Hey there, it’s your coach Jordan Briones.
Speed ups are one of those shots that feel like they should work but keep letting you down. You find a ball that looks attackable, you fire it, and either it sails out, hits the net, or comes right back at you harder than you sent it.
The fix is not hitting harder. In fact, it is almost never about power at all. Let me show you what is actually going on and how to clean it up.
How to Master Speed Ups
Figure Out Whether Your Speed Ups Are Even Going In
Before working on targets or timing, you need honest data on where your speed ups are actually landing. A lot of players think their attacks are close when really they are sailing out by more than they realize.
A simple way to test this is to have a partner feed you dead balls at a comfortable height and just put ten speed ups in a row. Count how many go in. If you are getting six or seven out of ten in a real match situation that is actually solid. But if balls keep going out or into the net, the technique needs attention before anything else.
What I often see in players who struggle with this is a swing that is too tight and too abrupt. It is quick and stiff rather than smooth and relaxed. That tension is what causes the ball to spray. The fix is to drop the paddle head early, stay loose through the swing, and use a little forearm pronation as you come through. You do not need a big violent motion. A relaxed, compact swing with the paddle head dropping below the ball before contact will get you far more consistency than anything forceful.
Focus on Placement for Your Speed Ups – Forget Power
Here is something that trips up players at every level. The word speed up makes you think the goal is pace. It is not.
At high levels, your opponent already knows a speed up might be coming. They are watching for it, they are prepping for it, and they are not going to be fooled by how fast the ball is moving. What they do not know is where it is going. That is your actual weapon.
When you shift your focus from hitting hard to hitting a specific spot, everything changes. The ball starts going in more consistently, the quality of your opponent’s counter drops, and you set yourself up for a better ball on the next exchange. A well placed speed up that crosses low over the net toward the outside of the right hip is far more effective than a hard one aimed at the chest, which is exactly where most players are comfortable defending.
Aim to make your opponent reach or stretch. Go outside their dominant hip, pull them wide, or find the non-dominant side. Low and accurate beats hard and central every single time.
Two Things Have to Be True Before You Pull the Trigger
Knowing where to aim is one part of this. Knowing when to go is the other.
There are two conditions that need to be in place before a speed up makes sense. The first is space. You need to be behind the ball with enough room to swing through it cleanly. If you are jammed up or reaching, do not go. The second is balance. If your weight is moving the wrong direction or your feet are not set, do not go. An off-balance speed up is a gift to your opponent.
When both of those conditions are met, that is your green light. When either one is missing, be patient and keep working the dink until a better ball comes.
Your momentum after the speed up matters too. You want to be moving forward and ready for the counter, not falling sideways or backward. The best initiators are already loading up for the next ball the moment the speed up leaves their paddle.
How to Create the Opportunity When the Right Ball Is Not Just Showing Up
At higher levels nobody is going to hand you a perfect ball to attack. You have to manufacture it.
The way to do that is with your topspin dinks and rolls. When you roll a ball deep and heavy to your opponent’s backhand corner, they are forced to deal with a difficult ball. Their reply often comes back as a half volley or a shorter, weaker dink. That is the ball you have been waiting for.
The moment you see them stretching or reaching on their return, start moving your feet and preparing mentally. You do not have to commit yet. But you can begin to position yourself so that if a vulnerability shows up, you are already ready to take advantage of it.
This is the mindset shift that separates reactive players from proactive ones. You are not waiting for something good to happen. You are using your shots to create the conditions that make it happen.
Final Thoughts
One of the most important things to understand about this shot is that it is rarely a winner on its own. Maybe one percent of the time you hit a clean winner. The rest of the time you are initiating a sequence and you need to be ready to continue it.
That means after your speed up, you have to get back into position and be prepared to counter whatever comes back. If your targets are good and the ball is crossing low over the net, your opponent’s counter is going to be limited. They are hitting up from a low contact point which means their reply will float a little, giving you another opportunity to attack.
But if your speed up is sitting up at their chest where they can swing freely, the counter coming back will be much harder to deal with. That is why the target is not just about winning the point on the speed up. It is about controlling what happens on the next ball too.
Relax the swing, drop the paddle head, and pick a spot before you go. Give yourself space and make sure you are balanced when you pull the trigger. And when the right ball is not there, keep rolling and grinding until you create it.
That is how speed ups start winning you points instead of costing you them.
See you on the courts,
Coach Jordan Briones
