FH Topspin stroke can it be too vertical

Hi pingskillers!

Some players have very "dead" defensive type of rubber where they can create a lot of underspin and the ball goes very low over the net as well. So I drop down my shoulders and try to make a very vertical (FH) stroke and try to brush the ball as fast as I can, but still the ball even barely makes it to the net and it leaves me puzzled about this...

Can my stroke be too verticle and therefore the ball doesn't get enough forward momentum? Or should my starting position of my bat be further away from the ball in order to make a bigger faster swing? (Pingskills teach a 90 degree angle between under and upper arm but should I increase that angle?) Or more body rotation maybe?

My trainer tells me to not hit that ball and lift that heavy backspin ball back and wait for a better opportunity, but I'm the kind of guy that wants to train and learn things I can't do yet. So what are your thougts about these very low and heavy backspin balls?

Regards,
Bertus

Hi Bertus,

You can do two things.  One is to increase the backswing so that at the point of contact the bat is moving faster.

The other thing is that you may need more forward momentum.  If the ball is going up higher than the net but then dropping into it then you should try this.

What type of rubber are you using?  Make sure this is still good.