Facing Really Heavy Backspin

Hi Alois,

So I got to practice against my robot this last weekend. I practised some topspin and counter hitting against topspin, which seemed fine. But the backspin from the robot was unlike anything I have played till now. The long backspin balls seemed to stop a little after bouncing on the table which was making the timing of my footwork and bat swing totally off the mark.

On switching the robot to serve mode also, the outcome was similar. It was set to do short backspin serves, and I was trying to do short push returns. In this case also I noticed that the ball seemed to be slowing down after bouncing on my side and I was falling short in my reach because my estimation of where the ball will come after the bounce was getting wrong.

I wanted to know if in real life situation can a player generate such heavy backspin that your timing of the stroke gets affected? If yes, how should I adjust? My confidence went totally down after that session. But I am hoping after practising more against it, I will get better.

Hi Abhinav,

I think sometimes the backspin from robots is unrealistic.  However, it can teach us a good lesson.  You have to move in close to the bounce when playing heavy backspin because the ball will stop a lot more.

If you are playing a topspin shot against this backspin, make sure you get your legs close to the end of the table, even put your left leg a little under the table to get close enough to the bounce.

The same with the short push, get your right leg right under the table and get your nose as close to the ball as you can.  This will help you to get better control over the contact of the ball.