Thank you so much for making this game so much easier for us tennis fans. This happens if we try to hit the ball into the ground and roll over the ball. (You can learn the different grips here). Where the concept of roll-over becomes dangerous is when the player infers that they are wrapping the racket around the ball. Forget about the racquet face angle and try to hit your desired height above the net repeatedly. Always strive to hit your shots in front of you and not to your side. Anyway I will ignore this exercise for the time being and will wait for an eventual follow up video. It will also position your racket so that the top edge is in front. Heres how. Can you clarify or show me where in the video the roll occurs? The amount of topspin depends mainly on the swing movement and the point where the ball hits the surface of the racket. In particular, the idea of use what works, and throw away the rest. From a practical standpoint, this effect can be used to create a higher bounce and to allow you to hit with more power while keeping the ball in play. Whether we finish low (by the hip), in the middle (near the ribs), or up high (over the shoulder) makes no difference. While the modern game has moved towards more extreme grips, there is no reason why you cant generate ample topspin using a grip you are more comfortable with, such as the eastern forehand grip, semi-western forehand, or the continental grip on the backhand side. I must warn you that it may feel strange if youve never done it before. My final recommendation is to try these things out. Step Five Great idea! Keep your eyes fixed on the ball during this entire time. To me, personally, I feel like players fall into one of two categories. How To Hit Monster Topspin in Tennis - TheTennisBros.com This will create that low to high swing during the contact point. You dont want to hit your topspin shots on the back of your heels. Want to meet new players & play more tennis? While hitting a top spin shot, you should care of two things; one is the angle of racket head and the other is the direction of swing. Topspin: By brushing at the top of the ball. How to hit a proper topspin forehand? | Talk Tennis There are five possible types of spins on a tennis serve. 4 Keys To A Rock Solid Tennis Second Serve! You constantly need to judge how to hit the ball so that you keep it inside the court. When you make contact with the ball, it should be in front of you. While the serve and volley game has waned in popularity over the last two decades You love tennis yourself. You may have never thought about hitting out in front of your body for topspin. It also makes shots more difficult to return, as the ball bounces higher and accelerates off the ground. I was wrong. The racket face angle changes from parallel the net to a little closed during the contact. The article on handling high balls should help too. Hence the principle behind the windshield-wiper stroke relying on that racket face angle remaining roughly constant through the impact zone (somewhere between 76 & 79 degrees. When we hit over the net, the racquets angle DEPENDS on the angle of the incoming ball bouncing off the ground, whether were hitting on the rise or when the ball is falling down, etc. When I want to hit harder, I just close down the racket face. 2. Yes, if one misinterprets rolling of the ball with wrapping the racquet around the ball and therefore changing the angle, then they will have a problem of not hitting well. It is one of the most difficult sports in the world so dont expect that there is answer out there that will help you keep in the ball in the court all the time. First, this is just one example of hitting a ball and to me its one of the fundamental ones. Step Four You can work your way into these more extreme grips. Its absolutely proven to work for both forehands and backhands. Adding topspin to your groundstrokes will give you greater margin of error. On both low and high balls its critical that you know the HEIGHT over the net at which youre aiming at. It is just a roll from an open face to a closed face? How to hit the perfect topspin lob. Let the rotation of your shoulders lead the racket back, dont just rotate your arm. Required fields are marked *. This means that the racket head is below the contact point prior to hitting the forehand or backhand, and as you make contact with the tennis ball, the racket is traveling upwards to brush the back of the ball. Topspin: Twist the Joy-Con the opposite way as a Backspin, so that the back of your hand is facing your body. As for aiming higher and hitting long, well, you need to find the right speed and spin that still keep the ball in. Its nice of you to have gone all this way to write this, however, there are some things that i have to disagree on, such as the swing path of the racquet. YOU CAN NOW LOG IN USING YOUR MOBILE NUMBER, Your Safe Play approval is ready to be renewed. How To Improve Early Positioning For A Tennis Stroke, simple tennis FH tips for More Power and Topspin, https://www.feeltennis.net/forehand-topspin-drills/, Hitting the ball hard on the ground instead of just focusing on a smooth and fast brush over the top of the ball, Having very firm wrist(s) and not allowing the racquet to lag before contact with the ball, Sticking to the regular follow-through around the shoulder, where, in this case, the follow-through will be much lower. Video your own strokes and watch them in slow motion if possible. We will focus primarily on the use of topspin on groundstrokes, namely forehand and backhand shots, though the technique is similar with topspin lobs. Therefore discussing one single example is not going to work. How to tell if you're hitting topspin? | Talk Tennis Topspin not only allows you to hit harder since the effect makes the ball drop quickly after crossing the net, but it also makes the ball bounce aggressively towards your opponent. My whole body is looser, and calmer, and I do not make as many errors. A More Consistent Tennis Player By hitting with perfect topspin, youll instantly become a much more consistent tennis player. 13 likes, 0 comments - Jersey 34 Tennis Club (@jersey34tennisclub) on Instagram: "Fun drills helping students learn to hit higher over the net with topspin and deeper in the court." Jersey 34 Tennis Club on Instagram: "Fun drills helping students learn to hit higher over the net with topspin and deeper in the court." The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. Ever see Nadals put away forehand? But once you get the timing, its a very powerful technique for generating lots of topspin. How To Hit Topspin With No Loss Of Power | Feel Tennis The topspin is meant to speed up the ball, but also help it stay within bounds.. Try and play deeper shots by hitting higher rather than faster. After all that analysis, Im finally ready to talk about it. 1. In todays tennis lesson, I share a step by step formula on how to hit a topspin forehand. A question : is the racket still square , I mean vertical at the point of contact with the ball? Optimally, you should contact the ball about 4-6 inches before full extension. I believe this drill will help him a lot because, when he hits fast, many times the ball goes on the back fence. This allows you to still have some forward movement on the racket after contact. Your backhand stroke will be more effective if you turn your body sideways along with both your shoulders when hitting. When you want to produce more topspin, one of the secrets you can use is to close the racket face (the side you will hit the ball with) towards the ground. The login page will open in a new tab. If you look at the pro tour, particularly womens tennis, youll see a variety of hitters. My shot continuity has already improved a lot thanks to this tip. I feel like there are two parts to this equation. Ideally, you want to use all of these joints in unison to lift the racket and create the topspin effect. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Hope to add one more piece of the puzzle to hitting the ball very soon. I have applied the same concept to my forehand and it is beginning to work! You miss on the acceleration Dropping your racquet and brushing up on the ball means that you start below the ball with zero speed, and from there, you have a very short distance to accelerate it to the ball. Tennis Topspin Secrets: How To Hit Perfect Topspin In 5 Steps Hi Chad, i really liked discovering this site, and your training approach. I saw the pros hitting the ball fairly level but closing down the racket head at contact. If youre reading this post, youre most likely a flat hitter who wants some topspin in your game. This creates great racket head speed during the contact zone while using a low to high swing. As I said earlier, the semi-western and western grips are fantastic for allowing a deeper drop of the racket head. 6:00 The Swing Path (step one) There are two main obstacles in tennis the net, and the lines. Once you begin forward movement of the stroke, dont stop or slow the speed of the racket. THANK YOU!!! Thats why one of the first things I ask them to do is to move back and hit the ball on the way down if possible because then they finally feel they have time and they start relaxing. Once contact is made, the forearm will pronate. Rotation should be around your torso. Now i want to ask you for a little help on my Forehand Top spin shot.. As you begin to move your hips and shoulders forward to initiate the forward swing, let the racket lag behind. 3. Can a change in grip on the forehand or backhand produce more spin? That is what the challenge of tennis is really about its not at what position you follow-through but at what speed, height and spin do you choose to hit each ball that comes to you with different heights, speeds and spins. Start The Free Course The Difference Between Flat And Topspin Serves For that reason, we need to have a strong follow through on every topspin shot we hit. If youve bent your knees and gotten low on the ball, you can use your legs better to rise up on the swing. The effect topspin has after bouncing is to move the ball aggressively towards your opponent. Step One The foundation of hitting with perfect topspin in tennis is to use a low to high swing path during the contact zone. Now move your arm as far forward as possible, keeping your arm straight. If they still dont get it, I have them use their hand only. These grips will allow you to generate even more topspin without sacrificing too much power. On the two-handed tennis backhand, the top hand will be doing the exact same motion. Im beginning to think its just a less efficient way to hit the backhand. Some people just swing faster than others. A major reason for lack of power and topspin is slow racket head speed. 3:13 How To Hit Harder In Tennis But Stay Consistent There is no reason why you cant hit with adequate amounts of topspin using the eastern forehand, semi-western forehand and continental backhand grips as long as you swing up on the ball during contact. Hitting the outside of ball | Talk Tennis If there is a definite roll that the wrist plays, Id really love to know what it is. Sure, there is a racquet lag on the one-handed backhand too but I suggest you simply roll the ball without too much technical thinking. Pivot your shoulders as soon as you know which side the ball is coming and moving towards the ball. swinging it forward as well doesnt add much spin to the ball, and unfortunately, gives the ball a rather easy bounce to read. As long as you employ the steps outlined earlier and practice the stroke regularly, you should be well on your way to hitting powerful topspin groundstrokes that you can use to pin your opponent against the baseline. This means that the racket head is below the contact point prior to hitting the forehand or backhand, and as you make contact with the tennis ball, the racket is traveling upwards to brush the back of the ball. Rolling the ball is one exercise that will almost instantly trigger the aha moment once you try it. By the end of this post, youll have a good idea of how to generate more topspin in your tennis game. Your shots will feel much more solid if you maintain good eye contact. I think the 1h bh is so hard because the wrist is used differently is the roll of the wrist more a roll of the arm maybe? When you first learned to hit topspin forehand (and backhand), you realized that, in order to apply topspin to the ball, you need to move the racket vertically up and brush the ball on the back side. chest forward & up. Once you combine this closed racket face with an upwards http://www.slaterpharmacy.com swing path, youll be creating the perfect angle to produce the maximum topspin with your tennis strokes. Improve your tennis game: A quick tip for creating topspin Brilliant reply and expertly explained thank you! But it may not work in the way you are doing it. Topspin creates a downward force on a ball so that it drops more quickly than it would otherwise if hit flat. Your mental image in tennis is often vastly different than reality. Tomaz, I didnt get to thank you for this break through lesson. Just before the contact point, the racket head should be below the grip of the racket, and as you brush the ball, the tip of the racket will end up facing the sky and then whip across the body. On the one-handed tennis backhand, you'll have the palm facing the ground as you make contact (fist facing the sky) and as you brush upwards, the palm of the hand will then open up to the sky (fist down). How To Hit A Topspin Forehand - YouTube Slower, looping shots with lots of topspin deep into the court can be very effective. As an Amazon Associate I am compensated for referring traffic to Amazon.com. As you rise from the bend and hold the foot back, on its toe usually, it keeps that hip from over rotating but i feel it also creates the proper stopping that we need for the racket to whip forward with full acceleration. Of course, if you are more comfortable using the western forehand or the eastern backhand, by all means, stick to them. The racquet face may FEEL closed in your hand perhaps all the time but as you move your arm forward the face will open up more and be parallel to the net at some point. Almost all the men on the pro tour hit like this, so much so that this is known as the modern ATP forehand. Please read our disclosure for more info. Most of the topspin effect should come from brushing up on the ball. Youre very welcome, Dude, thanks for the feedback! Since the advent of youtube, Ive been able to study all the forehands of the top professional players, such as Federer, Zverev, Murray, Nadal, Djokovic, etc. No, definitely not. If your swing is very level, youll need to consciously lower your swing and finish higher. After all, once contact is made with the ball, who cares what the racket does? Hitting inside of the ball provides better access to stability and penetration. Coach and analyst Paul Annacone shares how to execute a topspin lob that will get your opponent on their heels. Racket Face Angle In Slot Position Swing Path of Racket (The Low To High Concept) Hitting Out In Front Of Body (Open Stance) Wrist Pronation Racket Speed Turn Down Of Racket Head On Contact Follow Through Strings You don't need to master every attribute on my list to hit topspin. Since you will likely not be getting your body lower on the ball, youll need to compensate by angling your shoulder blades so that the shoulder holding the racket is lower than the non-hitting shoulder. And one more experience from my side: 95% of the adult recreational tennis players I worked with are not capable of hitting the ball on the rise WHILE maintaining smoothness, good timing and using their whole kinetic chain. Then the player's legs straightened up exerting strong force so that the legs are lifted from the ground. Your arms and hands move in the correct way, as a real tennis topspin stroke requires them toa fast, dynamic, and effortless acceleration. Spin in Table Tennis: How to Create and Counter The usual way of teaching topspin forehand or backhand is to drop the racquet under the ball and then brush or lift up, thus, making the ball spin. Loading and unloading. Thanks for the feedback, Rich. Why not? But first, stand to your side with your arm straight in back, like you were going to hit a forehand. Simple Steps to Hitting a Topspin Serve - YouTube On higher shots (shoulder level) you can swing more level and finish on the same plane or even lower. You should rotate your shoulders together as a unit. The first step towards a successful topspin serve is by standing sideways and hit it upward. The hand and racket will thus make a 180-degree flip (approximately) going from right to left (for righthanded forehands). In other words, you want to hit the ball deep, but not too close to the baseline. Tennis Topspin Secrets: How To Hit Perfect Topspin In Five Steps Work on improving your swing speed day-by-day by using resistance weights, like the racket weight along with racket speed drills. Step One Maybe this video explains better what you want to know about the wrist: https://www.feeltennis.net/forehand-topspin-drills/, How To Be At Peace With Mistakes In Tennis, Tennis Illusions Roger Federers Forehand Technique, The Modern Forehand Drop & Wrist Lag Techniques Comparison, Tennis Serve Technique 7 Steps To Correct Serve, Tennis Warm Up Coordination & Footwork Drills, How To Disguise Your Tennis Serves Intention, Optimal Tennis Baseline Position And Movement Holding Your Ground, How To Improve Your Tennis Game With Just In Case Idea, Tennis Slice Serve Technique Vs Flat And Topspin Serves, Tennis Serve Wrist Snap Illusion and Misconception. Keep in mind that the topspin itself will force your opponent back. Add silicon spray to your strings. Your arm should automatically raise up towards your shoulder. By relaxing your wrist, you will create a lag in your stroke which, in turn, will generate greater power and topspin on your shot. Why You Need Topspin In Tennis - TopspinPro Thank you! Second Serve Tennis Tips - 4 Keys To More Topspin And Power This technique should only be used as a last resort. Then they can try again with a racket. You can view this drill as an upgrade of the previous drills that build the foundation of the stroke. When first starting to learn the game, you may want to get used to the concept of topspin by using less aggressive grips. How this drill changes that? The wrist may only rotate internally meaning like youre wiping the window with a cloth, but that still keeps the racquets angle the same to the ball its just that the racquet is now moving upwards and across the ball. You cant control what your opponent does on the other end. From the forehand position with your wrist locked and grip loose, drop your racquet face about 6 inches below the level of the ball, swing low-to-high, squeeze the grip on impact brushing up the back of the ball with accelerated racquet head speed, and finish to a higher point out in front of you (like the top of the . Tennis Topspin Secrets: How To Hit Perfect Topspin In 5 Steps Being able to hit with perfect topspin in tennis is one of the most important elements of being a solid, consistent tennis. Then, using a low to high swing path, "brush" the ball off te net cord and over the net. A few years ago, I was curious to know how Roger Federer and the other professionals of mens tennis generated topspin on their hard forehands. I think it has to do with the position of the hand. Any tips on how to correct this? 00:00 Tennis Topspin Lesson Intro Coming to the point being discussed here, I too have the same problem Paul is facing. The key to this fast acceleration is that theracquet LAGS behind the arm. 18:31 Loading and Unloading (step five), How To Play Better Tennis in 10 Minutes Creating time. when you stop rotating, this movement this stop will catapult the arm & racquet into the ball. This makes tennis easy. I do think there is the racquet lag. I can literally swing the racket as fast as I want and keep the ball in play. There are a number of major benefits to hitting the ball with topspin, so being able to generate monster topspin when you want to . What now? Often, I can get to topspin balls hit out of reach. Your tips are a valuable insight into my tennis whenever I am guilty of analyzing things too mechanically or thinking too much rather than go with the flow. But in the western grips, there is less blockage and the handle can angle down. That is unless your name is Rafael Nadal; only he can get away with breaking the rules. This is essential for making this shot work. A little is all you need to be effective at the club level. While magic can happen with this drill after a little practice, I suggest that you use it repeatedly for a while until you feel a very clean hit of the ball and the ability to create topspin tennis strokes effortlessly. Topspin Tennis - Is More Better - Online Tennis Instruction On the backhand side, it is rarely if ever used. Start from a "throwing position" and repeat. Once it does, simply extend out as far as possible and bring the racket straight across the body until you hit the follow through. Whatever the case, it may be your strings to blame. Its more about connecting the drop of the racquet with the acceleration upward and finding a more effortless way of accelerating the racquet head. Thanks, Ill see what I can do with it. So why is topspin important? But if you attempt to really hit the ball like that, you will face quite a few disadvantages, not to mention the fact that youre not really learning the proper way of controlling the ball: 1. The player cannot be limp relaxed vs. actively relaxed states needed with creating high ball and spin speeds to use tactics that force errors. For example, I personally hit the ball on a groundstroke in at least 5 distinctly different ways where rolling is just one of them. All of us who play tennis well have played for hours per day and for years until we mastered the heights, speeds and spins that allow us to play consistently and accurately. Use what works and throw away the rest. Learn how to hit reliable topspin tennis servesunder pressure. It is a foundation which while essential, is not adequate on its own. This means that the racket head is below the contact point prior to hitting the forehand or backhand, and as you make contact with the tennis ball, the racket is traveling upwards to brush the back of the ball. To be crystal clear, I mean the hitting side of the racket will turn to face the ground soon after contact. Flat forehand vs Topspin forehand | Talk Tennis Using the legs to drive up into the ball will help you generate more topspin if you time the drive well. The very fastest hitters on tour (both men and women) average between 72-80 mph on their groundstrokes. Hi, this seems to be a great tip and Ill definitely try it today when I get to the court. For example, a player may hit three topspin shots crosscourt, and then on the fourth shot hit a flat ball or a slice down the line to set him/herself up to . I am someone who does not have time and money for a regular coaching class, AND someone who likes to figure out how things really work, on my own. 11:21 Using A Circular Loop (step three) 2. Topspin can be applied to forehand shots, backhands, lobs, and serves. So dont think at all about how much the racquet face is closed but think how high above the net you want to play and simply adjust after every shot played. This is because the angle of the racket must be slightly closed at contact (about 10-15 degrees). This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies. If you follow my advice and really let go of control and let the wrist(s) move more freely, that lag will happen automatically. It will allow you to hit your shots with great power and at the same time make returning the ball more difficult for your opponent. Too much information, and nothing integrated on the level of muscle-neuro memory. This is plenty fast at the club level. Stand Sideways & Hit Upward. The topspin, mixed together with the height of your shot, will make the ball kick off the court and push your opponent further back, this is the exact tactic that Rafael Nadal uses against his opponents, he forces them to deal with shoulder or head height ball time and time again. You can check them out for clear visuals. If the student is not brushing correctly on the ball, it wont spin forward. Tomaz struggled for years with exactly the problem you described, mechanically brushing ball and never really understanding properly how to swing fast yet retain control of the ball. If even a few pounds of string tension is lost on a racket, it can result in less spin and more balls hit out. Very interesting article. 2- Make a nice shoulder turn on your forehand with your off arm across the body.3- Drop your tennis racquet head towards the ground. As for topspin on the backhand shot, try the rolling exercise at every session you play for a few minutes and alternate between rolling and hitting over the net. If you lack topspin, youre most likely swinging on a very level plane. The good thing about the eastern grip is its easy to flatten out your shots, which is important at times. If the plane tries to take off 60% down the runway, instead of 100%, it may fail to lift. This drill is still not clear; I sometimes hit the ball with the bottom frame of the racquet, or I lose control of direction and ball flight. I mention it because you may have all the other attributes in place, but you lack the necessary spin to keep the ball in play. You will not be able to generate nearly as much power on your shot, and probably not much topspin either. In my opinion, every instruction can and IS misinterpreted by players since they usually try too hard and too consciously to do what we show and tell them. On your tennis forehand, as you make contact with the ball, try to use the windshield wiper motion, this is where the tip of the racket goes from a low position to a high position. This along with the upward motion to follow is what helps produce the topspin effect. 79 likes, 1 comments - Davor (@davortennishaus) on Instagram: "Ideas to teach the kick serve/topspin serve I divide the video in four parts. With the below-the-ball-and-brush-uptechnique, there will beno racquet lagas the arm and the racquet will move towards the ball at the same speed. A question: would this exercise also be effective to get the feel of more spin on the serve? Whilst there is no substitute for getting out on the court and hitting balls, doing this without any focus or direction can actually be detrimental to your game. I use both during matches. More videos about this roll technique would be appreciated : on the forehand and seeing more hitting of your student. But by itself, it wont produce massive topspin. Serveandvolleytennis.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. I teach tennis and study the game closely. You should aim the ball a few feet above the net to make sure it clears. Now, all this may be a revolutionary concept for you. It works especially well on short balls taken above the shoulder. In all, the racket may be moving as much as three or more feet from the lowest point to the highest point.