Nasty! How to confuse your opponent when returning serves (with Craig Bryant)

In this video, top coach Craig Bryant, explains how to confuse your opponent when returning serves.
It's all about the art of deception. You show your opponent you are going to play one shot and at the last moment you switch to another shot.
This unpredictability makes it hard for your opponent to anticipate what you will do. When your opponent is uncertain, he or she will play weaker shots or make more mistakes.
In the video, Craig shows how to add deception when returning serves with a forehand topspin, a forehand flick, a backhand flick, a touch and a push. As usual, I am the unfortunate soul on the receiving end of Craig's trickery.
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[@Illycrium]

The forehand flick! You can even see Tom hesitate when he's not sure where the ball is going! This is an incredible video.

[@craigyb22]

🙂 thanks

[@rogerhance5883]

Good to see you and Craig making videos again.

[@williamoak1825]

Amazing tips from an amazing team!!!

[@otisskopik1400]

Craig Bryant is such a great player - great video

[@Franky_1974]

Very nice tips! Hard to "read" for the opponent. I will try this at the training lesson first, before I use it in matches. ;-) Thanx a lot!

[@namankanojia6435]

very good tips and very nice. I will it definitely and it is easy and some tricky for while playing. And thanks for giving me a trick and how to play better than me as I present.

[@kameshp9995]

Loving your videos you two... Absolutely golden stuff

[@vmn_z3252]

Great video! Thanks for the tips :)

[@idrivearttabletennis]

Great video. Wicked serves.

[@Uncle-Basil]

I have to say, this is a great video...very important.

[@willo219]

Well done, nice to see your videos back :)

[@GTTableTennis]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@MarcelSM01]

Good to see new videos from you. Welcome back. 😊

[@TomLodziak]

Thank you. Good to be back playing, coaching and making videos!

[@mirhon2022]

Amazing serve

[@MOSTAFA131160]

helpful video, thank you.

[@berryesseen]

Not only this gives you an advantage but it also frustrates the opponent greatly. After you learn how to return all different kinds of shots, the hardest part begins, which is reading the opponent’s movements. Frustrated opponents are the easiest to win but they are unlikely to play again if you are playing for fun :)

[@ayanantachowdhury9105]

Really smart techniques

[@estebanbertagni5580]

Muy claras las explicaciones y las imágenes

[@GTTableTennis]

GREAT VIDEO!

[@eloimumford5247]

Uncertainty creates Anxiety ...trick your opponent , offer him some beers . Thanks for sharing tricky tricks.

[@bikrantkarmakar5055]

Brilliant !!!!!

[@sbastian9]

I'm hoping to see more humor on your tutorial.. 😁 that makes difference from others. Thanks for the tips.

[@EY-mp4rb]

Excellent

[@dpolz009]

Excellent advice and tips! I love confusing and frustrating my opponents! Lol👍🏻 I sincerely hope that I do not play an opponent as good as Craig anytime soon

[@TomLodziak]

He is full of trickery and deception. Very clever player.

[@wardihardianwardihardian2330]

Good tutorial

[@mahmoudgado6666]

Great video!!! Well explained and demonstrated. For potential video ideas, I was hoping if you could make a video explaining the drop shot, the backhand around the net as well as how to do a tomahawk serve, all with Craig Bryant. Thanks!

[@TomLodziak]

I'll add these to my list of potential future videos.

[@mahmoudgado6666]

@@TomLodziak Thanks a lot☺️☺️

[@davidlucero4180]

Thanks Tom and Craig! Love your videos very informative as always! I bought your book just getting started on it, well worth the price. Thanks for being just like us an average person and showing thru some hard work and dedication you can get better and better. Your tips have helped improve my game! Enjoy your humor as well!

[@TomLodziak]

Thanks David. Happy to help in any small way I can. Hope you enjoy the book.

[@sanskritirawat2687]

Big fan from India

[@tabletenniswithabp3468]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqW2g6N3j7yrjqs

[@GTTableTennis]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@box.10]

Xcellent!

[@PingBrothersTR]

Nice video

[@user-ix7vm2bf8m]

Nice 👏

[@chriszod]

Nice to be back

[@GTTableTennis]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@garethfox949]

Well done Tom and Craig. Great to see the videos are back, I look forward to them! I must find time to read the book I bought that you authored while on lock down! I'm sure it will help gain a few points this coming season:-)

[@TomLodziak]

Thanks for watching Gareth. Hope you can get back to playing soon.

[@GTTableTennis]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@spongebob1849]

I’m reading your book and I love it! I’m sorry what people said about your forehand loop. You’re right, there are many different techniques and your technique isn’t wrong.

[@TomLodziak]

It's OK, I don't mind the criticism really. Sometimes it's very useful. Thanks for reading the book!

[@izainonline]

Great Tips 😞I wish I had used these techniques on my playing time.

[@jinjeonpingpong4989]

There will be another day. Keep these tips in your back pocket until then.

[@jinjeonpingpong4989]

Love these videos with Craig Bryant. His technique is flawless.

[@craigyb22]

It’s definitely not flawless but thank you for your comment 😁

[@jinjeonpingpong4989]

@@craigyb22 you're too modest!

[@manudehanoi]

the coach in my club plays like that when over the table....it stuns you. But it requires great speed to prep one way and change at the last moment

[@Mikhail_Sergeevitch]

Working scheme! 🙏

[@ognjenmladenovic564]

Nice

[@dr.shahidramay6728]

Please tell me the standing position during service must be away from white imaginary line (corner position) or no problem but hitting the ball away from that line? The standing position during service must be away or no problem?

[@frankwing7305]

3:07 Craig mentions about if the opponent starts to move when showing the opponent your racket in one direction, then you can close your wrist in to change direction...but my question is - is it good to look at the opponent's movement in the peripheral vision whilst concentrating on the ball contact or is it okay to focus a bit more on what your opponent is doing in order to know how to better create the deception?

[@craigyb22]

Hi Frank, great question. In short, either should work fine. I’d say the majority of people would find it easier focussing on the ball and then using your peripheral vision to keep an eye on your opponents movements. You should find you’ll have some success if the receive is deceptive enough but returning the ball based on your opponents movements will definitely be the next level up (and should be more effective too).

[@frankwing7305]

@@craigyb22 Thank you Craig, that makes sense!! That's so awesome, will definitely work on the latter a bit more as it's such a little thing but has savage consequences and is super effective, best wishes :)

[@manudehanoi]

great vid.

[@user-lq6mq6uu4h]

Were good!

[@francodejj]

Tom, what bat combo does Craig use?....I think the blade/rubber he uses also contribute to his mastery of these deceptive strokes. 😀

[@julianvickers]

I'm pretty sure you can do it with almost any decent blade/rubber.

[@pranambhat7964]

Tom acts very well 😂

[@wizzydenoble_2254]

I am an upcoming coach..... where can I get support to get good tables.

[@kdgr]

🏓👍

[@box.10]

Still alive here despite BoJo. Have you thought Tom about explaining the "drive through"? Not a burger but taking the spin off the receiving ball and applying your own on the return.

[@TomLodziak]

Nice idea. I will add to the list.

[@saptarshimitra8268]

But this returns are difficult to execute when you put heavy spin serves very low and near to the net.

[@craigyb22]

...of course but the purpose of the video is to show the possibilities. If we were really training, then I would try and create the same against backspin, against topspin, against a random mixture but the purpose of the video is not for me to improve (my time has been and gone), the purpose of the video to to show different ways of receiving and hopefully players will connect with one or two ways and start to develop it.

[@saptarshimitra8268]

Thanks for the clarification. Your returns are really deceptive. It can cause havoc.Just wanted to know if it can work with very low serves. Awesome to learn these skills if we can use it sometime during a match to confuse the opponent. Thanks again for your explanation.

[@chriszod]

Who will do a racket giveaway:(

[@pingcredible3477]

you weill

[@rogerhance5883]

What happened to the Mohican haircut Tom ?

[@TomLodziak]

Ha! It lasted one day, then I shaved it off. This footage is from over a year ago. Got delayed because of the virus thingy.

[@abhishekthomas7799]

your service is somewhat weak Tom, please don't feel offended. So for Craig it is super easy to do these attacks. Try to add more spin , pace and variations. How about a video of a formal match between you two?

[@craigyb22]

Hi, The purpose of this practice was to put me in a dominant position to be able to make some complicated returns. This automatically makes things more difficult for Tom and much easier for me, the returner. It’s also a deliberate decision for the demonstration purposes. Of course, a progression of this would be to add backspin to the serve, add side spin, mixing the spins up etc but that was not the purpose of this demonstration. So, no offence taken at all, we do try and think these things through to make sure things work as smoothly as possible and are as useful as possible to the viewer.

[@abhishekthomas7799]

@@craigyb22 yes Craig, I agree with you. By the way, when is the match between you and Tom?

[@craigyb22]

Abhishek Thomas This videos (and some others that are to follow) were all recorded a little while ago. When we get together to do some more videos, I’m sure it won’t be a problem to play a game or two and post it. 👍

[@ura-ii6ld]

э

[@sbastian9]

I'm hoping to see more humor on your tutorial.. 😁 that makes difference from others. Thanks for the tips.