Backspin: What is it and how do you generate it?

by Joost Nusselder | Updated on:  12 September 2022

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Backspin or underspin is an effect on the ball by hitting it downwards with your racket, causing the ball to spin in the opposite direction of the stroke. This results in an upward movement of the ball through the effect around the surrounding air (magnus effect).

In racket sports, backspin is one of the most important aspects of the game. By giving the ball backspin, a player can make it more difficult for his opponent to return the ball.

Backspin also helps keep the ball in play longer, which can be especially helpful when trying to exhaust an opponent.

what is back spin

There are a few different ways to get backspin on a tennis ball. One way is to use a backhand strike.

When swinging your racket back, hit the ball low on the strings and hit your wrist as you make contact. This creates more backspin than hitting the ball higher on the strings.

Another way to generate backspin is by using an underhand serve. When tossing the ball in the air, lower it slightly before hitting it with your racket. This gives the ball enough time to spin as it moves through the air.

What are the benefits of back spin?

Some reasons to use backspin

-Makes it harder to hit the ball back

-It helps to keep the ball in play longer

-It can be used to outspin an opponent

How to backspin a ball for more distance

Due to the magnus effect, the bottom of the ball has less friction than the top, which causes an upward movement in addition to a forward movement.

It is the opposite effect of topspin.

Are there any drawbacks to using backspin?

One drawback is that backspin can make it more difficult to generate power. When you hit the ball with backspin, your racket slows down more than when you hit the ball with topspin. This means you have to swing your racket faster to generate the same amount of power.

It thus slows down the game, which can be an advantage and a disadvantage.

It is also more difficult to hit the ball with backspin as you reduce the hitting area of ​​your racket or bat by holding it at an angle.

Joost Nusselder, the founder of referees.eu is a content marketer, father and loves to write about all kinds of sports, and has also played a lot of sports himself for most of his life. Now since 2016, he and his team have been creating helpful blog articles to help loyal readers with their sports activities.