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Generating Topspin

Tennis / Popular

Brush up the ball to create heavy topspin on groundstrokes.

What coaches agree on

  • Swing the racket from below the ball to above it through contact, a low-to-high path, since that upward motion is what creates topspin.
  • Topspin comes from the racket's path traveling upward through contact, not from your grip or from anything you try to do with your hand during the split-second the ball is on the strings.
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Common mistakes

  • Leaving the racket face open (strings facing up, on edge) on the backswing instead of tilting it down before swinging up, which is what forces players to try to roll the racket over the ball at contact instead, with wildly inconsistent results.
  • Actively snapping or rolling the wrist through contact to try to create spin, instead of letting the forearm pronate naturally, which causes framed shots, thin contact, and wrist strain.
  • Trying to create topspin with a steep, isolated, arm-only brushing motion instead of a full accelerating swing, so the ball spins but has no pace and lands short.
The ONLY Way To Make Your Serve SPIN!
Intermediate

The ONLY Way To Make Your Serve SPIN!

Coach's take: Really strong physics-based explanation of how spin actually gets created — one of the clearer 'why' explanations out there.

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