How many "gears" on looping backspin

Ilia Minkin Asked 9 years ago

Hi Alois,

Currently I have only two "gears" on my forehand topspin against backspin:

1) Slow spinny topspin -- I play it 90% of the time, very consistent
2) Putaway shot -- To use against popped-up balls, slightly less consistent

The problem is that applying shot #2 to a low, but pretty long backspin push is extremely risky in a game. Playing slow spinny stroke all the time is not an option since people get used to it quickly. So:

1) Should I keep practicing my second "gear" against low balls, or instead develop an interim shot in between?
2) How many "gears" does one actually need?

Alois Rosario Answered 9 years ago

Hi Ilia,

With a stroke like that you can have as many gears as you want. By utilising the same stroke you can just speed up or slow down your swing through the ball to get a different result of speed. Try it is practice and see the different speeds you can generate.

← Fast Rubbers For Beginners Harder forehand loop →

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Ilia Minkin Posted 9 years ago

I will try, but that's going to be tricky -- for my two strokes (I think of them as of different strokes) I have some idea of how much speed should I generate and the angle of the racket on both of them. When I try to play something in between, I improvise and make mistakes, should probably do it more in practice...