Weird topspin Question

V

VaBeachTennis

Semi-Pro
When I hit a topspin FH or 1BH, my ball goes accross the net with good clearance, depth and an arc, but when it hits the ground it kicks but it goes low and not high. Can anyone tell me why this happens? I am hitting with a SW/ME(index knuckle is between bevel 3&4) grip the ball is hit pretty hard with good pace and it's hard for people to return, but why doesn't it bounce high? Is it because of my swing path being too level (not too much low to high)? It's not a flat shot, but in a sense it has a flat path but with lots of topspin. Any comments and suggestions will be appreciated.
George
 
Am I asking a stupid question? I see that 21 people viewed this post so far but no replies. I am relatively new to this forum, has this question been covered already? If so, can someone direct me to where it was already answered? Or is my question too unclear or ambiguous? Thank you.
 
patience dude. As you mentioned yourself, it's a weird topspin question so not many people will have experience with such weird situation. I'm not sure if I can answer your question either. Are you are using dead balls or playing on a low bouncing surface (eg synthetic grass)?
 
This used to happen to my shots if I tried to come over the ball too much with too closed a racquet (racquet face is facing the ground too much). When making clean contact with the ball, the racquet face should only be slightly closed or perpendicular to the ground. Of course, make sure you're covering the other basics such as keeping your eyes on the ball, centering each ball, and keeping the racquet face consistent through contact. Good luck, hopefully you'll feel the difference in each shot and be able to notice the difference in coming over the ball too much and making clean contact with the ball :)
 
donnygg said:
patience dude. As you mentioned yourself, it's a weird topspin question so not many people will have experience with such weird situation. I'm not sure if I can answer your question either. Are you are using dead balls or playing on a low bouncing surface (eg synthetic grass)?
Click to expand...

I have patience, I just thought that maybe I was asking what people thought of as a dumb question. I play on cement and it has happened with new or used balls. Thank you for your reply.
 
i can tell you that it can occur in ping pong, if you get enough topspin the ball sort of just leaps forward after bouncing on the other persons side
 
ubel said:
This used to happen to my shots if I tried to come over the ball too much with too closed a racquet (racquet face is facing the ground too much). When making clean contact with the ball, the racquet face should only be slightly closed or perpendicular to the ground. Of course, make sure you're covering the other basics such as keeping your eyes on the ball, centering each ball, and keeping the racquet face consistent through contact. Good luck, hopefully you'll feel the difference in each shot and be able to notice the difference in coming over the ball too much and making clean contact with the ball :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for your answer Ubel. Those are great points! I have been trying to have my racquest face closed in the backswing and it is probably staying closed at contact. I have mainly an modified eastern grip that is almost semi-western and up until late last November I have not played tennis in 10 years or so but I have been playing a lot of handball and paddle ball, so I have been having to be concious to lift the ball over the net. Handball and paddle are low ball games for the most part and most "winners" in the aforementioned sports are "losers" (net) in Tennis. Ironically I rarely hit the ball into the net, but I'd like to hit topspin balls that bounce a little higher instead of just hitting ball that bounce with a lot of spin and stay lower. It's a pretty nice shot but I know I have to add more variety into my groundstrokes. I slice pretty well and right through the ball, I can hit side spin (on purpose), but hitting moon balls (high topspin) is my mental block!
 
N4n45h1 said:
i can tell you that it can occur in ping pong, if you get enough topspin the ball sort of just leaps forward after bouncing on the other persons side
Click to expand...

That happens to me too when I play ping pong! It's a pretty good offensive shot, but at least when I play ping pong I can hit a higer bounce topsin as well. Thank you for your reply.
 
Topspin

VaBeachTennis said:
When I hit a topspin FH or 1BH, my ball goes accross the net with good clearance, depth and an arc, but when it hits the ground it kicks but it goes low and not high. Can anyone tell me why this happens? I am hitting with a SW/ME(index knuckle is between bevel 3&4) grip the ball is hit pretty hard with good pace and it's hard for people to return, but why doesn't it bounce high? Is it because of my swing path being too level (not too much low to high)? It's not a flat shot, but in a sense it has a flat path but with lots of topspin. Any comments and suggestions will be appreciated.
George
Click to expand...


I don't have a video to watch but your description of the bounce says it all.
It is relatively a "Flat" Ball you are hitting and you have good depth and net clearance. That's all. Does that make sense? It doesn't matter what grip you are using. On my website I have a drill called "Game of Eleven" and the ball you are describing that "kicks up" is hit by the ATP ranked player in the video. His ball is "heavy". Nadal has to do this on "every" shot as he hits short all the time, the problem is his ball is so heavy nobody can step in and attack it because of all the spin. It dips so fast it's ridiculous.

If you want the feeling of a heavier ball stand about six feet behind the baseline(which I don't recommend for recreational players) and let the ball drop and then hit up as hard as you can with staying in balance and control.
That's all Borg did is whole career. It's much easier to hit topspin on a ball that is dropping than one that is rising.
 
It's because overspin, everything else equal (incoming trajectory, for instance) actually bounces lower. The problem is, it has a sharp drop before it hits the ground, which causes it to seem like the ball's going higher. If you're driving the ball more (than a loopier shot), but still have spin, then you've got a low-bouncing, topspin shot.
 
ipodtennispro said:
I don't have a video to watch but your description of the bounce says it all.
It is relatively a "Flat" Ball you are hitting and you have good depth and net clearance. That's all. Does that make sense? It doesn't matter what grip you are using. On my website I have a drill called "Game of Eleven" and the ball you are describing that "kicks up" is hit by the ATP ranked player in the video. His ball is "heavy". Nadal has to do this on "every" shot as he hits short all the time, the problem is his ball is so heavy nobody can step in and attack it because of all the spin. It dips so fast it's ridiculous.

If you want the feeling of a heavier ball stand about six feet behind the baseline(which I don't recommend for recreational players) and let the ball drop and then hit up as hard as you can with staying in balance and control.
That's all Borg did is whole career. It's much easier to hit topspin on a ball that is dropping than one that is rising.
Click to expand...

Ipod your description of a relatively flat ball , I think is correct. Though I do have a lot of spin and pace on the ball. Your website is AWESOME and a great wealth of information (that's why it took me this long to reply)! The further away from the baseline...approx 6 feet I do get better topspin, but I guess part of what I naturally do is to hit the ball on the rise (my dad loved Connors and I am a lefty and from that era), thus probably giving me that tragectory and spin. One drill that I liked in particlar from your website, was the drill where you had the 7th & 8th graders doing that forehand drill based on the Russian player's approach forehand shot(closed stance) and retreat and redirect your motion forward and to the side and hitting in a jumping open stance. I am going to do that drill tomorrow with my training partner. The drill also showed me my missing ingredient.......being on my toes and tennnis's timing and rhythm. That Russian guy had great movement! Thank you for your advice and link to your website.
George
 
Amone said:
It's because overspin, everything else equal (incoming trajectory, for instance) actually bounces lower. The problem is, it has a sharp drop before it hits the ground, which causes it to seem like the ball's going higher. If you're driving the ball more (than a loopier shot), but still have spin, then you've got a low-bouncing, topspin shot.
Click to expand...

That's a perfect description of what I am hitting many times. I do drive the ball more than hitting a loopier shot. I am trying now to work on a more finesse type of game (loopier shots), but my tendency is to try to be aggressive and drive the ball with a hard angled shot or down the line and then try to hit an approach shot/winner to the opposite side from their return. I do like to rally from the baseline though. Thank you for your help. Most of the people I play with hit the higher bouncing topspin and they always comment on how my ball bounces.
George
 
VaBeachTennis said:
When I hit a topspin FH or 1BH, my ball goes accross the net with good clearance, depth and an arc, but when it hits the ground it kicks but it goes low and not high. Can anyone tell me why this happens? I am hitting with a SW/ME(index knuckle is between bevel 3&4) grip the ball is hit pretty hard with good pace and it's hard for people to return, but why doesn't it bounce high? Is it because of my swing path being too level (not too much low to high)? It's not a flat shot, but in a sense it has a flat path but with lots of topspin. Any comments and suggestions will be appreciated.
George
Click to expand...

It could be anything. Try to cut the stringbed&ball impact time , read the ball momentum, bodyweight to the ball, remove unnecessary movement, and keep practicing.
 
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