Returning serves effectively takes longer to learn to do than any other part of the game. This is due to the incredible variations in spin, speed, direction and depth available to servers. Worse, a good server disguises every aspect of the serve, especially the spin. We're going to focus the most difficult part here - reading spin. (For more info on spin, see my article Everything You Wanted to Know About Spin - But Were Afraid to Ask.)

Ideally, a player should read the spin off the server's racket. No matter how many motions a server goes through, all a receiver has to do is read the direction of the racket at contact, and he will have read the type of spin. This is easier said than done.

The receiver also needs to read the amount of spin. Against a somewhat grippy inverted rubber, this is roughly done by a simple formula: racket speed - ball speed = ball spin. What this means is that a server's racket speed at contact will convert to ball speed and ball spin; if the racket moves fast, but the ball comes out slowly, then most of the energy has been converted to spin. (It's actually a bit more complicated than this. You get more spin if you accelerate into the ball rather than moving the racket at a constant speed, but it's close enough. Plus you have to take into consideration the grippiness of the rubber, as a non-grippy surface will have less spin.) 

A server disguises spin in three major ways. First, his racket may go through a semi-circular motion, with contact at any point on the curve. This way, a server may give different spins with the exact same serve motion - the only difference is where in the serve motion contact is made. At the advanced levels, this semi-circular motion is so short and quick it's very hard to pick up. 

Second, a server may disguise spin by mixing up spin and no-spin serves. (If a receiver thinks there is spin on the ball, and there isn't, it's the same as misreading a spin.) There are two ways the server may do this. A server may contact the ball near the throat of the racket, where the racket travels slower than the tip. Or he may fake a grazing motion, but just pat the ball with the racket straight on. In both cases, the server may use an exaggerated racket snap after contact.

Third, the server may put so much spin on the ball that it is simply difficult to read the amount of spin.

The only way to learn to return serves is to understand them, and to practice against them. So how do you read the spin?

As your opponent is serving, keep your eyes on his racket. (Against a high-toss serve, you may glance up to see when the ball will be coming down - but as it comes down, you should be watching the racket.) Ignore the direction the racket is moving until contact. Then, right at contact - SNAP! Take a flash "video" in your mind of the split second of contact. In this split-second video, you should be able to see the direction and speed the racket was going at contact. From this, you can judge the type of spin. From the racket speed, and the speed of the ball after contact, you can judge the amount of spin. 

What happens if you absolutely cannot read the spin off the racket? Or if contact is hidden? If the contact is hidden (which isn't legal, though it often isn't enforced), you will have to read the spin mostly from the ball alone. The type of sidespin on the ball should be easy to read from the general racket motion - left to right or right to left. It's the reading of topspin vs. backspin that's tricky.

A ball with backspin tends to travel in a line, and slows down when it bounces on the table. A ball with topspin drops quickly, and jumps when it hits the table. A sidespin ball will curve sideways in the air, and jump sideways when it hits the table. If you let the ball come out to you and take the ball late, you will have more time to read this, and make the proper adjustments. However, reading from the ball alone will make your receive more tentative and late, and so less effective.

Eventually, reading spin will become more and more natural, and you won't even think about it so much. Then you can concentrate on what to do with the ball.

How does one go about changing bad technique? Most players use halfway measures, and when that doesn't work, they give up and go back to their old habits. They may try minor adjustments when a major one is needed. They may change from one poor technique to another. They may practice it properly, but then, before the proper technique is ingrained, they'll play competitive matches and fall back into old habits, thereby re-ingraining the poor technique. They may have an improper grip or stance which causes the poor technique. Or they simply don't know what needs to be fixed. How can you overcome this? Here are five recommendations.

First, drop out of tournaments and match play for a while and focus on fixing the technique. Hit regularly with a coach or practice partner as you fix the technique. Playing matches will just reinforce the bad technique. If your goal is to really overcome poor technique and replace it with good technique, then you need to have an extended period where you focus on this, i.e. saturation training. That means only playing with a coach or practice partner, and doing drills where you can isolate the new technique so you can focus on doing it correctly.

Second, exaggerate the proper technique. If you don't rotate your shoulders enough on a shot, practice over-rotating until it becomes comfortable to do it the proper way. Shadow practice the proper technique over and Over and OVER until you can do it in your sleep, on your deathbed, and most importantly, at deuce in the fifth.

Third, watch top players (live or on video) who do the stroke well, and visualize yourself doing it that way. The more you visualize it done properly, the more likely you'll do it properly. Then shadow stroke it as you visualize it.

Fourth, make sure your grip and stance are correct. If you get these two correct, then everything in between tends to fall into place. If you get one of them wrong, then fixing a problem somewhere else won't work unless you fix the root cause of the problem - the grip or stance.

Fifth, work with a coach. Fixing bad technique is his job. Let him do his job.

Let me emphasize item #1 above. In general it's best to play lots of matches and get as much tournament competition as possible when trying to improve (along with lots of regular practice, i.e. drills), but when you are making major changes to your game, it's best to take time off from competition. Perhaps make a goal to have your game ready for tournament competition for a specific tournament (or series of tournaments) six months or so away, and train specifically for that. I don't think you need to take six months off from playing practice matches, but perhaps two months of focused practice without matches would greatly help you in making these technique changes.

When pushing on the backhand, most players are at one of three levels:

• Level One: Get it back.
• Level Two: Do something with it. This usually means one of three things: Quick off the bounce and angled; heavy; or short. This is effective at all levels. But there's another level. . . .
• Level Three: Do even more!

There are several examples of "more." You can aim your racket one way, and at the last instant go another, a must learn for any advanced player. You can fake heavy spin, and give no-spin by snapping the wrist vigorously just after contact. You should learn both of these. Another option is a sidespin push.

There are different types of sidespin pushes, but what we'll cover here is the most common one: the backhand sidespin push, where the racket is going right to left at contact (for a righty).

To do this shot, start with your racket a little above the ball and to the right. You want to take the ball off the bounce, so your opponent is rushed; the more time he has, the more likely he'll adjust to your sidespin. As the ball hits the table, stroke down and sideways (right to left). Some contact the ball toward the bottom of the racket, so they can take it quicker off the bounce, or you can contact in the middle of the racket for more control. The key is to put both backspin and sidespin on the ball.

Placement is important. You usually want to do this shot to the opponent's wide backhand so it breaks into his backhand (assuming both players are righties or both are lefties). It's a tricky ball to backhand loop, and if he tries running around to use his forehand, the sidespin pulls the ball farther to the side then he's expecting.

When a righty plays a lefty, both players have the option of using this shot so that it breaks into the wide forehand. Not only is it pulling away from the opponent, but this type of breaking away sidespin often causes more trouble to player's forehands than ones that break into the body (i.e. righty versus righty). It also puts him out of position. When a lefty serves to you (if you are a righty, or a righty serving to you if you are a lefty), and serves short to the backhand, this is an excellent return, into his wide forehand.

The down side of this shot is that, because there is less backspin, an opponent who reads it properly can loop right through the ball, often off the bounce. So you don't want to over use this shot. However, done at proper times, it's a highly effective shot. It also puts one more thing in your opponent's mind to think about.

One time this shot is especially useful is against an opponent's forehand sidespin serve (assuming two righties). You can use the opponent's sidespin against him, returning and adding to his own spin as you really sidespin your return into his wide backhand. 

Most players know what a third-ball attack is: you serve, the opponent returns, and you attack aggressively, usually with a loop, a smash, a hard-hit drive, or perhaps a quick off-the-bounce drive. It's that simple. But this means you are relying on your opponent to return your serve in a way that you can attack effectively. While you want to develop your third-ball attack, you also want to develop your five-ball attack as your fallback plan.

What is a five-ball attack? You've probably already figured it out: you serve, opponent returns, you attack in a way to set up your next shot, opponent returns, and you attack aggressively (often with a smash or loop kill).

A five-ball attack often is just a third-ball attack with one more shot. But if your opponent is making your third-ball attack difficult, you might want to vary it with a shot that's more difficult for your opponent to keep you from doing.

In the "classic" five-ball attack, you serve backspin, opponent pushes back deep, you slow- or medium-speed loop, opponent blocks, and you end the point with a smash or loop kill.

A deep, spinny loop is difficult to return without setting up your next shot. Depth is often most important - a slow loop that lands short on the opponent's side is easy to attack. (The exception to this is against a counterlooper who's too far off the table to react quickly to a slow loop that lands short.) A deep loop is much harder to return effectively. Plus, the very slowness of your slow loop gives you time to get into position for the next shot. This is why you can slow loop from the backhand corner with your forehand, and still be in position for the next shot, even if you aren't very fast.

Placement is key. The best place is often right at the opponent's middle, the transition point between forehand and backhand, usually right at the elbow. This forces them to make a quick decision between forehand and backhand, and often leads to a weak or inconsistent return. Or go wide to the corners if the opponent has trouble covering them. A deep, spinny loop to the very wide backhand can often cause havoc.

Many players have trouble serving and looping if their opponent pushes the serve back very heavy. This may mess up your third-ball attack, but it plays right into your fifth-ball attack. Use their backspin against them; let the ball drop slightly more than usual, and then really topspin away with a slow loop. In fact, sometimes don't even look for a third-ball "attack"; decide in advance that, unless you get an easy ball, you will serve and slow loop. This will help make your slow loop even more consistent, since there's no indecision.

Finally, remember that you don't have to force a put-away with the fifth ball. If the shot isn't there, don't go for it; just play another aggressive shot if possible, and focus on the next ball, and so on. 

Most players serve with a purpose. They are trying to get you to return their serve in a specific way so they can attack it. So . . . don't.

The classic case is the forehand looper who serves backspin to your backhand, anticipating a push to his backhand. He steps around and forehand loops. If he's got good footwork, he'll usually follow that shot with at least one more forehand loop unless you make a great return. So he's getting two forehand loops in a row, exactly what he wants.

Why not do a quick push to the wide forehand instead? If he's looking for a return to his backhand, you might catch him going the wrong way; many players have stronger forehand attacks from the backhand side (since the table isn't in the way); and if he does loop it, you can block to his backhand, and so he only gets one forehand attack. You've take his game away from him and so have a much better chance of winning.  

Or you could push the ball back short, and take away his loop altogether. Or you could attack the short serve. The key is to find something to do that he is not comfortable with. If he likes to follow his serve with a backhand loop if you push to his backhand, and a forehand loop if you push to his forehand, then perhaps do a quick push to the middle, rushing him as he tries to decide which side to attack with.

If your opponent likes get into backhand exchanges, and so serves topspin, why give in to him? Learn to vary the return. Go to his forehand first, then quick to the backhand, so he has to both play his presumably less comfortable forehand, and then his backhand on the move. Or chop the serve back, which he doesn't want you to do, or he'd be serving backspin.  

Suppose your opponent has tricky serves that you keep pushing and popping up, and he keeps smashing your returns. Why is your ball popping up? Because you're pushing against a ball that doesn't have backspin. (It could be topspin, sidespin, or no-spin.) He loves it when you push it since it sets up his smash. But since it's topspin, it should be easy (with practice) to return with a simple topspin shot. Shorten your stroke, control the shot back, and you'll take away what your opponent wants you to do. (Sounds easy, doesn't it?)  

Corollary: Once you've established you are not going to give your opponent what he's looking for, a smart opponent will anticipate that, and expect you to do something different. That's when you cross him up with the return he was expecting before, but not now.

So next time you play, figure out what your opponent wants, and give him something else.