Guy hits weird forehand spin.

[andymac1]

I was playing on my high-school tennis team todya in singles and I played the other team's No 1. Anyway he was very good and I ended up losing 5-8 (pro-sets, no ad), and I think what really ended up making me lose was his forehand which was really good but had the oddest spin. Whenevr the ball came over it would go about 2-3 ft. over the net with topspin, but when it hit the ground it bounced to my right, and this was odd because the ball seemed to come straight over the net without curving. Any idea how he did this?

 

[Voltron]

Sidespin, I wouldn't try to emulate it, or maybe it was windy.

 

[andymac1]

Wasn't windy at all, but man it must just be his natural swing.

 

[Voltron]

Like I said, I think it's sidespin. Was he righty or lefty? If righty did he catch the ball low a lot? If lefty did he catch it high?

 

[andymac1]

He was right and he really liked to bring the ball up low, like a foot and a half from the ground.

 

[Voltron]

Yep, that's sidespin, he probably whipped the racquet up in a kinda half circle in front of him right? Because that would cause it IMHO.

 

[andymac1]

What's strange is he hardly ever messed up too.

 

[Voltron]

He's probably been doing it his entire life, so that wouldn't surprise me very much. Oh well, good luck next time, at least then you'll know what he's going to do.

 

[MrCLEAN]

Mine ends up w a sidespin component sometimes...always fun to watch the result on the other end. I really can't do it on command on the FH side, but I can on a slice backhand. I think I'm turning into an old man player now, because sometimes I just hit that side spinner right to the guy, and when the spin bites, the other guy, if he didn't see it coming, doesn't have time to correct for it. It's kind of fun. I remember cursing old men that used to do that to me .

 

[Hot Sauce]

Is sidespin a good thing to use?

 

[andymac1]

It sure id mess with my head, so yeah I guess it's good to use as long as your opponent doesn't get too used to it.

 

[drhopz]

I like to whip out my backhand slice w/ sidespin once in a while. It is pretty fun to use.

 

[tennis_hand]

He seems like the other guy I played last week. Lots of top spin with some sidespin on it. and the ball jumps to one side and caught me a few times. You just have to watch the ball closely.

 

[snoflewis]

lol...i actually put a little kick to it sometimes for fun.

if you brush the ball diagonally (requires the windshield wiper stroke) it'll look like a normal fh (especially x-court) but will kick out.

 

[M J]

My forehand almost always has sidespin on it. It usually moves 4 feet or so into the opponent's forehand side. I have no idea how I do it. I noticed Sharapova's forehand often moves the other direction, like a screwball. It looks crazy. I have not seen anyone else hit sidespin that way.