Breaking a flat hitting habit
Strokes
Arjan van Luttikhuizen Asked 10 years ago
Hi Alois and Jeff,
Lately I've drifted towards a more attacking style close to the table, I'm getting a very small margin for error on my topspin strokes because I unintentionally hit the ball quite flat on. When trying to focus on the start / finish positions and brushing the ball I still end up getting very little "dip" on the ball. And then when I do get good spin it tends to fly way of the table. What can I do to more consistently play the slower, higher topspin?
Alois Rosario Answered 10 years ago
Hi Arjan,
The key is to maintain the topspin all the time. This will give you a much better margin for error over the net.
It is a trade off between how high the stroke can be and the speed of the ball but maintaining the brushing contact is crucial.
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Recommended Video
Forehand Topspin to Topspin
Topspin-to-topspin rallies are fast, dynamic, and can be the key to winning more points! 🏓🔥 Learning how to control these exchanges will help you stay on the attack and put pressure on your opponent.
In This Video, You'll Learn:
✅ How to adjust your technique for topspin rallies (compared to topspin vs. block)
✅ Why your stroke should be more forward and how to generate dip with topspin
✅ Tactical strategies – Mix up speed, spin, and placement for better control
✅ How to train this stroke effectively, even without a strong training partner
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Arjan van Luttikhuizen Posted 10 years ago
Had a really long training session today and things are already starting to look up. I went over the relevant technique video's on the site one more time and focused on improving on one point at a time. For some reason those heavy topspins that kick off the table almost horizontally feel much more satisfying than the speedy strokes.
I also found that it's perhaps never a good idea to use the slow spinny topspin against a ball that also has significant topspin on it, your thoughts?
HI Arjan,
Yes the heavy topspin balls are very difficult to do the slow topspin against. Much easier off the backspin ball or a slower ball in general. The ball doesn't fly off your bat as quickly.
D K Posted 10 years ago
And if I want to do a slow heavy topspin off a slow heavy topspin,what should I do?
Take the ball lower?
Johan B Posted 10 years ago
Brush the ball and aim diagonally up :p
D K Posted 10 years ago
This is for a topspin stroke in the wide sense.