Service: How you deal with topspin as a small player

Good footwork, quick decisions and a good feeling for the opponent: this is how the game works against bigger topspin opponents.

Your punches are too short. You often hit the bullet too late. The pressure of the opponent shakes your own game. It’s hard for you to raise your own tennis and push your opponent away from the baseline. Instead, you’re almost invariably on the defensive. The more strokes your opponent has with his topspin in a rally, the further you get into the mill. You’re in a precarious situation, one blow at a time, and you’re all there is to react. Acting on your own gets more and more complicated for you.

Diego Sebastian Schwartzman is the prime example of a small player who knows how to handle the opponent’s usually high topspin. His fight in Australia against Rafael Nadal has proven this impressively. The biggest problem that small players have is when they hit the ball. You must always avoid the trap of hitting the ball too high. Too high in the case of the physically smaller players means to play the ball at elbow, shoulder or even head height. In these areas the ball, which is also equipped with an extraordinary rotation through the topspin of the opponent, can hardly be controlled. You have to use much more force, your swing is interrupted and the feeling for the ball on the string is hardly present.

The result is then revealed in strokes that are just barely close to the T-line and give your opponent every opportunity to dominate the game. You run the risk of running behind in the rallies, which is frustrating and deprives you of all your playful strengths.

As a smaller player, however, you have advantages that grown-up players usually don’t have – unless they are called Nick Kyrgios. Smaller players like Diego Sebastian Schwartzman have a leg work that makes them perfect for a ball. Unfortunately, many smaller players are often unable to use this strength strategically. They get jammed up in many small steps, but they are not effective. Especially against opponents, who are looking for their way to success with a lot of topspin, this leg work is the trick to solve the riddle.

Small and nimble steps and a naturally deeper body centre of gravity are advantages that small players only have to use correctly. To do this, the problem of not hitting the ball too high must be solved with just this kind of footwork. To do this, the little player must always choose one of two options for each ball. Either he wants to play the topspin ball in the ascent or in the fall. This decision is incredibly important for the smaller player, as he can use his leg work on the basis of this decision.

A good feeling for the opponent’s shot is important in order to be able to face the ball well. If the opponent’s shot is too short despite a lot of spin, the smaller player can use this and orient himself either forward to take the ball uphill or backwards. If he persists in his neutral position at the baseline, there is a risk that the ball will reach unpleasant heights due to the spin – even if the length of the stroke was not optimal.

The decision whether to play the ball aggressively or defensively should be made out of pure intuition. Without thinking too much, there is simply no time. After one’s own stroke, the second part of the leg work begins, which is at least as important as positioning to the stroke.

In order not to give the opponent a fixed target, the small player can use his or her strong leg work to move back to the middle of the court, his or her comfort zone, as quickly as possible after his or her shot. This is a small mental effect for the opponent who always sees a shadow on the other side in the corner of the eye. In this way, the smaller player even has the option of keeping the rooms small for the opponent’s next shot. Offering no fixed goal is never wrong from a strategic point of view.

Smaller players may have disadvantages when serving, but not in the exchanges. As soon as they understand that their height brings great advantages, they can sharpen this weapon. The movement towards the strokes is immensely important for the quality of the stroke. Smaller players have clear advantages here, which they can use especially in long rallies to take the opponent’s spin with them and use it for themselves.