How do people hit the ball and make it go high up?

RCizzle65 · Feb 1, 2009

I have seen people at a higher level play, and I even played one recently, and I all notice, they hit the ball with lots of spin and the balls go high. How do they make it hit so high? It doesn't seem like they are hitting hard, what spot do they hit the ball at? Even the kick serve went pretty high, and my friend played someone who's kick serve went over his head (he even smashed back a return and it went in). Since I'm not used to high balls or playing at that level, I got double bagled. So basically I'm just wondering, how do they get the balls that high up?

LeeD · Feb 1, 2009

Groundies clear the net by 6', so it's NINE FEET high at the top of the arc, so it bounces high.
Serves, some guys hit the ball slightly upwards, so it clears the net by 4' or so, but has more overspin, and it sharply heads downward when gravity takes effect. Most average height players can kick up around nose high for 6' tall players.
Arc is the secret, not speed, for a high bounce. And depth, of course.

RCizzle65 · Feb 1, 2009

So, hit more up on the ball? Where on the ball should I hit it at?

kimbahpnam · Feb 1, 2009

closed racquet face with a greater incline in swing

RCizzle65 · Feb 1, 2009

Closed? The pros look like their's is more open faced....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95SfhrPvPTg

kimbahpnam · Feb 1, 2009

an open face just wouldn't make sense. when you swing upwards and through, if you have an open face you'll just send the ball into space

PopWar · Feb 1, 2009

It's called topspin?

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 1, 2009

kimbahpnam said:
an open face just wouldn't make sense. when you swing upwards and through, if you have an open face you'll just send the ball into space

And if your face is closed the ball will clear the net by six feet? You don't see anything wrong with this reasoning?

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 1, 2009

PopWar said:
It's called topspin?

The spin has nothing to do with the actual trajectory of the shot.

kimbahpnam · Feb 1, 2009

Djokovicfan4life said:
And if your face is closed the ball will clear the net by six feet? You don't see anything wrong with this reasoning?

That's why you are swinging upwards...it counters the effects of the closed face.

Spin actually as to do a lot in that it brings the ball back down from 6' up. If you look at Rafa's ball, it only comes back down because of the spin. With an open face with the way he swings, the ball would go into the seats

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 1, 2009

kimbahpnam said:
That's why you are swinging upwards...it counters the effects of the closed face.

Spin actually as to do a lot in that it brings the ball back down from 6' up. If you look at Rafa's ball, it only comes back down because of the spin. With an open face with the way he swings, the ball would go into the seats

I know that, dude. I play with a decent amount of topspin myself.

kimbahpnam · Feb 1, 2009

Djokovicfan4life said:
I know that, dude. I play with a decent amount of topspin myself.

I'm glad you agree. So then you do understand my reasoning.

Headshotterer · Feb 1, 2009

i use a SW grip, get under the ball and brush up on it as hard as i can, and with good results

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 1, 2009

kimbahpnam said:
I'm glad you agree. So then you do understand my reasoning.

Personally, I've never been into concentrating on the angle of the racquet face when devoping my strokes. It's unnecessary, IMO, and far too easy to exaggerate. I recently got a video of my forehand and my racquet face is more or less neutral at contact. Of course, my forehand still needs a lot of work, so take my response with a grain of salt here.

RCizzle65 · Feb 1, 2009

Now I'm getting mixed results and have no idea what to do.....I guess I'll try both, school tennis practice starts tomorrow so hopefully I'll get to hit a ball

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 1, 2009

RCizzle65 said:
Now I'm getting mixed results and have no idea what to do.....I guess I'll try both, school tennis practice starts tomorrow so hopefully I'll get to hit a ball

Don't focus on the closed face at contact. It will just mess with your head.

Slicendicer · Feb 1, 2009

Regardless of what grip you use, the racquet face has to be open and perpendicular to the court at contact. Amount of spin is determined on how you skin the ball and racquet head speed.

LeeD · Feb 1, 2009

You want to hit with higher bounce to your opponent?
Just hit your ball 7' over the net.
If it goes long, ADD more topspin to your shot until you find the baseline and still hit 7' over the net. Dat will bounce over your opponents head each time.

Bagumbawalla · Feb 1, 2009

Learning to control the spin of the ball is one of the most important things you can do- if you want to advance your game.

Nearly every shot in tennis has some spin imparted to the ball- topspin, underspin, sidespin- to a greater or lesser degree- depending on the situation and what you are trying to do.

So, first of all, I would caution you against trying to hit great looping topspin shots-- just because you can. Every shot has its uses (and spins) and should be chosen accordingly.

If you could hit exactly through the center of the ball without creating any spin, then the only forces working to bring the ball back into the court would be gravity, the speed with which you hit the ball (determining its time in flight), and the height over the net that you hit it.

With no spin, the higher over the net you hit the ball, the slower you would have to hit it- to allow time and gravity to bring it back down. This would be sort of like a "moonball"--a slow ball that just arcs over the net without any special force or spin.

Topspin, creates an imbalance of pressures on the ball's surface, causing it to dip down into the court. If you have the power and timing, this spin can be quite effective for a variety of purpouses.

To create the topspin you must drive THROUGH the ball with your racket traveling from low to high. The greater the high to low angle, the more spin. But, the more spin you create, the less forward speed/momentum you will have.

And, yes, you will strike the ball with the racket face vertical (or very nearly vertical) to the surface of the court and facing the direction where you want to drive the ball.

If you "open" your racket face and hit the ball hard, it will be like what happens when complete beginners go out and swat at the ball-- the ball will fly up, over the fence, into the parking lot, and under the car belonging to the crankiest old man in town.

So, since you seem to be just learning the basics of the game, I would advise starting slow. Try for a minimal amount of topspin at first, keep the ball in play while trying to move it about, or place it excatly where youwant (as much as possible). As you become proficient, then try to vary the amount of spin and speed with which you hit the ball, making your arc higher or lower, the ball land deeper or closer to the net. This way you will learntocontrol the ball to suit the situation.

RCizzle65 · Feb 1, 2009

I'm not a beginner, but I'm not advanced or anything. I thought I hit my forehands with a lot of topspin before, they clear the net with a decent window for error above the net, but the people I faced I didn't take a look at how they were clearing the net, just how high the balls bounced. I use a western grip on my forehand, and a SW/W on the backhand.

PopWar · Feb 1, 2009

Djokovicfan4life said:
The spin has nothing to do with the actual trajectory of the shot.

Your saying that a Federer slice can go higher than a Nadal topspin forehand when hit normally.
Wow you should be my physics teacher...

mixertefera · Feb 1, 2009

PopWar said:
Your saying that a Federer slice can go higher than a Nadal topspin forehand when hit normally.
Wow you should be my physics teacher...

actually i think if its not a lob you can hit the ball higher with slice because you can cut complete under the ball and impart heavy back spin which will cause the ball to float if Nadal tried to hit a high topspin shot he would hit it out or in the net because if he has to impart lots of topspin and hitting it in the net or long because he has to hit through the ball to much.

arr it to hard to make my point like this. maybe it's different at the pro level but from thats my experience

wish i could explain this better

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 1, 2009

PopWar said:
Your saying that a Federer slice can go higher than a Nadal topspin forehand when hit normally.
Wow you should be my physics teacher...

You cannot be serious.

All I said was that the spin does not determine the trajectory of the shot. Nadal still misses forehands into the net at times, no? Are you saying that these shots don't have topspin on them? LOL!!!!!!!!!!

Of course a slice can go higher than a topspin shot. I've hit shots with plenty of top on them that barely clear the net. Ever heard of a passing shot, amigo?

I've also hit horrible slices that clear the net by 10 feet and sail into the back fence sometimes. Also, ever heard of a chip lob? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is just too funny.

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 1, 2009

mixertefera said:
actually i think if its not a lob you can hit the ball higher with slice because you can cut complete under the ball and impart heavy back spin which will cause the ball to float if Nadal tried to hit a high topspin shot he would hit it out or in the net because if he has to impart lots of topspin and hitting it in the net or long because he has to hit through the ball to much.

arr it to hard to make my point like this. maybe it's different at the pro level but from thats my experience

wish i could explain this better

I don't think it matters when you're talking to someone of his intellect.

ronalditop · Feb 1, 2009

in any type of shot, no matter how much spin you want to put into it, the angle of the face of the racquet is almost perpendicular to the ground when the strings touch the ball. the follow through is what determinates the angle, direction and spin on the ball.

RCizzle65 · Feb 1, 2009

ronalditop said:
in any type of shot, no matter how much spin you want to put into it, the angle of the face of the racquet is almost perpendicular to the ground when the strings touch the ball. the follow through is what determinates the angle, direction and spin on the ball.

I guess I'll go with this, now one more question, how do you hit against high balls? This seems to give me problems as well

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 1, 2009

RCizzle65 said:
I guess I'll go with this, now one more question, how do you hit against high balls? This seems to give me problems as well

Yes, RT's advice is the way to go. Against high balls you need to prepare the same way that you would for a normal forehand, except simply raise the entire hitting structure of your arm. These videos should clear things up nicely for you.

http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/videos/index.php/view/948/216/Tennis_Forehand_Handling_High_Balls

http://www.fuzzyyellowballs.com/videos/index.php/view/953/284/Tennis_Backhand_Handling_a_High_Ball

Good luck with your high school tennis, by the way. #1 singles all the way!

Slicendicer · Feb 1, 2009

RCizzle65 said:
I guess I'll go with this, now one more question, how do you hit against high balls? This seems to give me problems as well

You'll want to hit high balls further out in front to prevent shoulder injury.

Power Player · Feb 3, 2009

kimbahpnam said:
an open face just wouldn't make sense. when you swing upwards and through, if you have an open face you'll just send the ball into space

Wow..are you serious?

I used to hit the ball closed like this, and it ruined my game for years. It is the WORST way of thinking. To get massive spin on the ball, you want to get LOW (bend knees) and swing low to high. You will hit the ball flat and then follow through, closing the racquet in the process. Not only will you get much more topspin, you will also get much more power.

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 3, 2009

Power Player said:
Wow..are you serious?

I used to hit the ball closed like this, and it ruined my game for years. It is the WORST way of thinking. To get massive spin on the ball, you want to get LOW (bend knees) and swing low to high. You will hit the ball flat and then follow through, closing the racquet in the process. Not only will you get much more topspin, you will also get much more power.

The flat thing you said kind of contradicts the low to high idea here, but I see what you're saying. I wouldn't call the racquet face open at contact, just around perpendicular to the court at impact really. This closed face nonsense is terrible advice for beginners because things tend to be exaggerated at the lower levels of the game. In reality the pro's racquet faces are only closed ever so slightly, probably not even enough for a beginner player to even notice, honestly.

Matt

PopWar · Feb 5, 2009

Djokovicfan4life said:
You cannot be serious.

All I said was that the spin does not determine the trajectory of the shot. Nadal still misses forehands into the net at times, no? Are you saying that these shots don't have topspin on them? LOL!!!!!!!!!!

Of course a slice can go higher than a topspin shot. I've hit shots with plenty of top on them that barely clear the net. Ever heard of a passing shot, amigo?

I've also hit horrible slices that clear the net by 10 feet and sail into the back fence sometimes. Also, ever heard of a chip lob? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is just too funny.

I guess you wouldn't know what i'm saying if you can hit a slice that sails all the way to the back of the fence.
Maybe I should elaborated my case more to airheads like you.
When a topspin nadal forehand is hit perfectly,with no variations will go higher than his perfectly hit slice,the way it was intended to be hit, with no variations.
Of course you can hit a slice high, but you are still putting spin on the slice which is helping it go high. Sure you can open the racquet face and hit straight up under the ball but your manipulating the racquet and taking the spin out of the equation.
I hope I've inspired you to work on your game especially that slice instead of ejaculating to this forum 24/7.

defrule · Feb 5, 2009

Funny enough I jump and hit on a high bounce. Shanks do occur though.

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 5, 2009

Bagumbawalla said:
Learning to control the spin of the ball is one of the most important things you can do- if you want to advance your game.

Nearly every shot in tennis has some spin imparted to the ball- topspin, underspin, sidespin- to a greater or lesser degree- depending on the situation and what you are trying to do.

So, first of all, I would caution you against trying to hit great looping topspin shots-- just because you can. Every shot has its uses (and spins) and should be chosen accordingly.

If you could hit exactly through the center of the ball without creating any spin, then the only forces working to bring the ball back into the court would be gravity, the speed with which you hit the ball (determining its time in flight), and the height over the net that you hit it.

With no spin, the higher over the net you hit the ball, the slower you would have to hit it- to allow time and gravity to bring it back down. This would be sort of like a "moonball"--a slow ball that just arcs over the net without any special force or spin.

Topspin, creates an imbalance of pressures on the ball's surface, causing it to dip down into the court. If you have the power and timing, this spin can be quite effective for a variety of purpouses.

To create the topspin you must drive THROUGH the ball with your racket traveling from low to high. The greater the high to low angle, the more spin. But, the more spin you create, the less forward speed/momentum you will have.

And, yes, you will strike the ball with the racket face vertical (or very nearly vertical) to the surface of the court and facing the direction where you want to drive the ball.

If you "open" your racket face and hit the ball hard, it will be like what happens when complete beginners go out and swat at the ball-- the ball will fly up, over the fence, into the parking lot, and under the car belonging to the crankiest old man in town.

So, since you seem to be just learning the basics of the game, I would advise starting slow. Try for a minimal amount of topspin at first, keep the ball in play while trying to move it about, or place it excatly where youwant (as much as possible). As you become proficient, then try to vary the amount of spin and speed with which you hit the ball, making your arc higher or lower, the ball land deeper or closer to the net. This way you will learntocontrol the ball to suit the situation.

Good stuff here. Can I have your email? Looking for some feedback on a few things.

Rickson · Feb 5, 2009

Just hit the ball from low to high.

Djokovicfan4life · Feb 5, 2009

Rickson said:
Just hit the ball from low to high.

This is true. However, there are other important factors that come into play in the modern forehand, such as: how they prepare themselves for the initial swing forwards, what they do with their bodies as they swing forward to contact, and how they choose to finish the stroke.

Matt

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