We now discuss the method of generating shear between the ball and racquet that we call the bevel method. In this method, the racquet face is opened and the racquet is moved upward relative to the ball path as indicated by the red arrow in the figure below. The spin is generated by the ball sliding along the racquet face. The faster this upward acceleration, the greater the spin. The combination of spin, vertical lift, and horizontal distance delivered to the ball are determined by degree of bevel in the racquet face. In the illustration, the racquet is beveled about 45 degrees relative to the court. At the 45-degree mark, the horizontal distance is nearly a maximum. Greater beveling increases the height and reduces horizontal distance. The steeper the angle, the greater the "slide" and thus the greater the spin. This is a good thing to experiment with.

Although the illustration shows the continental grip, a little experimentation will show you that the method works for any grip. There are at least two ways to "lift" the racquet. Here we show the method that primarily utilizes a contraction at the elbow to produce the lift, although there is some shoulder involvement. In a later lesson, we plan to illustrate the shoulder lift method.

The bevel topspin method is tailor-made for the continental grip and for a tall senior player.

The figure below left shows the rotated position, and the figure below right shows an animation of the acceleration and strike components.

Below left is the acceleration stage produced by the elbow contraction. On the right is a rollover image illustrating this transition.

The illustration below shows the strike position along with a rollover from acceleration to strike.