Serve with spin

Dario Sardu Asked 4 days ago

Hi coach, I have 2 Ryzen CMD rubbers and the offensive Joola as a blade. They are not too worn but during training I realize that I can't do a cut serve, the ball is always smooth/semi-smooth. Despite all the videos I watched and the explanations of my coach (who tells me: you have to hear the ball and that's all he tells me), I don't know how to behave and so going back to the previous question how do I backspin the ball? Everyone says it needs to be "brushed" but I can't do it in any way

Alois Rosario Answered 3 days ago

That’s a good question, and it’s something a lot of players struggle with early on getting real backspin on a serve. It feels mysterious until you get the right contact.

Your rubbers (Joola Rhyzen CMD) are perfectly capable of producing strong backspin so this is definitely more about your brushing contact than the equipment.

A few things to think about:

1. Contact point on the ball
   To generate backspin, you need to touch the bottom part of the ball. Think of it like you’re brushing the ball upwards. If you’re hitting too much on the back or middle, the ball won’t spin — it’ll just go forward smoothly like you’re describing.

2. Contact Point on the bat
   To get the most spin contact the ball near the leading edge of the rubber.  This will help to get longer contact time on the ball.

3. Brushing vs hitting
   When people say “brush,” they mean the rubber should just touch the surface of the ball, almost sliding across it, rather than compressing it. Imagine drawing a line on the bottom of the ball with your rubber. The thinner the contact, the more spin.

4. Racket angle
   Keep your racket slightly open (face pointing a bit upwards). If the racket is too flat, you’ll only hit the ball instead of grazing it.

5. Acceleration
   The speed of the racket at the moment of contact matters more than how big your swing is. Even with a short motion, if you accelerate your wrist and forearm right at the ball, the spin will come.