Consistently bashing short FH approach shots into the net

[TimeToPlaySets]

I run forward, nipples facing the net, since this is the most natural way to run forward.
I take a full cut, come over the top of it, and rifle the ball with strong topspin right into the middle of the net.
Consistently.

Next lesson, I will try the unnatural unit turn first and then running awkwardly forward with my torso turned sideways. Let's see if this is related to jamming the balls into the net.

Anyone have a video of this weirdness?

 

[Dartagnan64]

I run forward, nipples facing the net, since this is the most natural way to run forward.
I take a full cut, come over the top of it, and rifle the ball with strong topspin right into the middle of the net.
Consistently.

Next lesson, I will try the unnatural unit turn first and then running awkwardly forward with my torso turned sideways. Let's see if this is related to jamming the balls into the net.

Anyone have a video of this weirdness?

I don't understand why approaching all balls sideways is a struggle for you. I don't know any sport where you generally don't start sideways in your throwing/hitting stance. Many tennis pros actually start their swings with their backs facing the target. It shouldn't be so hard to just have your right shoulder pointed at a target before swinging.

 

[2nd Serve Ace]

I run forward, nipples facing the net,

Kinky [emoji8]

Sent from my SM-T310 using Tapatalk

 

[atp2015]

Del key

 

[ptuanminh]

Your technique is lacking an important component. When you run forwards, nipples facing the net, you need to start rubbing your nipples, with both hands, circular motions clockwise. That will likely confuse your opponent and they miss the shot. Easy point.

 

[2HBH-DTL]

sounds like your eyes are getting big and overhitting. try to "hold" the ball longer so it makes your opponent guess then you have more options like a drop shot since they'll be expecting something going to either their forehand or backhand deep in the court.

 

[LeeD]

A truly superior athlete can just aim higher.
But a great athlete can adapt to sidestepping forwards, just like he needs to do for an approach shot.
A mediocre athlete can only run facing forwards, and can only move back by backpeddling.
Which are you, again?

 

[GuyClinch]

Daily Tennis lesson has a pattern you can use if you want to run straight at the net on your approach..

Jog forward - split stop - hit open stance.. Of course for this to work you have to be able to hit a decent open stance forehand..

Fed and others generally use a sideways approach and hop step which allows you to keep traveling forward - which is good for covering the net.

either way you are screwed since you claim you can't split step or turn sideways. Maybe bowling? That could be your sport.

 

[2HBH-DTL]

either way you are screwed since you claim you can't split step or turn sideways. Maybe bowling? That could be your sport.

maybe one of these could work for his footwork movement hitting those short approach shots?

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

I don't know how you can hit the middle of the net if you put strong topspin into the ball?

Is this even a serious question?
The more topspin you use, the more likely it is to go to the net.

Want to avoid the net? You launch the ball over the back fence with zero topsin.
Have you never seen anyone put insane amounts of topspin and have it not even reach the net?

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

A truly superior athlete can just aim higher.
But a great athlete can adapt to sidestepping forwards, just like he needs to do for an approach shot.
A mediocre athlete can only run facing forwards, and can only move back by backpeddling.
Which are you, again?

Compared to you I am Jim Thorpe.

 

[LeeD]

Jim doesn't need to ask basic questions, like "why turn sideway to hit a tennis ball.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

I know WHY you should turn, I am saying it's completely unnatural, and awkward to run forwards while facing sideways.
That is exactly why almost no one does it.
and the best athlete in the world won't ever discover learn that without being coached by an outside party.

 

[LeeD]

I don't claim to be a great tennis player, but I know it's possible to run forwards and get sideways as you hit your approach shot, or go for your short winner.
Just like I know that each serve needs a slightly different toss location, so the ball can be hit differently, and the target is different.
Consider, if you get a lob over your head, do you backpeddle? Of course not, you turn sideways and crabwalk back to mid NML.

 

[revolutiontenniz]

Want a quick fix? Probably your arm is not relaxed enough. Try to hit the same way (top spin or whatever you want) but with a more relaxed arm. Just let it go. Ball should travel over the net effortlessly.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

I know WHY you should turn, I am saying it's completely unnatural, and awkward to run forwards while facing sideways.
That is exactly why almost no one does it.
and the best athlete in the world won't ever discover learn that without being coached by an outside party.

Running forwards while facing sideways is awkward. That's why I don't do it. I run forward while facing forward and just before I get to the contact point I make my turn.

Again, watch how pros deal with short sitters.

"Bashing" implies hitting hard; ie driving too much and not lifting enough. Alter the ratio so you use less drive and more topspin. The arc will change from flat to more and more curved. You should easily be able to get over the net while keeping the ball in. If it hits the back fence, you are still driving it too much.

 

[Shroud]

I run forward, nipples facing the net, since this is the most natural way to run forward.
I take a full cut, come over the top of it, and rifle the ball with strong topspin right into the middle of the net.
Consistently.

Next lesson, I will try the unnatural unit turn first and then running awkwardly forward with my torso turned sideways. Let's see if this is related to jamming the balls into the net.

Anyone have a video of this weirdness?

If these balls are close to the net a trick is to take them at the top of the bounce and not on the way down like a normal ground stroke. Dont worry about your nipples, but focus on getting to the ball so you make contact as high as possible.

 

[atp2015]

Out from junk yard

 

[revolutiontenniz]

What makes you think more topspin will make the ball hit the net if the ball is short? It might hit the net from the baseline, I'm not sure if it does when it's short. You think you are hitting with a lot of spin - but I seriously doubt it my friend.


I agree, that's one way to avoid the net - open the racket face to launch the ball over the net and the back fence.



No, I have not seen it in person or on tv. I play 4.0 tennis and not seen anyone do that. I have a played a few times with 4.5 players, I have not seen them do that either.
I'm really curious to see a video of massive topspin hitting the net if possible.

Actually yeah it is possible to hit with massive topspin but still hitting the net, if you hit with extremely closed racquet face.

 

[r2473]

Tennis is about being consistent. Keep up the good work

 

[atp2015]

Cra.

 

[revolutiontenniz]

What's extreme in terms of degree? parallel to the ground? How would you generate enough topspin? Topspin requires vertical swing and you cannot do that if the racket face is closed. You might be generating some other kind of spin of dubious amount- but it's definitely not top spin of good quality (enough RPM).

Try 30 degrees, balls at waist level. You could indeed generate tons of topspin but it won't go over the net.

 

[atp2015]

More cr..

 

[revolutiontenniz]

well, I suggest you figure out what top spin really is. You cannot generate enough topspin with the racket face closed at 30 degrees. Not much effort is needed if you follow the right technique. With 30 degree, you are putting in insane effort for very little return. The racket face needs to be vertical and moving up vertically for quality top spin. That's why the wrist is laid back so that the racket can be as vertical as possible at contact.
You think you are generating a tone of spin - but definitely not. Check out with tennis senors, I have done that and the only way to get top spin is through vertically faced racket brushing up the back of the ball.

"You cannot generate enough topspin with the racket face closed at 30 degrees."
This is absolutely not true.
I think you should understand that top spin has nothing to do with the racquet face. Rather, top spin has to do with the swing path. The swing path is what creates top spin. The only reason we care about the racquet face angle is because there is a net in front of us and we want to hit the ball over the net. With 30 degree angle, the ball doesn't go over the net NOT because it doesn't have enough top spin, but rather it doesn't have enough horizontal force/forward momentum to make the ball go past the net (the more closed the racquet face, the more downwards the ball goes).
So, with 30 degree, does the ball go to the net? YES. Is it because it doesn't have enough top spin? NO.

Technically speaking, the ideal/optimal racquet face angle for creating massive topspin and still make the ball go over the net with decent depth is around 5-10 degrees and not vertical like you said.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

How about setting up a target zone 3-4' above the net and aim for it: if you hit it, that solves your initial problem of hitting into the net. If you then have a subsequent problem of hitting the back fence, increase the TS:drive ratio until the ball goes in.

 

[atp2015]

Del

 

[GuyClinch]

30% is really closed. You are going to have a hard time generating enough topspin to counter that. Sorry but Clay is right here. Its not impossible but its improbable. try the TW shot creator.. with tilt of 30 degrees. I imagine someone can make it work - but I don't even know what numbers to plug in there..

 

[BigSkyChamp]

Follow these simple steps:

Run forward
shuffle step sideways to impact point
make contact with back hip coming through
follow through buggy whip style
rip winner by opponent
exclaim "Vamos!"
pick underwear out of butt before next point

 

[movdqa]

Your technique is lacking an important component. When you run forwards, nipples facing the net, you need to start rubbing your nipples, with both hands, circular motions clockwise. That will likely confuse your opponent and they miss the shot. Easy point.

He needs a lesson from Coach!

 

[samarai]

i think u need to spend another 10,000 on lessons.

 

[revolutiontenniz]

The alleged topspin shot hit at 3:02 that went to the net had so little loop in it - I don't think there was any real top spin at all. If it had top spin of any significance it would go up first to form a loop. it could still fall short of the net, but i need to see a nice loop. there is absolutely none.
And many things are wrong that execution-
1 He did not come under the ball - but whacked it horizontally and pulled his arm around too soon .
2 He was falling behind instead of getting his body into the ball through contact.
3 He let his wrist go lose - instead of the wrist, the racket face was leading near the contact zone.

It had a tone of RHS, but was a poorly executed fh shot, not surprised it hit the net or the back fence.

For anyone who thinks he hits with a lot of top spin, but still find the net or hits long - well, you are not really generating enough top spin to go over the net and still keep the ball in.
If you disagree, get your topspin measured using a sensor. The sensor will reveal the truth and you will be surprised to see tiny TS you are generating (if you are hitting net or long).

If I hear, gee, ball finds the net even though I'm hitting with massive topspin - you might one or two - but definitely you are not generating enough spin- most likely because you don't know what top spin really is and how to generate it.

You obviously didn't read what I wrote. Top spin is not the only thing that makes the ball go over the net. Read again and seriously think about it. Jeez

 

[atp2015]

wrong thread.

 

[TimeToPlaySets]

Here is an example for the poster in this thread who didn't understand how topspin makes it more likely to go right into the net.
Watch the guys' second shot at 7 seconds.

 

[S&V-not_dead_yet]

Here is an example for the poster in this thread who didn't understand how topspin makes it more likely to go right into the net.
Watch the guys' second shot at 7 seconds.

More importantly, I *listened* to the shot: it sounds like he partially framed it. If so, it wasn't the TS that caused the ball to go into the net.

On the surface you are correct: hitting more TS without adjusting any other variable will cause the ball to dip lower and lower. However, the extra TS is not done in a vacuum With more TS you can also lift the ball up more and aim for a target higher above the net.

 

[atp2015]

He pulled the racket horizontally, I see 0 top spin potential in the shot. The racket head had to be at least 1 foot below the ball before the upward swing.

 

[jelaplan]

The problem does have a humorous description. But I can empathize with the awkwardness of turning sideways while running forward. Assuming a right-hander, looking at your feet it helps to take a larger step with your left foot to cross. In some ways that's literally what turning amounts to. But it can be confusing because a person wants to turn their upper body without turning their lower body which just isn't very effective. Tennis commentators and coaches often refer to footwork which encompasses a lot of different things but important to keep in mind that having your feet in the right position often makes everything else a lot easier. By focusing on your left foot ensuring you take that one big step at some point you're right foot will naturally come around and you will be sideways. Perhaps doing a split step will also help just from there it's easy to bounce to a new position such as your left foot turning out forcing your body to turn.

 

[LeeD]

Higher followtru

 

[d-quik]

nipples facing the net

 

[mucat]

And now we dance!!

 

[ballmachineguy]

If you are thinking about racquet face angle when you are hitting, you’ve lost the plot. That was all decided when you chose your grip and choose your contact point.
To the OP. You can run facing the net but you have to already be turned when you get to the ball. The right sequence of muscle firing will not happen if you wait to turn just before contact. Parts of your body will be still be turning away when they should be turning you toward contact.

 

[LuckyR]

The OP's problem (back in 2017, when this thread was active), was "rifling" the ball, not topspin. The net is effectively higher on short, low balls (relatively speaking) so a much higher percentage of the racquet head speed needs to go into spin, not pace. Thus the shot zips quickly up and down over the net, rather than being rifled halfway down the net, which is basically the height the ball was struck.

 

[Shroud]

The OP's problem (back in 2017, when this thread was active), was "rifling" the ball, not topspin. The net is effectively higher on short, low balls (relatively speaking) so a much higher percentage of the racquet head speed needs to go into spin, not pace. Thus the shot zips quickly up and down over the net, rather than being rifled halfway down the net, which is basically the height the ball was struck.

Best to not let the ball drop when close to the net and hit at the top of the bounce

 

[tlm]

I was out practicing with the ball machine and did some work on hitting short sitters. I would move forward in open stance and set up in open or slight neutral stance. The trick for me was to not over hit the ball, I could not use my normal swing that I would use from the baseline.

Like Shroud mentioned try to hit it at the highest point but that is not always possible. I still used fast racket head speed but using more brush and not hitting through the ball as much.

 

[johnmccabe]

Great, a zombie thread about nipples on a tennis forum

 

[Daniel Andrade]

I don't claim to be a great tennis player, but I know it's possible to run forwards and get sideways as you hit your approach shot, or go for your short winner.
Just like I know that each serve needs a slightly different toss location, so the ball can be hit differently, and the target is different.
Consider, if you get a lob over your head, do you backpeddle? Of course not, you turn sideways and crabwalk back to mid NML.

NML?

 

[Shroud]

NML?

No Man's land. Typically the area between the service line and the baseline. A terrible place to stand but all beginners stand there all the time.

 

[LeeD]

Rocket science.

 

[tlm]

I have more trouble hitting long as opposed to hitting the net. I was trying too hard to get over the net and looping the ball up too high.

 

[LuckyR]

Best to not let the ball drop when close to the net and hit at the top of the bounce

Obviously, but that wasn't the OPs situation

 

[Pumpkin]

Just aim higher.