Im right handed. I used to always stand in right hand court over all the way to the left hand side close enough on the line. As time has went on I have started standing closer up to the front line practicing my footwork so I cud get back for the flick serve. My coach has told me to stand more over to the right a good foot and a half which I found strange and of course a few inches from the front line. But he says my stance leaves me vulnerable for flicks out wide to the right which it did!! Of course this means having to change my grip so that if they serve to the T, the shuttle will be on my backhand side so my grip will change from a almost panhandle grip (for my forehand short serve replies) to a backhand grip (thumb grip) I thought this was very interesting and I have never seen any articles on here saying where to stand exactly when receiving serve Any comments welcome
When I read your post the first thing that struck me was that you (at first) returned services to the T (from the even-courtside) with your forehand? I play all those shots backhand, but that's my preference. I geus Gollum's guide is a very good starting point, I believe he has some info on this. Other than that it's just a great deal of personal preference and capability's: Are you fast enough to cut out flick serves? Are you good with serves to the T, or do you struggle with them? Or are you fine with opponents serving wide, or is that difficult for you? Those answers are not the same for everyone, so their stance would be different. (I'm not getting into the idea of how your opponents are serving, because that influences your stance as well, but makes matters even more complicated)
On the right court, I stand a foot away from the middle line. This seems to give me the best balance to reach either short serve early and to cut off low flicks coming down the middle aisle with a round the head. Depending on how aggressive I feel that day, I may stand anything from a few inches to 2 feet from the short service line. The position your coach suggested should work out better as long as you are not forced to use a backhand for flicks. Like Jerby, I tend to approach low serves with my thumb grip anyway -- seems to give me more flexibility and control.
Yes I always used to use forehand!! With regards to flick serves, I can get back but yes out wide to the right I really struggled with. Serves to the T I feel I have limited options with forehand grip but I didn't know any better!! I can get them ok but always felt like had to move arm in awkwards ways at times to get certain angles!! Yes the flexibility and control is what I am after. Once again its another thing il need to practice practice practice
I actually stand about a foot left of the middle of the service box. Once you learn the around the head shot I find this is the most effective place for me. My front foot is about 4-6" from the front service line.
The general rule is as close to the line as possible. When they serve long you want one of two things: A- Return it. B- It's out. This is a special circumstance that allows you to stand further forward than normal. Again, you want to stand as far forward as possible, so that if they serve beyond your range it's out. On the right hand side I recomend standing with your foot next to the T. If you find you are getting beat by the far right serve you MAY move to the right for that particular person serving. You want to minimize their ability to serve long to your backhand. On the left hand side, the ideal spot is having your foot in the center, again, this is to minimize their ability to push on your backhand.
You'll find that some players never do the flick serve out wide from the right court, because they believe (wrongly) that the flick serve is always supposed to target the backhand. So if you're used to opponents who don't really know how to serve, then you'll get good results from standing close to the centre line. But as you meet better players, it will make sense to adjust your positioning.
Try the thumb grip (backhand) for low serves to the left of your racket hand (for right hander). You get a lot of options like a net to anything between the two corners and pushes. Of course, use panhandle (forehand) for serves further right. For me, panhandle does not allow me to push the shot too far to the right but the thumb grip is easy to work in any direction. If you can, get someone to serve to the T to you and try out both grip styles.
Well, I may need to change my technic as well. But the question is, y would you change something which is working fine? I stand close to the T with my racket up (Pan Handle) ready to kill even the best of serves. Once I know that the bird is too close to the net to play a proper net kill, I play a net tumble or drive or push in that order. The key is meeting the shuttle as close to the net as possible for which I need to stay close to the front T. I am not worried about flick serve because of my height (6.1 tall). To send a shuttle to my back court out of my reach, it has to be really high. Hence I have no problem to go back and attack flick serves. My question is, under this circumstances whether Pan Handle is the ideal grip or not? Prince
It depends who is serving. If the server is obliging enough to keep sending the shuttle onto your racket for a kill, then your grip is just fine. Personally, I would play a low serve to your backhand. This almost always leads to a weak shot by a receiver who has committed to a full panhandle grip. If you're in your forehand service court and positioned very close to the middle line, then I might try a wide serve instead (low or flick). Here, your dependence on this one grip has effectively forced you to cover your backhand too much; so serves to your extreme forehand corners will be hard for you to cover.
Well, Gollum... The problem was I used to play with grip for years and I fee more comfortable with a Panhandle than a thump grip when I attempt to play a net kill infront of me even slightly towards my left. My reasoning for Panhandle is, I am ready to receive a tight law serve & a drive serve or flick serve within my reach. For all other serves which are less thretening, I have plenty of time to change my grip. (It is not a full pan handle-somehting between a basic & Pan handle when I wait in ready position.) Anyway, I will practice starting with Basic grip & shifting to thump for net kills on left side. I will give you my feed back, once I am comfortable with that.
If you're in your forehand service court and positioned very close to the middle line, then I might try a wide serve instead (low or flick). Here, your dependence on this one grip has effectively forced you to cover your backhand too much; so serves to your extreme forehand corners will be hard for you to cover.[/quote] That is a weekness which a few oponents are exploiting. Usually I manage to change my grip and tumble it back. I always try my best to meet the serve while it is crossing net. That way, I do not have to travel to the side tram lines for meeting a shuttle which is going there. What shot & grip you would use if somebody is serving to your fore hand side? (wide)
That's fine. I also use my forehand (panhandle) to kill those slow, loopy serves on my backhand side. But I don't get ready with a panhandle. The problem occurs when the low serve is good. In this circumstance, a panhandle grip gives you very limited options for returning serves that come to your backhand area. Depending on how close to panhandle it is, you may be okay. It's not necessarily wrong to bias your grip somewhat towards panhandle here; some professionals appear to do this. From what I've seen, however, this type of adjustment tends to be in their backhand service court. More info: which grip for returning serve? While you can use the thumb grip for net kills here, it's mainly needed for playing other shots -- such as straight drives, pushes and net shots. These are the kind of shots you need when the serve is too good for a kill. Usually a panhandle grip. The standard serve returns here are all directed straight into the tramlines: net shots, pushes, and drives.
