How much spin there is

Atanas Atanasov Asked 12 years ago

Hi Alois, 

I have trouble in seeing the variation of the amount of backspin on the ball when looping. I just don't know how much spin there is, so most of the times the ball goes into the net or off the table.

Nasko

Alois Rosario Answered 12 years ago

Hi Nasko,

You need to watch really carefully and with time and experience you will start to understand the amount of spin.

You will see slight variations in the flight of the ball.  The heavy backspin ball will move a little slower through the air and stay up longer.  You will also see differences in the contact.  The sounds will be softer when there is more spin because the ball isn't sinking in all the way to the wood of their racket.

Also take a look through our lesson on Receiving Secrets which show you how to read the spin on a ball.

the main thing though is give it time and keep hitting a lot of balls.  In training just do some pushing practice and get your training partner to vary the amount of spin constantly.  Watch the ball and the contact and see if you start to be able to pick the spin.

Once you see the spin then you can vary your stroke.  If there is more spin your loop needs to be more vertical and vice versa.