A tricky execution but a beauty to behold and play. That’s probably a fitting tribute to the spin. Love it or loathe it, there’s no escaping it. You can be compelled to play spin if your opponent desires it. Remember facing a good spin player can be a nightmare if you don’t know how to deal with him. So learn how to spin and how to deal with spin. Learning how to spin first would be good move because it’ll enable you to understand it better and equip you with the knowledge of tackling spin shots. A good spin is the mark of a seasoned tennis player.

How to Spin

To impart spin to a ball on the groundstrokes you need to change the path of the racquet swing from your normal flat hit. For top spin, the racquet head needs to start below the height of the ball. The strings are brushed quickly up and over the ball, closing the racket face on the way. This results in the racquet finishing higher than before. This means that the ball will leave your racquet, spinning forwards as it moves and travelling higher over the net than it would have with your basic drive.

The opposite applies for back spin. The racquet head will start above the ball, finishing lower than before, and the racquet face will be open as it strokes the back slightly underneath the ball. This ensures that the ball spins backwards as it leaves the racquet and travels low over the net.

For side spin, bring the racquet face across the ball by holding the racquet away from the body and swinging it in towards the body. The strings will therefore brush across the ball, giving it side spin as it travels forwards.

How to Deal With Spin

Now that you know how you ought to play spin, it’s time you learnt about being at the receiving end, literally. What do you do when your opponent is playing spin?

A ball with a lot of topspin has an arcing forward rotation when it’s coming towards you, which means the ball will kick up once it bounces. The higher the arc and faster the rotation of the ball, the higher the kick. This can have two detrimental effects on your stroke: one, the sharp kicking action can crowd or jam your stroking motion if you have not moved back to adjust to the high bounce. And two, the high bounce forces you to make contact with the ball at a higher level than what you might have liked. The solution may be as simple as playing a few steps back behind the baseline against a top spinner. By doing so you will have more reaction and set up time, as well as be able to hit the ball at a more comfortable height.

You must also learn to read the arc of the ball and see the ball while it’s still on your opponent’s side of the court. A top spinner can hit a high arcing ball (moon ball) or a medium to low arcing ball. The sooner you get a clear focus and recognize the type of arc on the ball, the quicker you can react by moving and setting up for your response. Remember, once you understand a few more things about spinners you can make it more difficult for your top spinning opponent to stay in his comfort zone and confound him.

Spin is one of the most fascinating aspects of tennis stroke production. Use it to add thrill and competition to your game.