Controlling spin and arc of loops

G'day Alois

I just had an 'a-ha!' moment.

Over the past year, I've often tried to do spinny high arcing forehand loops.  However, I almost always hit it long.  I assumed it was because of my technique...that I was not brushing the ball enough and had too much forward momentum on my stroke.

However, I suddenly thought maybe it was a problem of stroke selection rather than execution.  Maybe you can't hit any kind of loop you want off any ball, but it depends on what kind of ball you are facing.  Maybe you can only hit spinny arcing balls off backspin.  And against faster topspin/sidespin balls, you HAVE to hit a more low arc aggressive loop.

Is this correct?  Was this a genuine 'a-ha' moment?  Or is it really just a problem of execution and you could technically hit any kind of loop against any kind of ball?

Thanks!

Ji-Soo

Hi Ji-Soo,

Too much time to think...

You are right it is easier to play a high arcing loop off a slow ball because the ball doesn't spring forward out of your bat so fast.

It is possible though to do a high arcing  tospin off a fast ball but you need good touch and timing to get it just right.  Your stroke needs to be almost vertical as it already has enough speed. 

You can also hit fast balls off a slow ball but you need to generate the speed yourself.  For this stroke you need to get the bat moving forward more than up.  Hitting the ball with a slightly flatter contact will also speed up the ball but it will mean higher risk as well.

Your 'a-ha!' moment was genuine... now get some sleep.