Stroke change for flat/topspin

raiden031

Legend
So I've been trying to work on flattening out my forehand because I'm hitting too many loopy topspin shots even when I'm coming inside for a winner. Some guy I play with made the comment that I hit with too much topspin because I'm always stroking low-to-high (as in racquet head drops way lower than ball during takeback). Last night at my club I was watching some guy who is probably 5.5-6.0 practicing his forehands. He was pounding mostly flat shots, and it looks like his racquet does not really drop below the ball during the takeback, so its not as much of a low-to-high as my shots are. Is this one of the main differences between stroke pattern of flat vs. topspin?
 

LeeD

Bionic Poster
Some really good players tell me they don't use the "modern" style of loopy long low to high stroker to achieve topspin, they hit shorter, flatter strokes and still get the topspin, but with lots of ball speed. Net clearance closer to 3' over the net rather than 6', and ballspeed consistently over 75mph, no loopers.
Even Nadal, a almost normal topspin forehand with some WW finish, but look at the ball speed. His goes fast, not high and loopy.
And of course yes, flatter stroke = flatter ball with more speed and less topspin.
 

Nellie

Hall of Fame
Remember that you will need some topspin, even with a pretty "flat" drive.

Assuming that you hit with a modern form where the racquet continues up and past the contact point and then comes down during the following through, control the spin on the ball using the following through - for a shorter loopier ball, finish lower for a more vertical swing path. For a flatter ball, finish high (meaning a flatter swing path). If you start adjusting the take back, you will change the way you hit the ball and may not be able to be loopy when needed (e.g., short, angled put away). By working on control with the following through, you can hit flat to loopy with a similar stroke.

I am assuming, of course, that your stroke is not too loop now. You don't need to get much under the ball for extreme top spin (6-12 inches) so if you are a couple of feet under the be ball, you may want to work on a flatter take back preparation.
 
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