The Importance Of Topspin: A Player’s Perspective

Unleash the topspin on your pickleball opponents!

Having the ability to generate topspin has been an absolute game changer in my competitive and social pickleball matches. Topspin helps me to get my pickleballs to dip into the court while swinging with speed; topspin helps me control my shots and makes it more difficult for my opponents to return the ball. I use topspin on my serve, groundstrokes and even my volleys.

The Grip

When I first started playing pickleball, I had to experiment with a few different grips to find out what worked best for me. I find using an eastern grip is the most versatile when executing topspin and flat drives on the forehand side. The continental grip can work well when retrieving low balls; however, when trying to generate a good amount of topspin, I found that the wrist motion involved felt less natural than hitting topspin with an eastern grip.

The Swing Path

When executing my topspin shots, I am sure to perform a low to high swing path. Being a tennis player with over a decade of experience, the concept of a low to high swing path in order to generate topspin was very familiar to me. The low to high swing path allows us to brush up the back of the ball to get it spinning forward.

Practice Drills

My favourite practice drill for enhancing my topspin pickleball shots is the 100 percent swing drill. This involves swinging the paddle as fast as you can while trying to keep the ball in. You can do this drill by yourself by practicing serves. The goal is to achieve maximum paddle speed and brush the ball effectively. If done correctly, you will be hitting with optimal amounts of topspin. High paddle speed often translates to higher amounts of topspin. If you find that your shots are flying out too often, you can try closing the angle of your paddle a bit more.