Tennis question, the quest for topspin.

[lendaddy]

Since my wrist injury I have taken up tennis as it doesn't seem to bother my passive left hand. Anyway I played a decade or so ago and was OK, but never good. My biggest problem has always been generating copious topspin. I can backsin a buzzball that defies logic, but am very hit/miss with the topspin What am I missing? My raquet is strung pretty tight(62lbs) could that be an issue? I doubt it, but who knows.

I feel like I am coming up on the ball pretty good, but maybe I should video tape and watch myself? Anyway, any of you guys have some basic tips/common mistakes people make trying to generate topspin? I am tired of launching my vollies over the backline

[widebody911]

I played tennis for the first time last weekend, so I understand the problem, but have no idea what the problem is. Some of mine zinged right down, others were so far out of the park, Sammy Sosa would have been jealous. And I'm way more cosistent with my backhand than my forehand.

I think I'll stick to raquetball, where it doesn't matter

[B D]

First off practice makes perfect! To hit a ball with top spin you need to swing from low to high and at contact have the appropriate angle of your raquet. The angle of your raquet at contact may vary if the ball is low or high. To get started you need to make sure your grip is correct, hold the raquet straight out with the head perpindicular to the ground. Next place your hand on the lower part of the grip, you should see a V shape between your thumb and index finger. The V should not be in the middle, it should be a a little to the right. Now your ready to swing! The first thing is to swing low to high and use your wrist to help exagerate this motion, if you watch the pro's you will see them drop the raquet head down for a low ball and whip the raquet back up with there wrist and arm. Don't try to kill the ball, just hit some easy shots. Try to clear the net atleats by a few feet in the begining, if you hit the net you maybe "lifting" moving your body up while hittiing the ball. Keep your head down and knees bent. Your footwork is also crucial you will have trouble hitting top spin on your backfoot, your shot will look like a fly ball. Make sure to set up your feet and turn to hit the ball, be parallel with the ball.

I hope this helps, the best way to practice is alone with a wall. It will sharpen your reflexes and no one will be around to frustrate you.

[lendaddy]

Thats's great BD!

So there is alot of wrist action involved, I wondered about that. Second, I have noticed the pros tend to look like they are "dragging" the raquet at impact or their hands are ahead of the raquet, is this real or perceived? Thanks a ton!

Oh, mentally, what angle of attack should I have in mind for the upswing? I have 45 degrees in my head, but maybe I should swing more upright? I hope you understand that last ramble

[jyl]

My tennis days are long gone but I used to play obsessively when I was on the high school team. Here's some old thoughts I dredged up from memory.

The usual topspin motion is stroking the racquet from low to high with a closed face (an imaginary line orthogonal to the strings would point down and intersect the ground). Kind of the opposite of backspin or "slice" where you stroke from high to low with an open racquet face.

If you are using a low-to-high stroke but your topspin shots are still going long, probably your racquet face isn't closed enough, so you're not actually getting topspin, you're just lofting the ball up high and long. Watch how the ball acts when it lands - topspin will make it bounce high (again, the opposite of backspin where the ball bounces low) - if your ball isn't doing that, its another clue you aren't getting much topspin.

I seem to recall preferring to hit a flat or backspin volley rather than a topspin volley. Topspin is great for groundstrokes because you can put a lot of pace on the ball and the spin still brings it down inside the baseline, then it bounces high which forces your opponent to hit it on the rise or when it is up high (both are hard) or play well back from the baseline (a disadvantage).

When you're up at the net volleying, you're usually hitting "down" (ball is higher than net) so you don't need topspin to land inside the baseline, and control is usually more important than power (given your position, your opponent already has less time to reach your ball, so a well-placed ball can be a winner even without tons of pace). I don't watch much tennis on TV anymore, but I think most of the volleying you'll see is the classic underspin type.

When you're hitting a volley from mid-court, e.g. an approach shot, then the above doesn't apply - you need pace and your opponent should be forcing you to hit the ball when it is lower than the net, so topspin is helpful.

Well, tennis may have changed in a couple decades, but anyway this is my two cents.

[SalazarS2K]

Here are a few things to add that no one has mentioned:

Whenever I get into a hitting slump, I tend to focus back on my mechanics and making sure I am preparing for the ball. Someone already mentioned the grip, with the racquet face perpendicular to the ground, you should be almost shaking hands with it so the "V" part of your handshake is near the middle of the grip. The closer the "V" is to the right of the grip, the more topspin you will hit.

How is your stance? Is your body facing the net when you are hitting the ball or are you perpendicular? If you are right handed, you will want to turn your shoulders so that your front left foot is stepping into the ball on contact, this gives you power and control on shots.

Use your left hand as a guide to help you visualize where and when you want to hit the ball. Now that your body is turned, you want to pull your racquet back so that you start your swing near your knees, and you will be hitting up (brushing up the ball with the strings produces the topspin) on the ball at contact. The contact point should be out in front near your left knee.

Finish the stroke by rotating your body so that it opens up and faces the net, but your feet should still be almost perpendicular to the net. Follow through with your racquet so that the butt of the racquet is facing the net and your racquet is over your left shoulder. Practice makes perfect, if you need to, take a few private lessons to get the mechanics down and practice practice practice. It generally takes about 10,000 forehands before you develop a nice solid stroke and with topspin. Good luck!

And yes, I have a job.

[B D]

So there is alot of wrist action involved, I wondered about that. Second, I have noticed the pros tend to look like they are "dragging" the raquet at impact or their hands are ahead of the raquet, is this real or perceived? Thanks a ton!

I think the others have covered this but, your hands may or may not be ahaed of the raquet. It depends on where you are trying to hit the ball. If you want to hit the ball straight they should be even. Contact should be made about your left knee if you are right handed. At contact the raquet should be about 90 degrees, it will vary depending on the heighth at which you hit the ball and where your are on the court.

SalazarS2K had a great point about keeping your left hand out for balance. Also hitting the ball out is better than hitting it in the net, try to clear the net by a few feet while practicing.

[gchappel]

Back to OLD tennis memories. You can use wrist activity to generate spin, but you can definately hit with a lot of topspin without any wrist snap. Think raquet head position as it strikes the ball- that is the secret- it is the moment of impact and the short amount of time the ball is carried by the strings. The pros use wrist snap, etc but it is another variable to go wrong day in day out, and is thought by some to be an advanced technique. To keep some porsche content here- get some seat time. Get an instructor- individual usually best but some of the clinics are pretty good. You can't learn a good stroke reading about it. Get the fundamentals down correctly- then go play your game. Don't learn bad habits, the fundamentals will be with you your entire life. Just like it is hard to tell someone how to slide your car through a turn using the throttle, I think is is even harder to try to explain a tennis stroke.
Enjoy the game
Gary

[lendaddy]

Thanks guys, you have given me alot to think about and I appreciate your help. I have a game tonight and will try to think grip and stance/weight forward to start. Hopefully that helps, then I'll move on to the details. Thanks again!

[jyl]

You don't need a lot of wrist action for topspin. Beginners often tend to use too much wrist action, especially on forehands. So do people who come from racquetball, badminton, and table tennis.

In the classic tennis groundstroke, power comes from having your feet planted in a closed stance (a line drawn between your feet is pointing toward the net, rather than perpendicular to it), and rotating your hips and mid-section and shoulders - only lastly from the arm and wrist muscles.

Over the past decades, racquets have become more powerful (compared to old wood ones), the ball is moving faster, the pace of the game is faster, and at the top pro level there is less time to set up in the "classic" closed position and hit a full-body stroke. So you'll see top players hitting from an open stance and on the run - and using more arm and wrist. Naturally, weekend players then copy the pros. But I think beginners should still learn the classic full stroke - building a good solid foundation. The pro isn't hitting an off-balance, open stance, flicking stroke because it is the ideal stroke, he's doing it because the pro on the other side of the net is applying max pressure.

[End fuddy-duddy old-school mumbling.]

[concentric]

All you have to do to generate top-spin on any shot is to turn the racquet over (from vertical to the court to horizontal) as you hit through the ball. Don't use wrist flick, it's not necessary and as you get better and respond to faster and faster returns, you won't have time to open and close both wrist and arm with the stroke.

JCM