I'm not sure where you're from, but don't judge a book by its cover. Never be over confident because at the lower levels of play there are much more upsets than at the semi to professional levels of play.