Topspin makes the ball drop faster through the air and kick farther forward when it hits your opponent's court. This simple game rewards you for increasing that kick.
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: 15 minutes
Here's How:
- Stand at the baseline with at least 10 balls.
- Drop a ball on your forehand side, and then after it bounces, hit it deep into the other side of the court.
- Try another drop hit, starting your racquet lower and brushing your strings up the back of the ball as you swing forward.
- Observe how the more you brush up on the ball, the more the ball spins, and the more it kicks on the other side.
- Measure your progress by noting how many bounces the ball makes on the other side before it hits the fence.
- Give yourself zero points if the ball fails to land in or bounces more than three times altogether before hitting the fence.
- Give yourself one point if the ball lands in and then bounces another two times before hitting the fence.
- Give yourself three points if the ball lands in and then bounces once more before hitting the fence.
- Give yourself five points if the ball lands in and then does not bounce again before hitting the lower half of the fence.
- Give yourself seven points if the ball lands in and then does not bounce again before hitting the upper half of the fence.
- Test yourself by hitting 10 balls in a row and keeping your score.
- Keep trying to break your own record. If you can score a 70, let me know when you'll be on TV.
Tips:
- Forward air speed helps the ball bounce farther too, but with a flat, hard hit, scoring a five will be very difficult; a seven impossible.
- The ideal shot for this game passes six to ten feet above the top of the net and lands very deep with a ton of topspin. This same shot will give most of your opponents a lot of trouble, too.
- As an experiment, try the more Western styles, which generally favor topspin.
