hey guys in today's video i'm going to present the biggest forehand topspin myths and let's start off
with the idea that the racket face being closed at the moment of contact creates top spin and this is
one of the myths that's half true so if you indeed would make contact with the closed racket face
naturally you will get more top spin on the ball and this has to do with the angle we're impacting
the ball with so most likely if we impact the ball with a closed racket face a little bit
higher on the ball naturally this will make the ball spin more this is absolutely true and it's
evident when players for example with the eastern forehand grip switch to a let's say western grip
now they have muscle memory for the eastern forehand grip at the moment of contact so the
wrist is going to be in a certain position at the moment of contact if players have been using the
eastern grip for a long time and now what happens when they switch to let's say a western grip
that same angle of the wrist will make the racket face too closed and they end up with too much spin
unable to get the ball over the net and since i play with a semi-western grip the only way for me
to demonstrate this phenomenon would be to go to a hawaiian grip so i'm going to go in a hawaiian
grip and you're going to see that i'm going to have a very difficult time getting the ball
over the net or at least i got this one over but it had a very low bounce on the other side that's
more like it you see the ball does have spin if you take a look at the rotations of the ball
it is spinning but because the angle of the racquet face at contact is too severely closed
i'm not able to get the ball over the net and this is why i'm calling this a myth there are times
when the racket face can be a little bit closed but there are often times where it can't it has
to be more neutral and this depends on the height of the contact so if we make contact higher yes we
can have the racket face a little bit more closed however if we make contact lower the racket face
cannot be closed it's going to be very difficult to lift a ball over the net with a closed racket
face at a lower contact point also you can absolutely create topspin with a completely
neutral racket face at contact remember that top spin is created when we strike the ball more
vertically after the contact so if we're going this way even with a neutral racket face you can
see that the ball is spinning so what should you do you shouldn't worry about this at all naturally
the angle of the racket face will adjust with time this is not something that you have to
tinker with remember the contact is going to occur in milliseconds by you trying to maneuver
the angle of the racket face this is going to create some severe problems under no circumstance try to force
the closing of the racket face to create top spin you will have a very difficult time getting
depth on the ball and it will result in a lot of net errors the next forehand topspin myth
is related to the previous one and it is the idea that if we have a more western grip that
we therefore automatically get topspin this is not true so i have a fairly flat forehand now
mind you there are no completely flat forehands around anymore every modern forehand has topspin
if you want to know in detail why this is the case check out my flat versus spin video so having said
that it is possible to do a more flat topspin type of forehand with a more western grip i for
example use a semi-western grip however i have a flat topspin forehand delivery and take a look
so it is absolutely true that when we go over to the western side on the grip it is a lot
easier to make topspin but it is by no means a guarantee that we're going to
have a more vertical delivery after contact is not a guarantee so it's still possible
to have more of a flat top spin delivery where the tip of the racket comes through
shortly after contact even with a more western grip and this is easy to see on the wta tour where
most of the players use a semi-western grip or a western grip there are very few females that use
an eastern grip and you can also see that the vast majority of the female professional players
have more of a flat topspin delivery therefore western grips do not guarantee topspin yes they
absolutely make topspin easier but the only thing that guarantees the type of heavy topspin that you
see on the atp tour is the vertical movement of the tip of the racket shortly after contact
the next forehand topspin myth is the idea that we have to come underneath the level of the ball in
order to generate top spin this is absolutely not true you can come at the ball straight and still
go vertically across it
it is absolutely true however that coming underneath the ball will
help with top spin because if we come underneath the ball and now we're traveling upwards towards
the contact we are more likely going to continue to go up and therefore this is going to make top
spin easier however this works really well on low balls that are waist height and below so naturally
when balls are lower we have no problem getting the racket underneath the ball on the other hand
when the ball gets a little bit higher this is where it gets tricky so when the ball gets above
the waist some players are very uncomfortable coming beneath the ball now generally on the
atp tour the contact is higher because there's a lot of topspin being produced and players like
nadal and the players that have a lot of spin on their forehands will come underneath the ball
even on higher balls so if you watch nadal even though the ball is higher he will still come
from underneath and then do his around the head buggy whip forehand however at the recreational
level my experience has been that a lot of players struggle coming underneath the ball on a higher
ball so what you should do instead what makes a lot more sense is to adjust the level of the
racket head according to the incoming ball so if you get a lower ball let's say below your
waist you can naturally drop the racquet down prior to contact which will help with top spin
if the ball is at the waist you can raise the racket a little bit towards your waist and then
if the ball is a little bit higher you raise your racket higher in the preparation stage prior to
the contact this will make the forehand swing a lot more comfortable so is topspin possible when
we make these adjustments according to the height of the incoming ball absolutely yes so even if i
take my racket higher on the forward approach i can still go vertically across it and generate
a lot of topspin you can see here i'm making a lot of spin and i'm not dropping the racket below
the level of the ball i'm coming straight at it and still generating plenty of topspin so while
it is generally a good idea to come underneath the ball do not force it if it feels uncomfortable
high level players will be able to do this on any height but at the recreational level you
must adjust your preparation stage of the forehand according to your comfort level now i have some
higher level recreational players 5.0 and also teach some juniors that are very comfortable at
doing this downward approach even on higher balls so they will come from a lower place and then whip
a high ball in that way so if you are comfortable doing that by all means continue doing so and
finally and most importantly the next forehand topspin myth is the idea that we have a completely
vertical swing path at the moment of contact so in other words that the racket is going completely
vertical this way before coming across now if you have this type of swing path you will absolutely
get topspin however you will hit the ball very thin so this is something that's suitable
let's say for example if you're lifting up a very low ball you can be very vertical in the delivery
also if you're doing a top spin lob for example you can go very vertical and then
send the ball upwards the problem with this type of swing path is because it's not going
around the body in a more diagonal way you are more likely to use the weaker parts of your body
which is going to be your wrist and your forearm to send the racquet vertically upwards this is
perfectly fine on a low ball or on a topspin lob however if you want to hit the forehand with power
you have to do what all high level top spin forehands do and that is more of a diagonal swing
path so it is vertical but it's not going here it's going more around this way if you take a look at
any topspin forehand you can see that the racket is not completely vertical is going diagonally
across the body and what this does it imparts a more fuller contact it puts more pace on the ball
players indeed did a complete windshield wiper like this where the racket is vertical the
contact would be too thin and they wouldn't be able to get enough power on their forehands so guys
stay away from these forehand myths if you want to develop a good topspin forehand and follow the
oldest tip in the book which is going low to high this is what's going to generate top spin it's
super simple and you've heard it a million times but you got to remind yourself to do it after you
make contact have the racket go up what i like is going across the shoulder this is not absolutely
necessary the racquet can easily go up and then down around the waist but just visualize this
upward swing path this is going to be your best chance to achieve more forehand topspin and also
it's absolutely true that a more western grip will put the hand underneath the racket and it will
help with exactly what i'm talking about which is sending the racket upwards shortly after contact