| MY TENNIS TIP OF THE WEEK |
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| BALL SPIN
I was reading an article by my friend John Yandell of TennisPlayer.net. The article I found fascinating was about ball spin. Here are my overall impressions of the article and how it relates to your tennis game. Did you know that the Second Serve has the greatest potential for the most spin? Some players hit with 4650 RPM (rounds per minute), that comes to 70-80 revolutions per hit. The Underspin Backhand has the second greatest spin rotation. This is unique because, besides the volley, it is the only shot with underspin. The Forehand underspin is not a shot regularly hit in professional tennis. The next shot with the greatest spin is the Forehand, followed by the First Serve. Fourth greatest spin shot in tennis is not flat at all. Even a 140 MPH serve still has some spin on it. The next group of shots in order of the most spin are the One Hand Backhand followed by the Two Hand Backhand. The Two Hand Backhand can have more disguise but the arm on the One Hand Backhand can move further. Next shots with the most spin are the serve returns. The Forehand Serve Return ranks ahead of the Backhand Serve Return just as the Forehand ranks ahead of the Backhand. So what shots are actually the flattest or with the least spin? The final three are the Overhead, Backhand Volley and Forehand Volley in that order. The Forehand Volley has the least spin as any shot in tennis with an average of only 800 RPM. So what does all this mean? Well, if your are not hitting with topspin on the Second Serve, Forehand and Backhand then you are well behind the Pros. Another fact is that when the ball bounces it adds 2000 RPM of topspin to the ball. So balls hit with a lot of topspin will really increase in ball spin after it bounces. This is why many players have started hitting the ball on the rise so as to not get pushed back to far. Doug Hofer, USPTA www.hofertennis.com February 17, 2009 |
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