Help with my overhead

[wfudeac]

I'm determined not to miss another easy overhead! Here are the things I try to remember when hitting one:

Turn sideways ASAP
Don't drag your head down, or the ball will most likely end up in the net
Hit the ball in front of you

My question is, when hitting the ball, I know it's supposed to be in front of you. What I want to know is, should the ball be directly in front of you or to the right? How far to the right should it be, before it turns into a slice overhead instead of a flat one? Should I try to get it into the 1 o'clock position, like with a serve?

Thanks!

[x Southpaw x]

Things I try to remember when hitting one:
Always follow-through
Look at ball through contact
Have confidence that I can pull it off

[zAllianceBmx]

pretending its a serve helps a lot. depending where you are on the court, mostly up by the net i suppose, just hit it like a serve going into the net if you were to be back at the baseline and you should be fine.

[AngeloDS]

Try not to hit the ball so far in front of you. It's not called a In Front Of You Smash, an Overhead Smash... Maybe it should be over your head?

For me, what really worked was taking a lot of the lobs right over my head. I feel that's where I generate enough power, with enough control.

If I missed, the ball would probably hit the top of my head or right the side of my head.

So I have to split step, watch the ball and be side stepping back or forward and then bam hit the ball. My body is rotated and it's effective.

When you overhead your body should be rotating, it shouldn't in the same position when you finish your overhead.

[golden chicken]

for me, i have to consciously think about tilting my shoulders back (left shoulder higher than my right) even though i do it naturally on my serve. i also cheat a little in that i put my racket back to "backscratch" instead of "trophy" because i was catching my overheads late

[steve s]

Do not let the ball get to the right on you. Try to reach up and hit it as high above you as you can. Relax the arm and and hit up and thru the ball. Keep head up until the stroke has hit the ball.

[Rickson]

And here's the most important tip of all, if the ball is high, let it bounce. Too many young players try to emulate the pros and take extremely high lobs out of the air, but that's just stupid and the truth is, the pros don't take the extremely high ones out of the air except for Federer and I don't condone that. If the ball is way up there, let it bounce.