Taking the ball early

Hi Alois and Hello Jeff,

When I started learning forehand topspin against backspin, I started with taking the ball late. My stroke was almost vertical whereby, I attempted to lift the ball and give it maximum spin. 

However, as I developed, I wanted more speed and more depth on my topspin and I therefore wanted to go more forward with open face of my racket. During my experiments I figured out that if I can take the ball early either on the rise or on top of the bounce I have a maximum chance of clearing the net and also get speed and depth on my shot.

However, I am so used to hitting the ball late that when I try to take the ball early I usually stiffen up. This reduces the brush on the ball and I can hear a loud flat sound from my racket. Can you please let me know that how should I practice so that I can take the ball early and also keep myself relax during the shot? Also, if you can, please discuss what causes a player to take the ball late? I can think of a few things like slow movement, not in optimum position and shoulders dropping too low. But how do I overcome these especially the shoulder part?

PS: I wish you guys a Merry Christmas and a happy new year. May this new year bring lots of success, happiness and fulfillment in all your pursuits. 

Regards,

Mudit

Hi Mudit,

Firstly thanks for the kind wishes.  It has been a rewarding year and hopefully the year ahead will be just as good.

Learning to hit the ball late for the topspin to start with is fine.  To hit the ball faster and earlier you need a lot more racket head speed on contact.  You can also turn your racket angle down a lot more.

One of the keys is to get yourself closer to the table to make the stroke.  If you try to stretch forward you will throw yourself off balance and won’t be able to swing as fast.  This will enable you to get that ball a lot faster.

The more backspin the ball has on it, the more speed you will need on your stroke.