Thank you for such a in-depth analysis on the forehand’s topspin ball contact pattern, it’s explained it so well with the super slow motion on the ball striking pathway , it’s totally enlightening as I was always confused over the topspin’s actual striking pattern.
Ian, your new series is soooo great! When 4 monts ago you said you were going to reinvent your channel, I was afraid you had run out of steam and you were going to attempt some desperate moves, but I'm glad to see that you only changed the gear and accelerated forward. Your new videos are on a much higher level than those from the past. They are carefully written, planned in high detail, shot and edited with a high degree of proffesionalism. And most importantly: the content is interesting, you describe the technique in a very clear manner, you also touch subjects that others ignore (I especially loved the two videos directly after "Starting over..."). Hats off!
Really appreciate that, Asperatus. Honestly, I did run out of steam for a while. I've been through a few really tough and frustrating years, but now I feel ready to get back into the arena again and do the best work I can. Glad it's appreciated.
Nice lesson. Only one little detail, in fact the more spin you add the slower the shot is. Nadal overdoes it, his shots always seemed to me to be on the slower side and very high over the net and for some reason the most of the players can't punish it. Those extremely heavily top spin bounces are likely very unusual even for pros and end up in many unforced errors. I bet his first set wins stats (before his opponents adapt) are spectacular....
I guess I'd be curious how much of a factor the type of grip you use plays into top spin generation. That wasn't discussed in this video. If I normally use continental grip, which isn't considered great for generating top spin, would you recommend switching grips or is it achievable/useful to just try to incorporate a bit of top spin in spite of using a continental grip?
The function of a more aggressive grip is to make it easier to keep the racquet face closed while swinging upward more aggressively. Switching from continental to eastern or semi-western doesn't "make more topspin" on its own.....you still have to learn how to drop the racquet lower below contact and accelerate upwards more steeply. If I was working with somebody hitting forehands with a true continental grip (can't remember the last time I saw that) and they wanted to work on creating more topspin I would probably recommend at least a slight grip change, yes.
@@EssentialTennis Ayyy, got a response! Thanks for the technical explanations, and all you do to clear up the common misconceptions in tennis! You were right to call out that I was a bit mistaken in that I actually have more of a semi western grip, not continental. It sounds like swing path is king, rather than the grip or even the strings used on the racquet, I'd imagine. Thanks again!
Wow great video. It really got me thinking that topspin is kinda reverse slice. Which really helped me as I am good at putting a lot of spin on my slice.
Ian, even though I know that curling is wrong for Tennis strokes have you ever thought of doing a lesson on how to stop the habit? What are progressions that you can do because I have worked a lot on my groundstrokes and yet I hide the curling in that one frame my follow-through looks like I didn’t do it, but I know when I film myself at the last possible second, I curl or “scoop” the ball.
Yeah, it's so funny. When you stop trying to flip the racquet over and just swing out with your whole body and arm (not wrist), you actually get tons of topspin. It's really unintuitive until you experience it. A lot of people it seems even with the right swing path get no control and spin when they just arm it. So the body plays a role too.
That Rafa shot is great. Braden use to say the best contact is a couple inches above contact then the ball leaves from the middle. VERY important video.
I think you are doing the same mistake which you said initially not to do. You said after the contact there is no point in twisting or turning the racket. But I see you are doing same.
Great comment, the difference is super important. What you do NOT want to do is what the player does at 9:27 - hit the ball with a straight, flat path and then after contact make an attempt to flip or twist the racquet around. What you DO want to do is have any upward release of the racquet start BEFORE contact and smoothly continue after hitting the ball. There's a big difference between bolting on a flip or twist to a flat path and having the whole path actually be upward. When the whole path is upward then its very natural to move the racquet in a circle continuously.
The phrase "face sends, the path bends it" is little misleading. The ball actually starts out somewhere in between the face angle and the path angle. As you hit the ball thinner and thinner, the gear effect / friction starts to contribute more and more to the ball's flight. For example, you can see some examples with a lot of top-spin, e.g. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-F83i1uLoF3Q.html where the racket is pointed slightly down. What is true is that spin is a result of the difference between the face angle and the path angle. Similarly on the serve with a lot of spin, the racket path has a large effect on the initial path. You can try it yourself by the cutting the block very thin with a slice serve, the ball doesn't just rocket sideways, but rather starts more towards the path of the racket.
I can on my forehand side but it isn't a natural path for me. I'd have to train a lot to get back again. I've never had it on my backhand side before, too many fundamental flaws.
