Learn Christina Chin’s Heavy Topspin Dink
Summary
Ed Ju trains in Toronto with seven-time Canadian champion Christina Chin, whose soft game forces opponents into a black hole of paced, topspin dinks. Her goal on the right side is strategic: move people around and create pop-ups for a power partner. She topspins every dink for pace so dead floaters never let opponents rest.
The setup is the same as a speed-up: hold the paddle face dropped with the tip pointing at the floor and a loose wrist, so opponents cannot tell whether the next ball is a dink or a flick. Flat, tight dinks leave the face up and give away the shot. Chin drills this with a figure-eight pattern (one player cross, one straight) that demands soft touch and mid-kitchen landings, then swings through across the body for spin instead of chopping short on the same side. Shoulder, elbow, and a little wrist work together; advanced players add wrist only after they already have touch.
Key takeaways
- Topspin every dink for pace and less opponent time
- Drop the paddle tip toward the floor; keep the wrist loose
- Hold the face so every ball could be a speed-up
- Follow through across for spin; don’t slam the brakes
- Figure-eight drill builds soft mid-kitchen topspin
Action items
- Run figure-eight dinks and land mid-kitchen only
- Film your dink finish: tip should face the floor, not flat
- Practice the same setup for dink and speed-up so partners cannot read you