The net is your first obstacle in tennis. You must first get the ball over the net to stay in the point. Yet many shots in tennis are dumped into the net and the point is quickly over. The reason for this is that the net is deceptively high.

By deceptively high I mean that we don't realize just how high it is. The net is 3 feet high in the self and then rises until it is another 6 inches higher at the singles or doubles side boundaries. It never looks that high or seems that much of a barrier, however, because we can see the court clearly through the holes in the net.

To see just how high the net is, try this little experiment. Stand half-way between the net and the service line and place your hand about a foot in front of your face such that the net is blocked from view. If you are of average height, you should be able to see the back portion of the opposite service box. Slowly walk backward toward the baseline, keeping your hand in front of your face, blocking out your view of the net. As you back over the service line, you will find that you can no longer see the opposite service line. Continue backing up. About half way to the baseline, you will discover that you cannot see the opposite baseline with your hand in front of your face like this. On your own baseline, you can barely see where the court intersects with the back fence. What all this means is that the net is very high. It only appears low because you can see through it.

This deception has important implications for both your groundstrokes and your serve. You should hit all your groundstrokes with some topspin in order to get the ball over the net and keep it in the court. Topspin is created by dropping your racquet below the level of the ball and then swinging in a low to high trajectory. Your racquet face should be fairly vertical at the point of contact.

Most people realize that hitting with topspin allows you to hit the ball hard and still have it stay in. But the prime consideration for hitting with topspin is that the ball rises quickly in its trajectory and makes it easier to clear the net, your initial obstacle to staying in the point. While a ball hit with backspin or slice will also rise and help you clear the net, balls hit with backspin tend to float and are likely to sail beyond the baseline. Topspin is prized because it solves two problems at once: the ball clears the net and stays in the court.

On your serve, the net is proportionately higher than it is on your groundstrokes: the area you have to hit into beyond the net is much smaller. It is essential then that you arc your serve in order for the ball to clear the net and land in the service box. The best way to achieve this is to hit your serve with some top spin. To serve with topspin, you need to toss the ball high and out in front, forcing yourself to extend upward and hit up on the ball. Because a ball hit with topspin rises and falls more dramatically than a flat ball, you will be able to strike the ball harder and still have it land in the service box. All good servers hit with some degree of topspin, even on their first serve.

The next time you are on the court, reflect for a minute or so on how high the net really is and what you need to do on your groundstrokes and serves to clear it yet still have the ball land safely.

Randy Cummings
Match Point Racquet Sports
www.racquetgear.com