Unable to send Ghast Fireballs back

Unsure if this happens on single player but currently on a multiplayer server i'm finding that no matter how much I try, I cant hit ghast balls. They either 'bounce' off my hand or sword, or just smack into me. The bounce is pathetic and for all it looks like its about to shoot off back towards the ghast, instead it explodes 2 blocks from me and hurts me. Given that the nether seems to spawn 3-4 ghasts at a time that dont leave the area, this means i'm stuck in the nether or having to spend time making arrows (or killing skeletons which is a pain since the closer you get to them the harder they hit and knock you back)