Give It The Brush

All good players use topspin or overspin to one degree or another. Nearly all second serves of high club-level and pro-level players are heavy topspin serves.

Passing shots can be executed with a soft underspin touch shot, but they are primarily struck with overspin to allow the defender to play an aggressive shot with a good safety margin.

I have used the terms overspin and topspin interchangeably because they are the same thing.

The problem with these terms is that they give the false impression that one should do something to the top of the ball or go over the ball with the strings to execute these shots.

Nooooo! Wrong!

With all due respect to the retired world-class players who generally man the broadcast booth, you don't cover the ball or roll over the ball to successfully execute a topspin shot.

Yes, you'll get the spin on the ball, but you won't get the lift you need to clear the net, which is the prime reason to play with topspin.

The correct technique demands a low to high swing that brushes vertically up the back as the racket compresses the ball.

The more the racket compresses the ball relative to the low-to-high brushing action, the farther the ball will travel before the spin forces it down into the opponent's court.

When you see world-class players appear to whip the face of the racket over the ball, your eyes are lying to you. You're seeing the exhaust, not the explosion.

To be a better player, brush up. Don't roll over.