How do you spell the word “control”? It’s spelled S-P-I-N.
Any time you add spin to any shot in tennis, you gain more control over the shot and increase the chances of your shot going in. Whether it’s topspin on your groundstrokes, slice or topspin on your serve, underspin on your volleys – the spin on the ball aids natural gravity in bringing the ball down into the court. Yes, a ball hit with little or no spin has the potential of traveling through the air faster (for those of you who are interested in sheer power with your shots), but the only thing that will bring your shot down is gravity. So, in order to be consistent with a “flat” shot and not make a lot of errors, you have to ease up on your shots to make sure they don’t go sailing into the next zip code.
When you put spin on the ball, the rotation of the ball makes the ball travel slightly slower through the air, but now with the added spin, you don’t have to be so careful with your shots. You can hit the ball much, much harder without fear of the ball going out. That’s why top players can hit their groundstrokes at warp speed without missing, and hit those crazy bouncing second serves without double-faulting. It’s all in having the ability in producing spin and having the belief that the spin will actually work.