drkzxeraph
Regular Member
So I was playing doubles the other day...
I was playing against advanced players (with myself only an intermediate high-school level player), and I had some difficulty returning serves.
My customary low serve return is to push it to the side of the court. The problem is, the opponent that is serving happens to be pretty tall, with really good reach, and every time I make a slight mistake on the angle of my push (e.g. a bit higher than normal, instead of a flat drive/downward shot), he just jumps sideways and smashes it right back at me.
After the game, I asked how I could avoid that, and he said I needed to be able to push the birdie fast enough so that it would be able to pass him but have it so that it doesn't go out. But as I see it, if your opponent knows that the push is going to the side and has good reach/reflexes, he can easily get it anyway. And a crosscourt push is too risky, especially if the person in front has good reflexes, as they can return it immediately. I guess net shots/high lifts are an alternative as well, but the other player is swift enough to easily return my net shots (not to mention his net shots are better than mine...), and I don't like giving the opponent a chance to attack with smashes by lifting.
Any ideas? Should I just improve the consistency of my shots, or....?
I was playing against advanced players (with myself only an intermediate high-school level player), and I had some difficulty returning serves.
My customary low serve return is to push it to the side of the court. The problem is, the opponent that is serving happens to be pretty tall, with really good reach, and every time I make a slight mistake on the angle of my push (e.g. a bit higher than normal, instead of a flat drive/downward shot), he just jumps sideways and smashes it right back at me.
After the game, I asked how I could avoid that, and he said I needed to be able to push the birdie fast enough so that it would be able to pass him but have it so that it doesn't go out. But as I see it, if your opponent knows that the push is going to the side and has good reach/reflexes, he can easily get it anyway. And a crosscourt push is too risky, especially if the person in front has good reflexes, as they can return it immediately. I guess net shots/high lifts are an alternative as well, but the other player is swift enough to easily return my net shots (not to mention his net shots are better than mine...), and I don't like giving the opponent a chance to attack with smashes by lifting.
Any ideas? Should I just improve the consistency of my shots, or....?
