High ball, heavy underspin

Douglas Hill

Last updated on 17-Sep-2010 08:14:57 AM

At my low level of play it is common to encounter balls that pop up with lots of underspin, often because someone misreads a topspin serve and tries to push it back. It is awkward to loop them when they're high. Is it best to smash them? If so, do you aim toward the point you want to hit and adjust the paddle angle based on your estimate of the spin, or do you raise your aiming point so as not to hit the net? Many players at my level seem to put high underspin balls into the net again and again.

and Alois Rosario said...

Hi Douglas,

I know exactly what you are talking about here. I have sat frustrated and watched many of my school students fall for that one.

If the ball is high enough you can smash it but you do have to adjust your bat angle to allow for the spin. Try to make a good crisp contactwith the ball tso that you don't allow the ball to sink into the rubber and spin. Probably the safest option though is to topspin the ball. Even though the ball is high you still need to lift the topspin a little to allow for the backspin.

← making the ball pass over the net practising →

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