The place of contact for a topspin

Hitting the ball between 1 and 2 o'clock. With heavy back spins (usually after top spinning against long pips), between 2 and 3 o'clock. With heavy top spins, between 12 to 1 o'clock.

Azlan is half right in my opinion. If you were to imagine the ball as a clock. Your best topspins would be from 2:30-3:30 regardless of spin on the ball. If the ball is well above the net you can afford to hit at the 12:00-2:00 range as long as you are close to the table if you're further away it's always best to hit from 1:00-3:00. Underspins require that you hit at the equator around 3:00-3:30.

What most people don't understand is that the ball for the amount of time on the rubber will be rolling in the direction of its spin. Upward for top, downward for under, and variations for side spins. I always tell my students to aim for the back of the ball (3:00), but just close the angle for higher topspin rallies. The reason is because if they are always aiming for the 3:00 position they will most likely hit the proper part based on the choice of racket angle. For dead and underspin balls they'll have a more open angle and for topspins they'll have more closed angles.

If you ever watch a Professional player hit a ball into the net it's only because of 2 or 3 things. Either they hit the top of the ball (12:00) because they were standing up too much, or they hit the top of the ball but hit a downward stroke rather than an upward stroke, or they are swinging too slowly. A good match to watch this is Patrick Baum vs Wang Xi. Patrick has some great shots, but when he slows down his strokes for a couple shots you can clearly see why he hits it into the net. He swings too slow so he decides to lengthen his next strokes and also swing faster.

Backhand shots are almost always the easiest shots to hit into the net. The reason being that the ball is in front of you at the point of contact and you never actually see the point of contact between ball and rubber. When players are lazy they tend to stand up, but compensate their BH shots by adjusting the wrist. While it makes up for racket angle it takes away from speed and spin. A BH shot should always be done with the ball at least at chest height or above. When ball contact is at the waist or lower the likelihood of hitting the top of the ball and thus into the net is increased.

Hope this helps.

Yes Bryce, it does. Some rubbers react to spin more and some rubbers are easier to use the sponge. All this affects your racket angles or place on the "clock" where you impact the ball.

As described above, one has to consider the dynamics of the incoming ball (amount of spin, speed, height, vector) and also you have to decide what type of shot you wish to play. For a slow, extreme spinny loop, you have to brush the ball more. For a faster return, the whole stroke is different. As richard also said, your bat speed is important. Differnet bat speeds at impact affect the ball.

For example, against an incoming bottomspin ball, to make a heavy spin slow loop, you brush more and swing upwards more. To make a power loop vs the same ball, you open the blade and swing more forward. Fast racket speed at impact is real important, so one has to use the whole body to loop. (and of course be in position and strike the ball in the optimal power zone)

Another factor is when you take the ball. Right off the bounce, the spin affects your angle less. The vector that the ball is traveling will cause you to use a different bat angle (which means you impact a different place on hte ball) Example: You use a much more forward stroke to hit an incoming topspin ball that is on the rise and you impact closer to the top. When the ball is falling, you have to lift more and hit more towards the behind.

One thing not mentioned yet is that if you make a HOOKSHOT, you mitigate some of the reaction of the ball off your racket. It is much easier and safer to use the perpendicualr axis to impact as the ball will bite little using that axis. This is why the "bananna" loop is easy for a newb to learn and execute as spin does not easily affect the rebound as the player is side-swiping the ball. Pros sometimes do this for a ball that is heavy, but are unsure of the exact amount. Problem is, the "bananna" loop gives the opponent a slow ball, so it must be well placed, or it will be punished. The hookshot is a pretty safe shot if hit cross court and the "kick" is often troublesome to opponents.

Exploding through the ball is important in all offensive shots, whether it is a powerloop, or a slow, heavy topspin.

You develop a sense of how to adjust these variable through knowing the general principles of spin and reaction, plus a boatload of practice.

It again depends on it Bryce. All rubbers react differently depending on what shot is given to them. I'll tell you what. I'll try to make and edit some videos of both my reviews of the Chinese National Rubbers and this topic. I've been meaning to get more done, but it's been busy for me. I've had interviews, projects, shoots, editing, running my club, coaching, and work to deal with lol. But I think I'll have some free time tomorrow to get some videos finished.

Keep an eye out for a video response here and a newer thread.

The throw angle of blade and rubber will be very variable.
The basics has been said tho, it is around top and back of the ball if it is a 'no spin' ball.
More backspin, more to the back, more topspin more to the top

Thats from mee

Originally Posted by Thomas Ebel

Nice nobody is on here i go to an other forum

why are you waking up a thread this old?