REALLY SLOW, DINK Serves!! ARGGHHHH

[James Brown]

Guys, pardon the seeming lack of order in this post but OH MY FREAKIN GOd, I CANT STAND DINK SERVES. I just played today with my friends brother, his first serve is decent (its hit marginally hard, but it lands short and stays low, so its really annoying) but his second serve is just a dink. I had way too much trouble handling it. i tried to rip it down the line and i netted them all. i tried to whack em deep and i netted/floated em. my forehand just died. i dont know what i did! Maybe i didnt extend properly? No idea, thankfully i held my serve (served surprisingly hard and well) and managed to break him after i double faulted a game away. But still, its disheartening, because im much better than him but i just coudlnt put my forehand on the dink in. i can handle hard hit balls,etc , but generating my own pace seems really hard. Can i get some advice? How do i deal with the 'pansy' serves? I ended up just hitting deep backhands but still. I will make note to try to get a video up relatively soon.

Thanks

Thanks in advance guys

[jayserinos99]

i think it's because you tried to hit it hard and go for winners instead of putting your opponent immediately on the defensive by placing it away from him and getting into the net. what you need to do is to shorten up your swing and get your feet moving to the ball and stop trying to 'whack' and 'rip' the ball.

[speedofpain88]

Maybe you just had an off day. It would probably help if you aren't as agressive. Maybe hitting with a little less power and more spin would do it. Don't try to kill the ball and aim for 3 or so feet inside the line.

Like jayserinos said you could also just place the ball well and use this as a set up shot while you go to the net and then finish him off.

[Bungalo Bill]

Feet, feet, look at the feet, the more you look the more you meet. Feet, feet, look at the feet, the more you look the more your meet. There is your hint.

[Real McCoy]

In addition to foot movement, try taking the ball early at its highest point, shortening your back swing and punch the ball, similiar to a volley - a line drive. You might try telling yourself, don't rush, don't rush. That's a common problem when waiting for a slow ball

[goober]

On his second serve move way inside the baseline. Don't try to hit that ball with extreme pace because obviously you can't control it. Instead put it deep and well placed into a corner at 75% speed of a your hard hit shots. You won't net the ball if you are way inside the baseline and you don't try to go for too much. Come into the net put his second shot away which presumably will be weak. You can also drop shot his dink serve back occasionally to **** him off.

If you feel your on, than go for it.. if you've been netting or hitting a few long, than go deep to the backhand and charge the net, cover the line.. im assuming the guy doesnt have a great backhand if he's dinking 2nd serves.. a great way to hurt a weak backhand is go high .. so give it some moderate pace topspin DTL on the duece side and see if that works.

[Agent Smith]

On slow balls its important to get in position well so that you can meet the ball at a ;preferable height. On fast balls the ball just comes to you so you don't have to move as much (forward/back).

[kickingbird]

Firstly, I completely understand how you must be feeling. I used to make the mistake of blasting the heck out of the ball too (down the line is a big mistake as you'll see why...) but I am gradually getting better at dealing with these types of serves/shots.

As most people say, the most important thing I've learnt when dealing with dink serves is:

Move in and hit it at its highest point (or just before it and hit it on the rise). So check where you are contacting the ball.

I have a hitting partner who sounds like the person you mention: second serve is just a 'get it in' shot. What I do is stand half way inbetween the service line and the baseline, and from there, 'run into' the shot, sometimes with slice, sometimes with a drive. Standing so close sometimes pressures them into double faulting too.

From experience, I think biting slice is more effective than a full blooded drive for a few reasons.

1) You will be taking a high, short ball. This makes it much easier to hit down on the ball with slice.
2) Slice has a more compact swing= easier to conrol.
3) You don't need to swing hard because you don't have much court to work with.
4) You might not hit a winner off the first shot, but it puts you in a good position for the next.
5) (IMPORTANT) The ball doesn't come to you- you have to go after it. You can hit slice on the run which is a great advantage on these slow balls. Try it, you'll like it.

A little bit of info on mentality:

On dink serves you might think 'Oh boy, high short ball there for the killing' and want to take a full swipe at the ball. But:

You have less court to work with. This means you have to hit down on the ball flat and hit a near-net skimmer. Or hit with plenty of topspin and NOT much lift, cos if you hit a high loopy topspin, it won't dip down fast enough. I repeat, this is if you are hitting with severe racquet head speed!

Bottom line: Maybe you could just trick yourself and from now try and think of a short high ball as a good opportunity to come into net. It worked for me, and I highly recommend it!

Good luck and go get 'em dink serves!

[Camilio Pascual]

Something that hasn't been mentioned. Think of it as the shortest ball you are going to get in the rally. Hit a very short extremely angled shot to run the guy off the court or so he can't get to it at all. If you are a counterpuncher, well, waist high balls at the service line is where we tend to hit our most aggressive shots, bang on them as you would against a groundstroke and go for an outright winner immediately. Do this a few times and watch the FIRST serve speed start to come down if the opponent has any brains at all.

[dozu]

First of all, let's assume you are at least a weak 4.0, otherwise you just may not be good enough to deal with dinks. If you have at least a half-assed volley and overhead, then just hit it with topspin to his weaker wing, and ready for the put-away.

Like Bunglow B says, it's feet feet feet. With short balls you have adjust yourself into position, and STOP, and then hit the ball. Running thru the shot is the most common cause of errors on short balls.

I have a friend who is a decent 4.5 player, with lots of power from the forehand side and when we play that forehand often draws a short ball from me.... but his midcourt ball often goes 3-4 feet long, and clearly he is running thru the shot.... this is gonna be something he has to figure out on his own, hehehehe... otherwise I will have too tough a time dealing with him.

[babar]

JamesBrown,

The biggest thing I have learned in the past year or so, is that most peoples footwork mirrors the speed of the ball. On speedy, hard-hit balls your feet tend to move more. On slower ball, foot work slows down and becomes lazy. I have not lost to a pusher/dinker, slow-server in a while b/c I remind myself to move my feet for my shots no matter the kind of shot my opponent hits. It has really helped me become a more aggressive returner on second serves. I have really got the hang of returning serves well down the line on slow second serves to make my opponent stretch. I have good angled groundstrokes that I use to open the court after the return. Just try to remember to keep you feet moving!

[Nikeman0092]

If your using a semi western forehand grip on your return, try to get the racquet head lower. I've had a lot of trouble with that.

[Skinny Dip]

I've always had a big go for it first serve with a lame get it in slow heavy spin 2nd serve. But few players I've played can put away the second serve. That's because the spin keeps it low and trailing away.

It's hard to put away shots that you have to hit up on. All this is to say, just because its a dink doesn't mean its an automatic put away.

[ferreira]

Originally Posted by Camilio Pascual

Something that hasn't been mentioned. Think of it as the shortest ball you are going to get in the rally. (...).

I second this tip. Thus, you must be inside the court to hit. Take it, like has also been said, with a short preparation. I'd personally hit it as an approach and com in for the volley. He will have very little time to react, and will also be pressured by seeing you at the net. But the angled crosscourt is fine, too.

[Bungalo Bill]

Originally Posted by ferreira

I second this tip. Thus, you must be inside the court to hit. Take it, like has also been said, with a short preparation. I'd personally hit it as an approach and com in for the volley. He will have very little time to react, and will also be pressured by seeing you at the net. But the angled crosscourt is fine, too.

I would agree, but that is easier said than done. If you have the proper footwork, a nice relaxed stroke will do the trick. Most club players dont have good footwork to support changing their thinking and making it an "approach shot" or to hit "eye popping" angles!

[James Brown]

yeah, you guys are right about one thing, i started to get real lazy and slowed downa whole lot. i wondered why..lol, during ym service games, id have plenty of pep but during his i felt like the wind was out of my sails (discouragement and speed). Im gonna play him again soon and pay attention to my footwork (not while im swinging! :>) thanks for the tips guys.

and no,i dont think im a 4.0 lol, i can hit everything fine, but ive never been evaluated and my confidence is probably a 0.0

[Power Game]

Move those feet (like others said), hit some angles, and throw in some drop shots and volley the returns

[Kobble]

I have dealt with dinks that didn't even rebound above the netline. They are tough to hit outright winners on, so I rarely try. Most people who dink also have a very weak wing. If your opponent has a terrible side, then hit it to that side under control and move to the net. My opponent only sliced the backhand so I knew he couldn't pass me with that. Also, moving to the net will help stamp out the lazy footwork.

[Zoroaster]

Hi,

When I asked this same thing, most of the people that responded said I probably wasn't as good as I thought I was, and that's about it.

Brad