PHOTO OF THE WEEK
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Photos of the Week
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| Kevin Au | Khoa Nguyen | Trevor Runyan |
TIP OF THE WEEK
Sidespin Loops
By Carl Danner
Here's a playful way to develop a seriously-useful skill.Start your next practice session with some easy forehand counter-looping with your partner. Gradually, swing more and more sideways to make your shots arc more and more widely. Eventually, with a little practice, the two of you should be able to hit low, flat curving loops that are almost all sidespin. Play around with this variation, going from mostly topspin to mostly sidespin and back again. Get a little touch for it.
In matches, the ability to vary loops in this way can be highly valuable. Many opponents can tune into (and return well) even a strong loop if its spin and trajectory are always the same. But few opponents can do the same against a loop whose shape keeps changing. It does take some time (and experience) to learn how to work such shots in effectively; for example, you should probably forget about this and just rip your best swing any time you get a set-up. In longer rallies, however, and against certain styles (e.g. flat blockers), varying the topspin/sidespin mix on your loops can pay big dividends.
And practicing it looks great, to boot.