Practice Service Return by Spin Categories
By Bill Lui
Mar. 22, 2004

Most players complain about having trouble returning serves. It is one of the most difficult aspects of the game to master. Each opponent has his own unique physical build, strength, and flexibility. Add to that the different racket surfaces available and strokes used, there is an infinite number of possibilities. It is not realistic to be able to practice against all the combinations. One can, however, make the task easier by using a systematic approach.

A majority of players return serves by random trial and error. When one does that in a game it is inefficient. All too often by the time one figures out the best way to return a certain serve the match is over. A better way to prepare for each return is to categorize the serves by spin. In practice, learn how to return the serves in each category, and make adjustments within each category with respect to the amount of spin, speed, and landing location during a game.

There are basically 6 categories of spin:

1. Straight topspin
2. Straight backspin
3. Straight sidespin
4. Combined sidespin and topspin
5. Combined sidespin and backspin
6. No Spin

The ways to return these 6 categories of spin effectively are as follows:

Categories 1 & 2: To return straight topspin and straight backspin serves efficiently, one should practice opening and closing the racket (relative to a horizontal axis) to the proper angle.

Category 3: For straight sidespin, it is the tilt angle of the racket (relative to a vertical axis) that determines the direction of the return.

Categories 4 & 5: For combined side/top and side/back serves, a combination of tilt and open/closed angle is required.

Category 6: It is also important to make a distinction for no spin serves because if one mistakes it for any of the other categories then the return would be off.

In order to determine the proper racket angle one must know what kind of spin that is on the serve. The way that I found most useful in learning how to categorize the spin is to have a coach or hitting partner serve each of the 6 spin categories. The practice player hold the racket vertical to the table and point the face of the racket squarely at the oncoming ball. By observing how the ball bounces off the racket the practice player can place the serve in one of the 6 categories and determine the racket angle required. Once that is determined, then depending on the speed of the ball and the landing location, the practice player uses the stroke within his style that is most appropriate for the return.

After practicing against the different categories of spin, the coach or hitting partner serves at random. The practice player makes a judgement of which spin category the serve belongs to and returns with the appropriate racket angle and stroke. This technique can then be carried over and used effectively in a game.

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