Strokes and Technique
hey alois and jeff!! love your videos!! made my game through it!! but since exploring the game i have been quite confused because i have seen a lot of pros playing strange shots on underspin (upward motion topspin which send the ball flat and fast rather than spinny and slow, and believe me its a complete upward motion no forward motion!!) , long story short i still havent achieved a particular style i have been changing grips, i play all 11 points differently(advantage but no consistency on my account)!! i have recently started holding my racket with a lower grip and i also curl the thumb like a "L" which kind of steadies my backhand but now the problem is my forehand its getting awkward and i hesitate killing or topspining the ball alot!! i mostly kind of lift it(not that much but enuff for my experienced colleagues to kill it)!! my friend told me that my problem is that i dont rotate my body?? i mean how will i do that when i dont have enuff time during the rally PLUS i am tall so i kinda use my height to reach the ball (i know!! that means very little footwork :( ) i wanted to ask you 1- is rotation the right thing when it comes to counterhit? 2- is the grip i described alright for forehand...or is it just causing me problems?? 3- any idea how i can achieve the topspin described above??
Hi Taha,
It is important to get a basic grip and a basic game style that you can follow otherwise you will end up confusing yourself more than your opponent. Try to keep your thumb down on the handle. By moving it up you will find you will feel more control for the backhand but it also locks your wrist and if you need to change quickly to the forehand you will be in trouble. Keep it is a natural feeling position.
When you play forehands you will have some degree of body rotation. This will help with speed and is also the reason why it looks like the better players are going straight up with their stroke but they are getting speed. Their rotation means that their bat is also moving forward at the same time as moving up. They will also flatten out the contact of the bat on the ball when they are wanting to get the ball to travel faster.
Become a free member to post a comment about this question.