over-spin?

Andrew Pape Asked 13 years ago

Hi,

A great looper friend told me a few years ago that I wasn't getting any topspin on my so-called loop because I was brushing the bat over the top of the ball, rather than the back of the ball. Indeed, when I played against backspin, I hit most balls into the net. When I asked a coach about what part of the ball to brush when looping, he said that brushing over the top of the ball generates  "over spin". I am getting one-on-one coaching now with another coach, and he's telling me that I should be brushing over the ball. The original coach I mentioned said that the club's top player brushes the top of the ball with a very closed bat angle and generates a huge amount of topspin. His opponents try to block the loop and the ball goes into the net, and then they complain that he's put no spin on the ball. Apparently, the ball shoots off at a different angle when the ball is loaded with heavy spin. I then asked the coach how he knows the ball is really spinning heavily: what happens when it goes into the net? Apparently, it's spinning.

This over-spin seems like a false science to me. It doesn't seem to obey physics, and no one else has mentioned it, plus I can't find it with Google. The coach who describes it is knowledgeable but I find myself sceptical. What do you think about strange "over-spin" phenomenon?

Cheers,

Andrew.

Alois Rosario Answered 13 years ago

Hi Andrew,

Not sure about the over-spin thing.

Topspin is topspin no matter now you hit the ball.  If the ball is spinning forward it has topspin.  This doesn't matter whether you have brushed up the back of the ball or over the top of the ball.

Your read of science is correct.