Topspin Strategy

thijs gruwez Asked 14 years ago

I started to learn/improve my forehand topspin technique this summer and played a tournament today. I reached the quarterfinals where I had to play against an older guy. After 2 good topspins which he couldn't return, he just kept on pushing short backspin balls to my backhand. They were to short to try a backhand topspin(don't have the confidence to try that in matches yet also) so I tried pushing to all directions short and deep so he would bring the ball far enough to topspin. It didn't work so eventually lost it and I know I can play better than that guy. Any suggestions?

Alois Rosario Answered 14 years ago

Hi Thijs,

These sort of crafty players are difficult to play and have a lot of skill built up from years of playing.  

You could try pushing a bit faster so that it is more difficult for him to return the ball short.  

Try to make your serves more effective as well so that it sets up the topspin stroke for you.  By serving fast and with a lot of spin it would be difficult for him to return the ball short, especially if he didn't have a good attacking stroke.  This would set up your strong topspin.