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The ball is on you against the glass and you cannot turn. What do you play?
Pinned against the glass with no time: contra-pared. Hit up and hard into your own wall and let it carry over.
A fast ball has got past you and you are right against the back glass, facing it, with no time to turn round. What is the shot?
Pinned against the glass with no time: contra-pared. Hit up and hard into your own wall and let it carry over.
Why
The contra-pared is the emergency shot for a ball that has beaten you to the back glass: instead of turning to face the net, you hit the ball firmly into your own wall so that it rebounds up and over the net. It is legal off your own glass (not the mesh) as long as it then crosses the net and lands in the opponents' court without bouncing on your side again. It needs to be hit upward and hard: a soft contra-pared does not reach the net. It is not a shot to plan around, but it wins points that were lost, and at the top level it is also used deliberately to produce an awkward floating ball.
What this means at your level
Beginner
You will not need this for a while. Just know that hitting the ball into your own back wall is allowed, and sometimes it is the only shot.
Intermediate
Hit it upward, with the racket face open, firmly. Think of throwing the ball up the wall rather than into it.
Advanced
The contra-pared from the side glass can be angled, which makes it a genuine attacking option against a pair that crowds the net. Practise both; use the side one sparingly.
Common questions
A fast ball has got past you and you are right against the back glass, facing it, with no time to turn round. What is the shot?
The contra-pared, into your own glass. Pinned against the glass with no time: contra-pared. Hit up and hard into your own wall and let it carry over. The contra-pared is the emergency shot for a ball that has beaten you to the back glass: instead of turning to face the net, you hit the ball firmly into your own wall so that it rebounds up and over the net. It is legal off your own glass (not the mesh) as long as it then crosses the net and lands in the opponents' court without bouncing on your side again. It needs to be hit upward and hard: a soft contra-pared does not reach the net. It is not a shot to plan around, but it wins points that were lost, and at the top level it is also used deliberately to produce an awkward floating ball.
Why not turn round and lob it high?
You said there is no time to turn. The contra-pared exists for exactly this moment.
What should a beginner do here?
You will not need this for a while. Just know that hitting the ball into your own back wall is allowed, and sometimes it is the only shot.
How does this change for an advanced player?
The contra-pared from the side glass can be angled, which makes it a genuine attacking option against a pair that crowds the net. Practise both; use the side one sparingly.
Puzzles like this one
The ball is at your feet at the net. What now?
A ball below the net cannot be attacked. Block it deep and wait for one above the tape.
beginnerThe ball is coming off the back glass. When do you hit it?
Move back with the ball, let it pass you, hit it in front of your body.
beginnerThe ball bounced then hit your own back glass. Still in play?
One bounce on the floor, then any number of walls. Only a second floor bounce ends the point.