Difference between forehand drive and loop/tospin

Hi Pingskills!

I had a look at your videos, mainly the ones about the forehand topspin against block and the one about forehand topspin against backspin.

I understand that when returning backspin ball the stroke is more vertical to lift the backspin and your bat begins lower, but now what i'm unsure is, what's the difference between the forehand drive/counterhit and the forehand topspin when returning a non-backspin ball?

To me the drive/counterhit seems almost the same as the forehand topspin (in terms the stroke technique).

Hi Aaron,

The counterhit and topspin are very similar strokes.  They are just variations of the same stroke.  It is good to have them this way so that there isn't a big change in what you are doing with the strokes.

The topspin is a slightly longer stroke with a more brushing contact.