trouble with topspin both sides

hey guys, when i switched from 2meters behind the baseline to taking the ball early. it paid great dividends( my timing is good). but my strokes are flattened, i dont know why.


forehand grip: Extreme eastern (wiper motion)
backhand grip: 2h conti/semi

do you know any drills to get more topspin


thanks.

Add 50cm to the net. That should help.

Any time you shorthop the groundies, you tend to flatten out the stroke.
If you want the top on your shorthops, move your grips to SW and Eastern.
Now you gotta swing a bit harder, to impart the topspin.
OR... you can turn sideways more on those shots...shoulder and legs.
See Agassi....

thanks, but how i am going to put 50cm extra on the net?

and i noticed if i hit through the ball i get more topspin than when using Windshield wiper, is that a little bit weird?

Well - it is harder to put heavy top spin on a ball on the rise. Imagine a ball hitting the ground and rising (the ball will have a "v" shaped path). Then imagine your racquet path on a heavy topspin (also a very vertical vector in the opposite direction). This leaves you with a very short contact period, where the paths of the rising ball and racquet coincide. This is why you see Federer shanking balls at the start of matches because he is trying to get his timing to hit topspin off of balls on the rise. In contrast, if you hit a ball at its apex or if you change the racquet direction to match the path of the ball (e.g., slicing down toward the rising ball), you have a much higher margin for error.

This is not to say you should not hit balls on the rise - just continue to hit them pretty flat. Also note that a rising ball will naturally brush up against the face of the racquet, giving it some natural topspin on contact.

You generate topspin by your racket moving upward faster than the ball is moving upward. If the ball is on the rise, it's moving upward already and so its canceling out some of your upward racket movement. In other words, some of your upward brushing is going just to keep up with the trajectory of the ball.

so what should i do, i hit incridible angles, but all are flat. and i like hitting on the rise. and now i know why federer's slices are so good, he takes them on the rise as well, and it worked good for me. unfortunately here ( in the netherlands) there are many clay courts. and hitting flat isin't good on clay. so how do i get more topspin on it without giving up hitting on he rise? some say when you hit on the rise you are ging to hit with more topspin when not, because you are closer to the net.

does anyone know how i hould swing to a rising ball then? if brushing up isin't as effective anymore?


thanks for all reply's

You can hit top spin off of a ball on the rise - it is just harder. Make sure you get lower than the ball during your take back loop so that you are hitting low to high. Many players hit at a lower point when hitting on the rise, so their racquets are hitting through the ball and not brushing up. So if the ball is at knee/hip level, you will need to get that racquet down to your ankle/calf to swing up at the ball.

Or....
You can read post #3.

I would agree that Federer uses a more eastern grip so that he can hit topspin with balls on the rise. Note that this requires him to hit at a lower contact point and further out in front.

nalbyvsfed said:

hey guys, when i switched from 2meters behind the baseline to taking the ball early. it paid great dividends( my timing is good). but my strokes are flattened, i dont know why.


forehand grip: Extreme eastern (wiper motion)
backhand grip: 2h conti/semi

do you know any drills to get more topspin


thanks.

Click to expand...

The answer to this lies in how you finish your stroke after contact. Of course, this concept in itself says nothing, but what it really does essentially is give your body a laundry list of various check points concerning how far to drop the racquet head below the ball before the initial forward swing towards your target.

nalbyvsfed said:

so what should i do, i hit incridible angles, but all are flat. and i like hitting on the rise. and now i know why federer's slices are so good, he takes them on the rise as well, and it worked good for me. unfortunately here ( in the netherlands) there are many clay courts. and hitting flat isin't good on clay. so how do i get more topspin on it without giving up hitting on he rise? some say when you hit on the rise you are ging to hit with more topspin when not, because you are closer to the net.

does anyone know how i hould swing to a rising ball then? if brushing up isin't as effective anymore?


thanks for all reply's

Click to expand...

Hitting with topspin on a ball on the rise is all timing. The amount to topspin is only predicated on how much of the ball you "brush, skin, swipe", racquet head speed, and timing. Just practice hitting 200-300 on the rise FH's, you'll figure it out.

i will try the semi western forehand first.and bend my knees more.

thanks for all replys

Nalby, you seconded my original post...
But if OP thinks he hits incredible angles, why switch ?
Incredible angles, even hit flat, is sheer torture for the opponent.

well i didnt need to change my grip, the little ore knee bending helped me to get my racket under the ball. its still not heavy topspin, but it is alot better.

thanks all for helping me out.