Top spin off a heavily underspin push

Hi Coach,

I have a problem lifting heavy underspin pushes. Very often I hit the net . I am told sometimes that I need to use my body for that, not only the arm  and some other times that I need to attack the ball faster. So which body parts should I use? and do I really need to attack the ball faster?

Note I am not the youngest player around and spinning the ball makes me feel exhausted after a while but on the other hand  if I don't initiate the attack against strong opponents  they just smash me with their attacks. Any suggestions? or to be more precise which body parts should I use? and is it true that one needs to be faster when facing heavy underspin? 

Thank you once more

Regards

Hatem

Hi Hatem,

To lift the heavy backspin ball you do need more speed with your bat on contact.

You can also utilise the angle of your racket to help you.  By opening the angle of your racket it will make it easier to get the ball higher and over the net.  However, with this you can't generate as much spin on the ball and therefore not as much speed either.

Take a look at these lessons on:

Forehand Topspin Off Backspin

Advanced Forehand Topspin

The first one will show you the technique for playing against backspin and the second one on how to generate more speed and which body parts to use.