Breakdown of Вопреки ожиданиям, он смог ударить так, что шар быстро отскочил.
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
быстро
fast, quickly
что
that (conjunction)
так
so, like this
смочь
to manage to, to be able to (perfective)
ожидание
wait
вопреки
contrary to
ударить
to strike (physically)
шар
ball (solid, sphere)
отскочить
to bounce off (perfective)
Questions & Answers about Вопреки ожиданиям, он смог ударить так, что шар быстро отскочил.
Why is ожиданиям in the dative case here?
It is required by the preposition вопреки (contrary to, against). This preposition always takes the dative case, just like the prepositions благодаря (thanks to) and навстречу (towards).
Why is there a comma between так and что, rather than putting it before так что?
The comma placement changes the meaning. Here, так, что means 'in such a way that' or 'so [hard/well] that'. If it were written as a single conjunction with the comma before it (..., так что шар быстро отскочил), it would simply mean 'so' or 'therefore' as a result (e.g., 'He hit it, so the ball bounced').
Why use the perfective смог instead of the imperfective мог?
In Russian, the perfective смог shows that he didn't just have the general ability to hit the ball, but that he actually managed or succeeded in making this specific tricky hit on a single occasion.
What does the prefix от- add to the verb отскочил?
The base verb relates to jumping (скакать / скочить). The prefix от- signifies movement away from a surface, which perfectly describes a ball bouncing off a cushion or another object.
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