I've mentioned in a past post that the position of the paddle relative to the forearm is an angle. The angle is ranges from about 90 degrees to maybe 20 or so. There wasn't a good explanation for why this was recommended. I modified that post to put in something about less wrist strain, but upon reflection, there are more basic reasons for that kind of a grip... Let's explore.
I see a lot of folks who are holding the paddle where the paddle wrist angle is close to zero degrees, in other words, it's inline with forearm.
With no angle you can more easily hit a top spin shot and some dink shots are easier. But you are giving up a lot when using this paddle attitude.
If we have an angle closer to 90 degrees we get a number of benefits. The force of the paddle comes from the arm swing and the attitude or trajectory of the ball is controlled by the wrist rotation/position. Think of the paddle as a golf club and the loft of the paddle is the club face. This is an important function and it's quite valuable to have it separate from the mechanism that creates the paddle speed. Direction is another part of this and there are a couple of cases.
If you push the shot, then the paddle is always moving in the direction the shot will go as long as the paddle face is pointing along the push direction. If you swing at it, then at the moment of impact the direction of the paddle face may or may not be facing where you want the ball to go. A personal issue is that I tend to swing too early and I'll pull a forehand shot (it will go to my left) and if it's on the backhand side, it goes right. I have a theory that I'm swinging and not pushing as a swing will allow for a bit more reach. Moving my feet might be one solution, but then there is the kitchen line as a hard boundary... In summary, with a swing, there is a timing issue that is important.
Next we have to talk about spin. There are top, side, and back spins available. This is a function of the paddle swing and the paddle face angle. When they don't match a slippage is created and that creates the spin. So, swing up on the ball and you get a top spin. Go a bit sideways and you get side spin and move downwards with the stroke and you get a back spin.
If you have that 90 degree angle it is easy to create any spin you want. But if the paddle is closer to the zero angle, you get tons of back spin, some side spin is available, and you will not be able to create any back spin. Think of a serve, the paddle is supposed to be moving up and it's considered impossible to create a backspin serve. A note to you backhand servers, if you are getting backspin you might take a critical look at the paddle path at impact. I suspect a lot of them are moving down and are illegal!
Spin, what is it good for? Absolutely everything!
Everything is an exaggeration, but I'll share my view of what the spins are good for.
Top spin is an easy one, helps keep the ball inside the baseline and when used in third shot drive/drop scenario allows the ball to be below the net when the opponents try to return it. Probably the most useful spin to get good at. There are also folks who like it for dinks. I've not found it very valuable for that and I mention it only for completeness.
Side spin... Not used much, but I have some from tennis and I can hit it with enough of this spin to jump out of a player's reach. What is more useful is a combination of side and top spin. Think of a spin that is about 45 degree to vertical, it will slide right and also sink pretty well. It tends to kick right when it bounces.
Back spin. This is most useful when returning serves. This idea is to return the ball fairly low and with the back spin, it won't bounce very high.
You need to add more lift if you are returning a ball with back spin on it. Frequently less experienced players will dump these shots into the net. A low spinny shot, even if it's short, can't be easily be attacked, adding to its usefulness. Watch a pro match and see how often the return of service is a cut stroke.
Case History...
I played the other day with a player who said she was a beginner. She played pretty well and had some good strokes, moved well, got to the kitchen line; all the elements you want from a partner. But she had one glaring problem. Every shot she hit was flat. None had any spin. So if she was at the net, the ball was coming up. All ground strokes were low to the net and that reduced her ability to safely play over the net without worry of being long. Service returns were a problem since she could not cut them back. She needed the top and cut spin shots and it would make a large difference in her ability.
To sum it up, there are a lot of reasons to make sure you're holding the paddle more like a beer mug than a screwdriver. Spin is king and the more control and separation of speed and spin, the better it is.
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