As is often the case, the real reason many players have trouble looping against a heavy backspin is they simply aren’t used to doing so. They are used to less backspin, and so the stroke and racket angle used for that is ingrained into them. When facing heavy backspin, it’s a strain trying to get it over the net. But there shouldn’t be any real strain. It’s usually one of two things – racket and stroke angle, or power.

The easiest way to loop a heavy backspin is simply to lower the racket a lot, tip down, with an open angle, and really stroke up. This means bending your knees (especially back leg), dropping your playing shoulder, and driving both upwards and forward, but with the emphasis on up. Once you get used to it, it’s rather easy to loop either against heavy backspin with slow or medium speed, but with lots of spin, since you’ll be converting the incoming backspin into topspin. If you try this and still go into the net, just lift the ball up even more, even aim to arc the ball well off the end. Once you get the knack of it, it’s easy. (If you have knee problems and can’t bend the back knee much, no problem; just drop your shoulder and spin up, driving your shoulders up and around, producing a slow, spinny loop.)

The other way, often called Chinese style, is to simply overpower the backspin. This means looping with a lot of power, sinking the ball into the sponge, and driving it both forward and up. (It’s easier with a harder sponge.) But because you use a lot of power here, you don’t have to lift as much as you’d think. This method takes athleticism – but at 64 and not really in training, I can still do it (unless I’m tired), though not as well as I used to.

If you aren’t training regularly, are elderly, or aren’t in good physical shape, the latter method likely won’t work very well. But anyone can loop against a heavy backspin by using the first method – just arc that ball up over the net with lots of topspin – and now your opponent has to face his own heavy backspin coming back as topspin!

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