Hi Folks, quick question and comment on something I've noticed, have not seen discussed (or maybe, just missed). There are good discussions on hitting groundstrokes with increased topspin by slightly closing the racket face, see e.g. https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/index.php?threads/contact-point-and-racket-face-by-forehand.655185/ and the nice discussion at https://tennisspeedresearch.blogspot.com/2011/05/roadmap-to-hall-of-fame-forehand-part-1.html
Something I've noticed, that is related but different, is the racket-face position when you're hitting the ball on-the-rise (early), versus at top-of-bounce or below. I find this especially true when hitting against a high-topspin ball, when taking it on the rise.
Maybe this is obvious to everyone, but (for example) if you're hitting against someone who is putting a lot of topspin on the ball, I find that the position of your racket face (vertical or a bit closed) needs to change slightly (bit more closed), depending on whether you're hitting the ball "early" (on the rise), or later (standing back, or say way back). I find the same thing on half volleys, you often need to tilt the racket head forward (racket face closed), otherwise the ball pops up after you've hit it.
Anyone else do this? I've not seen it discussed, find it helpful to keep in mind when taking balls early.
A little further explanation: Say you're standing on/near the baseline, and here comes a looping topspin drive, landing a few feet in front of the baseline. I tend to shorten my swing and take these early -- both forehand and backhand. As the ball rebounds off the surface, it is "jumping up" -- a "normal" or near-vertical-face racket face (or, slightly closed) racket face (how you'd hit such ball at the top of its bounce) will often send the ball high/long on your return. For such shots, I believe the ball is rising at a decent angle (it dipped down due to topspin, and is now jumping up on the bounce). Given this steeper after-bounce rise (for the topspin shot), when it meets my racket face, I find the ball can rebound at an angle (upwards) off a "vertical" racket face, giving the ball additional upwards trajectory, hence going long on the return. So, I mentally try to close the racket face a tiny bit (more), when hitting such balls, on the rise. Generally, same thing for half volleys, otherwise your half-volley tends to "pop up".
As I recall, in the 80s and 90s, we did this -- think more people hit the ball on-the-rise back then, against the Bjorn Borg types -- and we called it getting "on top of the ball". If someone was spraying forehands long when taking the ball early against a topspin base-liner, we'd say he was not getting "on top of the ball", which basically meant that person needed to hit "over" the ball a bit, with a slightly closed racket face.
Anyway, with all the discussion on "closing the racket face" to generate topspin, I thought I would have encountered a discussion on this -- purposely closing the racket face a bit when hitting the ball on the rise, especially when hitting against high-topspin balls.
Any thoughts? All comments welcome.
Something I've noticed, that is related but different, is the racket-face position when you're hitting the ball on-the-rise (early), versus at top-of-bounce or below. I find this especially true when hitting against a high-topspin ball, when taking it on the rise.
Maybe this is obvious to everyone, but (for example) if you're hitting against someone who is putting a lot of topspin on the ball, I find that the position of your racket face (vertical or a bit closed) needs to change slightly (bit more closed), depending on whether you're hitting the ball "early" (on the rise), or later (standing back, or say way back). I find the same thing on half volleys, you often need to tilt the racket head forward (racket face closed), otherwise the ball pops up after you've hit it.
Anyone else do this? I've not seen it discussed, find it helpful to keep in mind when taking balls early.
A little further explanation: Say you're standing on/near the baseline, and here comes a looping topspin drive, landing a few feet in front of the baseline. I tend to shorten my swing and take these early -- both forehand and backhand. As the ball rebounds off the surface, it is "jumping up" -- a "normal" or near-vertical-face racket face (or, slightly closed) racket face (how you'd hit such ball at the top of its bounce) will often send the ball high/long on your return. For such shots, I believe the ball is rising at a decent angle (it dipped down due to topspin, and is now jumping up on the bounce). Given this steeper after-bounce rise (for the topspin shot), when it meets my racket face, I find the ball can rebound at an angle (upwards) off a "vertical" racket face, giving the ball additional upwards trajectory, hence going long on the return. So, I mentally try to close the racket face a tiny bit (more), when hitting such balls, on the rise. Generally, same thing for half volleys, otherwise your half-volley tends to "pop up".
As I recall, in the 80s and 90s, we did this -- think more people hit the ball on-the-rise back then, against the Bjorn Borg types -- and we called it getting "on top of the ball". If someone was spraying forehands long when taking the ball early against a topspin base-liner, we'd say he was not getting "on top of the ball", which basically meant that person needed to hit "over" the ball a bit, with a slightly closed racket face.
Anyway, with all the discussion on "closing the racket face" to generate topspin, I thought I would have encountered a discussion on this -- purposely closing the racket face a bit when hitting the ball on the rise, especially when hitting against high-topspin balls.
Any thoughts? All comments welcome.
