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Singles Strategy

How to Play A TopSpinner?

By Monty Basnyat, TennisONE Associate Editor

Question

I was wondering if you could help me with a tennis problem. I have been playing a new player who has been beating me lately. The only shot he gets me with a lot seems to be a shot with a lot of topspin on it. He's pretty good at it. How can I counter to take this away from him? Would appreciate any help you could give me on this.

Answer

Facing topspinner players can be a nightmare if you don't know how to deal with them. You need to understand that topspin is a power spin. When the topspin is hit correctly, the rotation of the ball creates friction as it travels through the air. This causes the ball to dip suddenly after crossing the net and thus allowing players to swing hard and still keep the ball in.

A ball with a lot of topspin has an arcing, forward rotation when it's coming towards you, which means the ball will kick up once it bounces. The higher the arc and faster the rotation of the ball, the higher the kick. This can have two detrimental effects on your stroke: 1) the sharp kicking action can crowd or jam your stroking motion if you have not moved back to adjust to the high bounce; 2) the high bounce forces you to make contact with the ball at a higher level than you might like.

The solution may be as simple as playing a few steps back behind the baseline against a topspinner. By doing so you will have more reaction and set up time, as well as enabling you to hit the ball at a more comfortable height.

Second, you must learn to read the arc of the ball and see the ball while it's still on your opponent's side of the court. A topspinner can hit a high arcing ball (moon ball) or a medium to low arcing ball. The sooner you get a clear focus and recognize the type of arc on the ball, the quicker you can react by moving and setting up for your reply.

In regards to the specific question, how can I counter to take the topspin away from my opponent, the general answer is you probably can't "take it away." That's his style of play and he will probably won't change. However, once you understand a few more things about topspinners you can make it more difficult for your topspinning opponent to stay in his comfort zone.


In general, a topspinner: 1) likes to hit topspin shots hit at them; 2) likes to hit their shots from the baseline or deep in the court; 3) likes to stay near the baseline and not come into the net and volley. Your job, as it is for any tennis player, is to make your opponent play shots he doesn't like. Therefore, you should try to hit some short, low-bouncing slice or underspin shots. This will force your opponent to hit his topspin shots from a point both lower and closer to the net, thereby increasing the likelihood he'll start generating errors. You can even draw him into the net and sees how he handles your passing shot and lob. These tactics were used by Arthur Ashe in the 1975 Wimbledon final against Jimmy Connors with devastating effect. Jimmy wasn't a big topspinner, but he definitely liked to remain on the baseline, set up comfortably and crack his big ground strokes. Arthur hit a variety of short underspin shots to Jimmy's forehand, making him come in and stretch. Arthur not only won the championship but focused a spotlight on one of the few weaknesses in the Connors game--a weakness that opponents continue to exploit to this day.

So give Arthur's tactics a try and good luck.

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