[Q] what is the heavy ball? How to hit the heavy ball? Who can hit the heavy ball in ATP tour?
Maitree Runglerdkriangkrai
[A] Maitree,
We define the heavy ball as a ball that has a very high spin/velocity ratio. When this type of ball bounces it actually increases speed after it lands jumping off the tennis court at the opponent. To learn how to hit this shot please view our tennis videos on this topic of which describes how to execute this tennis technique with step by step detail. The best two examples of ATP tennis players who hit this type of ball are the no.1 and no.2 ranked players in the world, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. They use massive amounts of topspin on their balls (especially the forehand), and their heavy balls are some of the fastest struck balls on tour as well.
This combination gives the advantage of greater margin of error (height over the net primarily), the ability to hit more angles due the excessive amount of topspin, causes one's opponent to have to work harder with their feet (ball bounces out of opponents hitting zone frequently, allows one to swing faster when nervous (this is the greatest benefit for learning at a young age) and the ball will still go in and so on. It's not the tennis game of the future it is the tennis game of the "NOW". The advantages are so vast that most all of the ATP are using some form of the heavy ball. For amateurs it is even more of a killer weapon due that novice players are not as skilled, therefore this shot is even more effective if used against them.
Heath Waters