Flat Drive or Topspin?

hector Unknown Asked 15 years ago

Which is better to do flat drive or spin? Because I have 2 coach my 1st coach wants me to spin while my other coach wants me to do a flat drive. CAN YOU HELP ME?

Jeff Plumb Answered 15 years ago

Hi Hector,

Generally the topspin shots take a bit longer to learn than the flat drives. But once you have learnt how to hit them they are a more reliable shot. This is because the topspin you impart on the ball helps to drag it down towards the table. This dip caused by the topspin you more room for error. So in general I would recommend that if you are confident, you should be trying to topspin the ball more often than using the flat drive.

When the ball gets up high enough, then you don't really need to have the topspin to dip the ball onto the table as you have enough angle to simply hit the ball directly onto the table, so in this situation you can then hit a flat drive or a smash.