THE BASIS OF MODERN TENNIS

The effectiveness of the indications given here has been tested directly by the editors of Tennis4Advanced.

The most important feature of the modern tennis (from Borg onwards) is the top spin, a way to “treat” the ball is essential for the fact that with it:

● You can play a ball that goes very high over the net,

● and the ball, despite having a great speed, tap into soil before the line of end zone.

This happens due to the fact that with the top spin the ball has an effect that allows her to have a curved trajectory.

image fron odysseymfg.com

With the top spin you can play “in safety” (reducing unforced errors), since with this technique, the chances that the ball, with its arched trajectory, hit the net become minimal: you can then play without errors much longer than an opponent who plays the ball flat.

There is also a (at least) variant of topspin that closes the point.

The two components of the movement – velocity and rotation – of the ball (source rashidcoulibaly.blogspot.it)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGsuDFKI6hg&w=420&h=315]

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The TopsPin Technique

In the technique of the topspin the racket movement is the same as for forehand and backhand:

● the racket moves with the movement of windshield-wiper.

● the racket is always upright and always look to the net, from a few moments before impact at the end of the shutdown.

[ image fromwww.tennisiseasy.com ]

Other key points (shown in other the pages):

● There are key differences from the traditional posture and movement (flat shoot). While in the traditional movement:

◊ the movement is with the body perpendicular to the net, in topspin movement is parallel with the body in front of the network (at most with a slight angle).

◊ there is a body weight transfer forward (toward the front leg), in topspin there is (mostly) a rotation of the body.

◊ the arm (and the shoulder) contributes decisively to push the ball, in topspin is the movement of the body which develops the force that is applied to the racket (the arm is as inert).

◊ the racket moves from bottom to top only in the direction of the net, in topspin racket accomplishes a semicircle from right to left (for right handed people).

◊ the racket only pushes the ball forward, in topspin racket largely peeling ball from bottom to top.

In addition:

● in topspin the grip is different from that of flat (these are personal choices, but, in fact, for the top players is so)

● we must also clarify that in the topspin forehand wrist has no strength, but it’s relaxed: is the arm (and with the collaboration of the body) that moves the racket with the movement of windshield-wiper. The wrist does not rotate at all, but maintains its initial position (compared to the forearm). In forehand, the hand is soft on handle (do not tighten the handle).

go to next page > Forehand topspin: introdution