Hello to everybody,
This talk is for amateur players not for pros who have strong technical skills and they can handle any ball.
I am trying to understand the benefits of a vertical topspin against a backspin ball because I am having a lot of problems to handle the return of it.
The scenario is the one below: I serve with backspin, my opponent makes a push so I get a ball with backspin too and I attack the ball with a strong vertical top spin at almost 90 degrees sometimes. The problem is that this shot generates a ball with a very high arc and my opponent has a lot of options to return it back (topspin, punch, smash) even if that ball goes with that unusual, accelerated topspin.
Ideally speaking, I should topspin the ball and the ball should not go with that high arc; instead it should just pass over the net but to do that I should not put so much power in my shots but that will generate another problem for me, the one where I cannot lift the ball with the backspin so the ball will go into the net.
By reading a lot of articles, everybody will tell you to attack any long ball no matter what spin the ball has; does it have topspin? No problem, then loop it or topspin it. Does it have backspin? No problem, do a vertical topspin against it at a certain degree based on its backspin.
My question is which are the benefits of a vertical topspin on a backspin ball, for an amateur, since the stroke will create a ball with a high arc on the opponent`s side that can be attacked pretty easy due to its height? I have the impression of exposing myself to risks for free by using this shot.
The safe option will be to push the backspin ball back with backspin; at least it will go much lower (a pro will be able to attack it of course – see the scenario of a defender vs. an attacker but we do not talk about pros
).
Thank you
