help on receiving serves pls

Continue the spin, you might see Timo Boll or Chen Qi do this to the normal right handed pendulum serves. Just do the same motion they do when they push it.

If it's long enough to loop it then go for the loop every time. If your loop goes too long you have to spin harder and loop more forward. Don't make the mistake to loop more cautiously because you are afraid to miss. This is the worst mistake you can make. With this kind of shot you have to pay extra special attention to your blade side angle on contact. Make a clean topspin without sidespin.

Actually, this serve is not very smart for a lefty, and certainly not for a penholder lefty. You can totally put him out of position by playing a heavy sidespin loop that flies in in a semi circle and breaks hard and long to the extreme side of the table. This will continue the spin of his serve as TT_Freak has pointed out above. This shot might be a bit technical but it will give you a very big positional advantage. Let the ball fall more and then spin it as hard as you can with mostly sidespin and some topspin, but make it a soft loop to maximize the strong curve in order to drive him out of position.

yogi_bear wrote: the only thing ive done to return it without him attcking it back was to brush it down the line to his forehand

As you seem to be doing above, Down the line with soft wrist, vertical racket, looking for flick or dropshot opportunities, yr opportunity comes on the next ball. I actually disagree alittle with YATTP here, in that i think its a classic lefty serve tactic provided its half long most of the time. of course I f hes letting you swing at it then hed better have a grreat block!

yogi_bear wrote: ok thanks for the replies, how bout if i hit the ball with an open racket like this --> | ?? it sometimes goes in i kinda flip it sometimes and goes in, is it ok?

Thats what i call vertical.Its good to wipe it sideways a bit so that even if yr return is slow its difficult to attack. Soft wrist essential.
Sometimes return like this --> | but also at last second sometimes open more: \ (to do drop), or close more: / (to do flip)