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So I never used to play drop shots against lobs, because I simply keep the pressure on and vary my smash spin and strength/location until I win - I am very consistent with this.
However, I finally met my match who has a lot of quality, landing deep with a big kick and suddenly it's hard to dominate and my win rate in these rallies went from about 90% down to about 60% and went a lot longer, leaving me exhausted which sometimes affected subsequent points. (win one point and lose next 2 or 3 - hehe)
So I realised that perhaps the drop shot has a role to play after all, not on these deep spinny lobs, but simply to keep them honest and less comfortable in the back (although this guy then gets me with a ridiculously spinny snake that I couldn't handle either - amazing player!)
Nonetheless, I started practicing - but I wonder what is the best way to play this shot!?
Here are some thoughts:
- don't play on super deep balls, as hard to do.
- don't play on super short balls, as hard to do.
- play on balls in middle of table in terms of depth
- play on balls that are easier to reach with forehand side
- try to add sidespin to keep it short
- soft hands (goes without saying)
- hit the ball low right off the bounce to keep it low (goes without saying - I think 😉)
But here is what I am not so sure about:
1.) how should I play flatter lobs vs topsin vs sidespin lobs (these are rarer)
2.) should I do nothing, add underpin or add topsin (along with any sidespin)
I found that for the lobs with more topspin, that adding a little underspin stopped the ball kicking forward too much, but when I saw Ma Lin doing drop shots, it appears he is more often going up on the ball, so adding or going WITH the spin. This makes sense I suppose, because when we keep sidespin serves short, we go with the spin, right!?
Additional challenges:
1.) I must say that I found it harder than I thought to hit the ball off the bounce, especially if the lob is short. Contact is often too high and then the ball drifts long for any easy counter - sometimes I even missed the contact all together - yikes! Any tips?
2.) I have struggled to add the sidespin - should I be moving the blade perpendicular from left to right, or should I try to contact the side of the ball?
Alternatives:
I have seen some people do a drop smash including Craig Bryant the service guy. This looks interesting, a little challenging to say the least. How is this performed? Should you look for a particular type of ball? (spinny or flat, short or long, what height, what angle???) When do you contact the ball and where do you hit it? Is it late on the drop on a shorter ball and then drop smash wide???
Hope we have some drop shot experts who know how to use the technique rather than just having the right feel so some of us newbies can try to emulate the techniques. 🤞🤞
However, I finally met my match who has a lot of quality, landing deep with a big kick and suddenly it's hard to dominate and my win rate in these rallies went from about 90% down to about 60% and went a lot longer, leaving me exhausted which sometimes affected subsequent points. (win one point and lose next 2 or 3 - hehe)
So I realised that perhaps the drop shot has a role to play after all, not on these deep spinny lobs, but simply to keep them honest and less comfortable in the back (although this guy then gets me with a ridiculously spinny snake that I couldn't handle either - amazing player!)
Nonetheless, I started practicing - but I wonder what is the best way to play this shot!?
Here are some thoughts:
- don't play on super deep balls, as hard to do.
- don't play on super short balls, as hard to do.
- play on balls in middle of table in terms of depth
- play on balls that are easier to reach with forehand side
- try to add sidespin to keep it short
- soft hands (goes without saying)
- hit the ball low right off the bounce to keep it low (goes without saying - I think 😉)
But here is what I am not so sure about:
1.) how should I play flatter lobs vs topsin vs sidespin lobs (these are rarer)
2.) should I do nothing, add underpin or add topsin (along with any sidespin)
I found that for the lobs with more topspin, that adding a little underspin stopped the ball kicking forward too much, but when I saw Ma Lin doing drop shots, it appears he is more often going up on the ball, so adding or going WITH the spin. This makes sense I suppose, because when we keep sidespin serves short, we go with the spin, right!?
Additional challenges:
1.) I must say that I found it harder than I thought to hit the ball off the bounce, especially if the lob is short. Contact is often too high and then the ball drifts long for any easy counter - sometimes I even missed the contact all together - yikes! Any tips?
2.) I have struggled to add the sidespin - should I be moving the blade perpendicular from left to right, or should I try to contact the side of the ball?
Alternatives:
I have seen some people do a drop smash including Craig Bryant the service guy. This looks interesting, a little challenging to say the least. How is this performed? Should you look for a particular type of ball? (spinny or flat, short or long, what height, what angle???) When do you contact the ball and where do you hit it? Is it late on the drop on a shorter ball and then drop smash wide???
Hope we have some drop shot experts who know how to use the technique rather than just having the right feel so some of us newbies can try to emulate the techniques. 🤞🤞
