Topspin or No Topspin Forehand In Tennis

Tennis

Outside of academics, I love playing tennis with friends or just other people who are also interested in rallying. I’m not the type of person who likes to play matches, instead I like to rally and sometimes play for points. However, one of the things that I noticed a lot of people say about my forehand is that “it’s the flattest forehand I have ever seen.” I don’t find this as rude as I want players to be honest about my playing style, however recently I’ve heard this a lot where I wanted to investigate the advantages of disadvantages of hitting topspin and without topspin.

I used to play tennis back when I was in kindergarden, however during 6th grade I stopped playing tennis to play baseball. When I stopped playing tennis, I would say that I was pretty decent or “above average” for my age. It is only when I graduated from high school after playing varsity baseball where I decided to switch back to playing tennis. Baseball is hard to play with a couple of friends and for me, it’s a sport where I could get a hurt a lot.

Coming back from playing tennis, my forehands have been really flat. I assume this is from my mechanics in baseball where we want to hit the ball as straight as possible to maximize power and also hitting angle, however this has lead my forehand to be extremely flat. One of the good side is that I hit my forehands harder than other people mainly cause of my baseball experience and because I don’t hit with topspin.

After doing some research, I noticed that the main reasons why people utilize topspin in tennis is to have more control over the ball so that they’re able to be more consistent. I find that this is true as for me if I do miss a shot its because I hit the ball outside of the court. But this lead me to wonder what if I perfected my forehand to hit balls without topspin. One of the disadvantages that many topspin players have is that adding topspin onto the ball makes there ball slower because they have to add momentum to move there wrist. In addition, adding topspin makes the ball bounce high meaning that it gives the opponent more time to run to chase the ball whereas a flat hit would just skid. Therefore, making it harder to hit the ball as they have to bend down more and run faster.

I found this professional tennis player called James Blake, who was supposedly very notable for hitting flat forehands. In this video it shows Blake hitting forehands so hard and fast that players are unable to return his hits. I also read the comments and many people mention that he has a “massive forehand” and even one comment mentioning how “if he made an effort to attack…could beat anyone on tour today.” These comments lead me to think is my no topspin forehand really that bad? If I could hit balls hard to the point where opponents are unable to recieve it, I find this more of a unique talent that I have and something that I should appreciate.

Obviously, without having topspin it makes me more prone to hitting balls out. For example, when players hit the ball really low or slow, it’s harder for me to hit the ball in. As I would be hitting upwards so that the ball would go over the net, but it would require a trajectory to the point where the ball wouldn’t go out. But other than these types of shot, I don’t see any other disadvantage of my forehand.

Despite this, one of the questions I have is why do coaches decide to teach players how to use topspin? I feel like if a player is able to perfect there craft in hitting forehands without topspin, they would be one of the best players. They would be able to hit the balls harder and faster than there opponents. Yet at the same time, I do see the argument where they would be more prone to hitting the balls out. But my rebutal to this argument is that if you want to play professionally, you have to perfect your craft in hitting a topspin forehand anyways so why not perfect your craft in a flat forehand? Anyways, tennis coaches are WAY more experienced and knowledge than me so I’m sure there point will obviously be more accurate than mine but I’m just interested to see what they would say. Even more, what would a professional tennis player like Nadal say.

I think I’ll continue to play tennis with no topspin as sometimes I like being able to hit harder. But at the same time, I do hear it’s very annoying for my opponent to hit my shots. Anyways, I do love playing tennis with anyone no matter your level so if you are reading this and want to play tennis with me at the University of Southern California or my hometown near Orange County, California let me know at my email address on the front page. I want to tryout for the competitive tennis team next year so I think I’ll post another blog after the tryouts (hopefully I get in). I would love to play with you and hear about your opinions.