How to receive side top spin serve?

[pedro.dantas]

I really strugle with this kind of service, if i play passive i'll only suffer from the third ball, but when i try to attack the ball usually it will go into the net, should i hit the ball sideways because of the sidespin? Or brush the top of the ball lightly? Also, against penholders it's so difficult to read if they're putting top or downspin, since the contact point is basically the same and the serve is really similar.
I play against a guy that uses long pimples one side and has this tricky fast long serve with sidespin or top sidespin, it's so annoying(he serves with inverted rubber).
Can i get some tips on how to deal with it?

 

[McSmasher]

I also struggled big-time with side-spin serves, especially from penholders, but this video helped me more than any other:

Essentially, to help control and neutralize the sidespin, you can hit the same side of the ball as the server, with the same racket angle. Sounds complicated, but it's no different to a topspin to topspin, both players hit the same side of the ball, with the same racket angle. Same with backspin push to push. What makes it slightly more complicated is that the return will look different to the serve, but with a bit of practice you get used to it.

The video also shows examples of the server hitting up on the ball vs hitting down, and how to handle that. Lots of penholder pendulum serves depend on a very late upward motion for topspin, or a backspin serve with a fake upward motion immediately after the serve, so that's also something to look out for.

Hope this helps!

 

[SleepyMaster]

Heavy sidespins is my favorite serves, i find many amatuers struggles to recieve it properly.
Touching the same side of the ball is helpful but still, if serve has a lot of quality/spin - ball will still be popping up a bit higher to loop kill it or even went out of the table. You should be more active in recieveing sidespins and trying to use short stable loop aiming at the top of the ball. Dont try to loop kill it - just send it back, then slowly you can add power. Finds what works better for you.

Mix those two variants of recieves and try different placements - to brake the rhythm of your opponent. The best recieve is the one that your opp didnt expect.
Also you can chop/push heavy sidespins but to do it correctly you should have very good ball feeling and kinda a lot of playing expirience.

 

[Der_Echte]

@SleepyMaster has English skillz... we can argue over this word or that, but his main points are as Americans say are ON POINT.

 

[SleepyMaster]

@SleepyMaster has English skillz... we can argue over this word or that, but his main points are as Americans say are ON POINT.

Im sorry, my bad - sometimes i just miss clicking the buttons hehe

I never learned English in a way of truly giving efforts to it, like studying a grammar and stuff, but my grandmother is a teacher of English - so i did know an English alphabet at the age of 4 and when i growing up i spend a lot of time with grandma, she giving private lessons at home to her students - i was sitting in another room and hearing all the words and sentences so it was programmed in my mind without much effort, but my conversational English is much better than literature one and my grammar is bad, im sorry.

But i do speak four languages: ukrainian, russian, english, spanish

 

[blahness]

Firstly, is it long or a short serve?

 

[mamedium]

treat it like topspin and go over the ball
at high level, one can chop/cut the ball or drop it short by adding the same spin to the ball

 

[pedro.dantas]

Thanks guys, just one more question, if it's only side spin, i still can hit the top of the ball?

 

[mamedium]

Thanks guys, just one more question, if it's only side spin, i still can hit the top of the ball?

ef yeah

 

[Der_Echte]

Sleepy, what do you mean by saying my bad... your English is outstanding and so were your main points.

BTW, I am same, my language elevator stops at 4th floor.

 

[Der_Echte]

Also Sleepy, I am lucky to be friends with the best Ukrainian TT player in our region, the one and only Sergey the Real Tsos who is also USA's clear leading expert on the procurement, tuning, and use of H3. He can spin the ball with the sandpaper-like K1 rubber he has.

I am happy you have had for years a great front seat chance to learn and stay motivated with English as 2nd or 4th language. it is a great thing to learn a langue and function in it and actually later go somewhere it is used.

I was real lucky to do that with two languages before I was in early 20s of age.