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Pushing against no spin and sidespin

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Hi Alois

this is quite possibly a silly question.

Since pushing generally is done with an open racquet face, I understand it is done against backspin.  Is there a technique for pushing that also works against no-spin, side-spin or even slight topspin balls without popping it up?  Close the racquet face more?  More touch?

Thanks

Ji-Soo

and Alois Rosario said...

Hi Ji-Soo,

There is no such thing as a silly question here, just ones that require a little more thought to answer... and more shadow play in front of my computer...

To push against no spin or slight topspin you can do one of two things.  Firstly you can close the face of your bat and push it back. Almost like a bunt or flat shot. 

The second option is to keep the face open and bruch the ball lightly, usually right at the bottom of the ball to generate some backspin.  This does require some touch and soft hands.  You can also brush down the back of the ball to achieve a similar result.  Your stroke becomes much more vertical than a normal push.

To push against sidespin, use the normal pushing technique but just angle your bat in the direction to counteract the sidespin.  So if the ball is goign to fly off to the right, face your bat to the left and execute the same push stroke.

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