Struggling With Tennis Topspin Shots? 7 Mental Blocks That Hold You Back

If you’re struggling to hit more effective tennis topspin forehands and backhands then the cause may not be a poor topspin technique but rather mental blocks.

Tennis coaches and players tend to correct topspin problems in tennis mechanically by changing the technique but most of the times the problem originates in the mind.

Of the following seven reasons why you may be struggling to hit more topspin with your tennis strokes, only the last one is technical.

#1 - It’s Easier To Hit Sweet Spot With A Horizontal Swing Path

Many tennis players naturally swing their racquet horizontally when they hit the ball. This is because it's easier for your brain to calculate the ball's meeting point with the racket’s sweet spot.

This, however, produces a flat shot that makes the ball fly straight, with little to no topspin.

You need to adjust your swing path to a low to high motion to generate topspin, especially heavy topspin. Focus on a continuous fluid motion as you swing under the ball first and then up on the ball.

#2 - You Want To Hit A Low Ball Over The Net

Many beginner and intermediate tennis players (incorrectly) believe that hitting low and fast over the net is the way to play good tennis and therefore they visualise such shots.

When you imagine hitting a low ball over the net then your mind and body will automatically adjust your movements to accomplish that task - which means you will not really drop your racket under the ball and apply topspin to it.

So your first step in correcting this issue is to become aware that you want to play too low above the net (it’s too risky long term!) and visualise a higher trajectory over the net.

Hitting a better tennis topspin groundstroke will happen much more likely and naturally. Of course make sure to address all other issues explained in this article to finally get more consistent topspin on your groundstrokes.

#3 - You Don’t Imagine Topspin

Swinging from below the ball up on it does not guarantee topspin, you actually have to imagine it.

If you’re racket face is a little bit too open then you won’t really impart topspin, you will just lift the ball higher over the net.

So in order to actually put some topspin on the ball you have to imagine with strings do to the ball, namely create friction and spin the ball.

#4 - You Want Too Much Control Or Power (Tight Wrist)

Another reason why the racket doesn’t drop below the ball and you can’t impart more spin is because your wrist is too tight and it simply prevents the racket from dropping.

This happens in two situations:

• You want too much control which results in you gripping the racket very tight which also prevents it from dropping under the ball.
• You want too much power which results in creating tension not just in your wrist but also in your arm and that again prevents the swing under the ball which is necessary to impart topspin.

The solution to excessive control is to accept mistakes as a normal part of tennis and to spend more time in free hitting sessions where you will not be under pressure and you will then naturally relax more and therefore swinging under the ball and the resulting topspin will happen more naturally.

And when it comes to hitting with power and yet staying relaxed enough for the racket to drop under the ball and apply more topspin, you need to accelerate gradually and not in a quick jerky manner.

#5 - You Are Hitting The Ball Too Late

When you hit the ball late, your racquet is typically further back and closer to your body. This position restricts the low-to-high swing path essential for creating topspin.

Instead of being able to brush up the back of the ball effectively, the racquet faces more horizontally, leading to a flatter shot. 

Without the upward swing motion, the racquet head speed is not optimized for imparting the heavy topspin desired in advanced tennis.

This results in less topspin and reduced net clearance, making the shots less effective in competitive play. 

Hitting the ball earlier, in front of your body, helps achieve the low-to-high motion that is essential for topspin.

#6 - Hitting Too Many Balls At High Contact Points

When you hit the ball at shoulder height or above, the natural swing path tends to be more horizontal or even slightly downward.

Therefore the racket will not impart topspin on the ball and if you hit a lot of balls at high contact points you start to ingrain such movements and find it more and more difficult to change them into a topspin shot.

If you’re struggling with topspin then it’s better to first develop it at lower contact point as it happens much more naturally.

So stand further behind the baseline and let the ball come to a lower contact point from where it will be much easier to hit a tennis topspin shot.

#7 - Technical Flaws In Stroke Mechanics

As you can see now, technical flaws in stroke mechanics develop over time mostly because of mental blocks that players have or simply because they play in situations where developing topspin is not easy.

So only when we address the mental blocks described above and when the player is playing in “topspin favourable” conditions such as a slower and lower ball, can we start to work on topspin with technical corrections.

The easiest conditions to work on topspin are actually slow slice incoming balls since they “sit up” as they bounce and it’s quite easy to hit them with topspin.

If your coach or partner can hit such controlled balls to you then spend a few minutes every practice session and keep hitting them with topspin as they keep hitting them back with a slow slice.

When you can consistently hit good tennis forehands and backhands with topspin off such slow slice balls, then progress to slow flat incoming balls and eventually to slow topspin incoming balls.

And only when you are quite consistent hitting topspin off such slower incoming balls, start working on hitting tennis topspin shots off faster incoming balls so that it becomes a second nature.