I don’t want to derail the thread as the OP apparently has this happen to him. But, to someone with a PhD in Physics this makes no sense. And, as soon as I find someone with a PhD in Physics I will verify that. The faster a ball is coming into the strings the more you are required to cushion that force. To be a decent dropper it must be in the first 1/2 of the serve box not to mention staying relatively low. Anything short of the net, you lose the point. Anything past the halfway point of the box and it gets crushed. I will try to remember the last time I saw someone on the ATP tour try this shot. The amount of touch required to DS a 100+mph serve would make this a “prayer” shot. Do it close to 100% of the time and you’d have a circus act.
Sure it's complicated when you think about it but for some people (not me) the combo of equipment specs and range of incoming pace is just right that just putting a racquet with a slightly open racquet face is actually enough to absorb just enough pace to get a good drop shot going. It doesn't necessarily mean that the person executing has got god-tier touch.
You can see this when you vary the pace of the serve more. I played this old guy once who hit an awesome drop shot up the line off my first serve up the T, and it was one of the bigger first serves I could hit. Soul crushing when he did it a second time. Seemed like he was doing it on purpose and he acted that way. So I dialled back the first serves and realised my pace was in the right "range" for his block returns to come off as drop shots, because the same bunt / block returns he used against my slower flat firsts (~90 mph) and topspin serves were hitting the bottom of the net. So clearly it was by fluke that my flat first serve pace was just right for his block returns to come off as drop shots although he never intended it or admit it (fistpump and all).
I would argue that there is a sweet spot: too slow and it's more difficult because...I'm not quite sure why. But it's definitely harder for me to DS off of a self-feed [the most extreme "slow" ball] than anything with forward momentum.
But too fast and you can't react in time and you need to be more precise.
So I can see how a faster ball would be easier to DS but at some point, my accuracy will suffer.
Ah, I see you beat me to it.
I would say that an incoming ball that's too slow is more difficult because you have to provide your own pace to send the ball back over the net, but not enough that you give your opponent an absolute sitter.
If you attempt to hit a drop shot off a drop-feed then all the forward pace has to be created, and tbh probably isn't a good way to get a feel for the drop shot. You're better off getting a feel for it even hitting slightly floaty slices during mini tennis.
I imagine one of the best ways to practise on your own is to hit a big groundstroke at a wall then immediately hit a drop shot off the fast rebound. If it's already dropping by the time it touches the wall (and over the net) then I guess you've hit a good one.
I've lost my feel for the drop shot but my drop volley feel is back. I've been practising them without realising--when I'm practising and someone on the other side passes the ball to me I catch the ball with my racquet with a slightly open face so that it bounces forward maybe 0.5 to 1 metre then bounces back towards me. Turns out if I hit that exact same "catch" at the net, the drop volley comes off perfect. My issue is that I need to remember to try pretend I'm merely "catching" the ball rather than trying hit a drop volley because if I do the latter I just end up framing the ball.