Hey everyone, Yesterday, I played a person in singles who stood close to service-line and used flick services often. Although he stood close to the service line, the serve was fast and landed in every time. He was also quick at backing up to his base-position after the serve. I tried standing more backwards from my regular service return position, but couldn't seem to smash down the flick serve. How do I counter this strategy?
your smash doesnt have to be a kill... from the right court, smash or clear to his backhand (assuming he's right handed) from the left court, smash down the line or at his body or even throw in a couple of fast drops for variation since he's backing up
Now that I've thought about it, I think the problem lies in the fact that I cannot play good returns off of his smash blocks. Usually it causes me to feel frustrated, so I'll work on good lifts, net shots
try to hit a flat clear, so instead of lobbing it to the back court, hit a clear just high enough that your opponent needs to wait for it to drop, but flat and fast enough that it reaches the backline quite quickly. but at the same time you have to remind yourself that if your opponent's speed is quite good, the faster your shots are, the quicker you'll need to respond so it's tough. but as mentioned above, shot selection is very important
What gundamzaku suggested is called attacking/punch clear n that is one of yr best bets if u cannot smash down his flicks effectively. Also, yr smashes on the flick serves does not have to be strong (1/2 smash). Just make sure that it is sharp n get down to his sides, close to the side lines of singles court. Done properly it should land less than the mid-court position, because the point of impact of that smash is only 3/4 length of the court due to flick serves low flight trajectory.
