Question: When should I use topspin on my backhand?
Answer: Topspin makes the ball drop faster as it flies and decelerate less and kick higher when it bounces, creating many tactical advantages, such as allowing you to hit harder and higher over the net or to make the ball dip at an oncoming net-rusher's feet.
On the one-handed backhand, the comfortable range of points of contact for hitting topspin is roughly between the knees and the top of the belly. Outside that range, slice is easier.
The comfortable range for topspin with a two-handed backhand shifts roughly a foot higher, from mid-thigh to the shoulders, but some players can get down well enough to hit good topspin on balls as low as their knees. Most well-trained two-handers can hit the one-handed slice on the balls below this range and a flatter two-hander or a one-handed slice on the ones above it.
