Is trajectory important?
Can you make life more difficult for your opponent by changing the trajectory of your topspin shots? If you lower the trajectory and play as low over the net as possible, then it becomes much more difficult for your opponent to counter with force, especially if you feed in rather lesser power. Faced with a lower, slower ball, he or she is obliged to initiate both speed and spin to play positively and get the ball over and down on your side of the table. There are basically four different types of topspin trajectory which can be produced by varying the angle of the racket surface, the direction of the stroke, the time of hitting the ball and the method of feeding in force to the stroke. • When the stroke movement is directed mainly upwards and slightly forwards, with the racket angle almost at right angles to the table surface, the ball will travel slowly in a high, lobbing trajectory, will bounce a little high off the table and then drop down very quickly as the topspin takes effect. T
