Monthly Archives: May 2010

Ever since Bjorn Borg made topspin famous players have been striving to implement it with their game.  Borg showed he could hit incredible short angle passing shots past McEnroe, who was attacking at net.  Topspin is what allowed Borg to do this.  With topspin Borg was able to pull the ball down into the court before it went wide, and get tremendous angles which he used to pass McEnroe.   The topspin Borg was able to hit really was a major change in the sport. Basically, when you hit with topspin you’re making the ball spin forward which creates air pressure on top of the ball.  So, the air pressure is pushing the ball down, which enabled Borg to keep those short angled passing shots in the court.  When you go for a short angled shot there’s a chance the ball will go wide, but when you use topspin you now have the air pressure on top of the ball pushing it down before it goes wide.  The more topspin (or RPM’s the faster the ball is spinning forward), the more air pressure you create on top of the ball,  the quicker the ball will come down.  There were other players before Borg to hit with topspin but he was the player that created this heavy topspin.  Since Borg, many players have followed suit and Roger Federer is no exception.  His ability to hit extremely short angles is unmatched.

If you’re thinking, this heavy topspin stuff is too much for your level, don’t fret, learning to impart even a little topspin can benefit anyone’s game and it’s not difficult to learn.

As a teaching professional I’ve seen all kinds of different movements players will make to try and impart topspin to the ball and many of these movements are downright counter productive.  I think the reason for this is because there are many misconceptions about topspin.

The Two videos above explain what really happens when you’re hitting topspin and how to avoid the common pitfalls.

BECOME A PERSONAL STUDENT OF TOM’S
I’m currently teaching at Pelican Marsh Country Club in Naples, Florida.  If an individual or a group is interested in fantastic improvement in a short period of time, plan a trip to Naples.  In as little as 2-3 days of intense focused lessons we can bring your game to new heights.  If you can’t make it to Naples the Inner Circle is another option.  The weekly phone call will keep you focused on what areas need improvement and the drills you’ll need to do to keep progressing.

Contact me at:
239-592-5920 Office
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All the best,
Tom

The Swinging Volley is a nice shot to have in your tool box when you see that floater coming back.  However, it’s a shot that takes some sound technique in order to hit consistently inside the court.  Concentrate on the The Two Key Points mentioned in the video to become consistent with this shot.  Especially concentrate on The Elbow Up and Away From the Body, this is the biggest mistake I see, when players make errors with this shot.  When a player drops the elbow into the body on the backswing the racquet face opens up and then must be adjusted on the forward swing.  This adjustment must be made just at the right milli-second to hit the shot successfully, this is risky business.  On the other hand, when the elbow stays up and away from the body on the backswing the racquet face stays closed, now simply swing low to high and the racquet will automatically be vertical at contact.  Actually, the racquet can stay vertical for a good ‘foot and a half’ in the contact area. Keeping the racquet vertical for as long as possible in the contact area is something that Roger Federer does so well.  Keeping the “Elbow Up and Away” will help you do the same thing.

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All the best and happy hitting,
Tom