One of the toughest shots for most recreational players to handle is the high-bouncing ball, especially if it has a lot of topspin on it. But there’s an easy way to improve your success rate in dealing with these pesky shots: Use a higher backswing.
Lots of players unwittingly lower their chances of returning high balls effectively by taking their racquet back the same way they do for waist-high or low-bouncing shots. By doing so they force themselves to have to swing sharply upward to meet the ball and this puts the racquet and the oncoming ball on very different paths, thus requiring nearly perfect timing to make good contact. Instead, you’d be much better off taking your racquet back higher than usual and adjusting your entire swing up. That way you’ll put your racquet more in line with the ball and improve your chances of making a solid hit.