Return

Part 2 – Short return

After the returning player got close to the net by a proper lunge, now he’s supposed to drop the ball short. A short return is crucial at top level to keep the initiative when returning. The semi-short returns, which we will consider in a later edition, built up on the short ones. Once again a rope is of help. It is laid across the table in a distance from the net of about two to three widths of a racket. The service player now plays short into forehand or backhand irregularly. The returns are played parallel between rope and net. This means, the short ball in forehand is returned into the opponents backhand and viceversa.

To get a feeling for the timing it is recommended to play the ball once when rising, then at it’s highest point and then when falling. In competition it is recommended to hit as early as possible to be able to drop as short as possible. Yet many players let the ball fly on purpose, when they face difficulties to read the rotation of the ball. In this case it is good to hit the ball with a short and hard movement in order not to let the rotation take effect on the rubber. If the incoming rotation is no problem, the ball can simply be let bounced off the racket. One should experiment with the grip. In the forehand a so called forehand-grip can be helpful: the racket is tilted within the hand slightly clockwise, the blade rests on the tip of the forefinger, which gives the feeling. In the backhand the backhand-grip can be recommended. The blade is now tilted anti-clockwise, the thumb presses on the blade slightly and gives feedback of the stroke.