Lower shoulder for loop

Tevia Sapire Asked 15 years ago

Hey there again pingskills,

I was wondering if lowering your playing shoulder during your wind up of the forehand loop is neccessary and/or recommended. I find by swinging in this motion, where the playing shoulder ends up lower than front shoulder by more than usual you get more lift and topspin, and this especially helps in lifting backspin, but is it used against black and topspin as well?

Thanks in advance

Jeff Plumb Answered 15 years ago

Hi Tevia,

Great question. The short answer is yes. It is recommended.

When starting out with strokes we usually mention only the starting position and finishing position of the strokes. We find that if players concentrate on these two points, then with practice they generally find the correct stroke.

With the forehand topspin, the bat does start quite low depending on whether the ball has backspin or topspin on it. To get the bat in this position you can bend your knees and as you mention, lower your playing shoulder. So it is a good observation that you make. Against backspin you will need to lower your shoulder more so you can get more lift. Against block a little less and for a counterloop a little less again but the shoulder definitely drops to get to the correct starting position for all of these strokes, just varying amounts.