forehand question

[princeO32433]

after watching some videos of pro's forehands, i noticed that most pros barely drop their racquet underneath the ball (especially hewitt). if they do not drop their racquet face under the ball that much, how do they generate so much topspin? i was taught to swing from low to high to generate topspin. Any help?

[Essential Tennis]

If topspin is being hit, then the racket head is dropping below the ball. How much below the ball is going to be determined by what kind of shot is being attempted.

Even if trying to hit a relatively flat ground stroke, if you're at the baseline or behind, the ball has to be lifted. Period, the net is in the way, the ball has to be struck upwards, unless you up the face up and either hit slice or a lob.

What you think you did or didn't see could either be because of the angle from where the camera was, or, I've had plenty of students tell me that such and such a player wasn't doing such a such technique seeing them on TV, but the reality of it is they are, the swings are just happening extremely fast.

Do you have a link to the video you're referring to?

[princeO32433]

i was looking at the player development section of the usta website.

[Bagumbawalla]

You are correct. Topspin is achieved by hitting THROUGH the ball from low to high.

That, however, is not the ONLY determining factor. The speed imparted to the ball is a factor as is the height it is hit above the net. A faster head speed obvioulsly imparts more spin to the ball, even with less upward direction.

Players find a balance of spin, foreward momentum and height that suits their abilities and needs, and, of course, are able to vary the spin to hit flatter, create sharper angles, drop the ball at a volleyer's feet, and so on.

For the majority of their groundstrokes, pros (and non-pros alike) want to keep the ball fairly deep. On hard courts there is very little to be gained from hitting excessive topspin like they do in clay court matches.

So, I would say most players hit with moderate topspin on most of their shots. I would guess somewhere between 15 and 30 degrees rise. You don't have to start all that low to do that.

Also, watch the racket angle after it passes through the ball (rather than before) for a better estimate of the rising angle.