Help me fully turn my body in every shot
 

I'm using a neutral stance and sometimes my forehand sucks so badly. When i find my rythym, i realize that whenever i don't play well, i'm not turning my shoulders enough when taking the swing and just arming the ball. I even can feel that with the momentum of the swing. When i do a complete turn, i feel like the racquet comes by itself, when i do not, it just doesn't feel like a neutral move.

Anyways, need your serious suggestions for me to do the full unit turn in every possible shot. Really need it now.

I usually suggest thinking about clearing the front side of the body to initiate the swing (left side for right-handed players). As you move into the shot, rotate the left arm/shoulder out of the way: this will pull the right shoulder/arm forward without having to muscle the ball.

The critical element is making sure to time this action correctly.

Turret turn is the first and most important move to the ball, right after your feet get you there. Hold the racket with both hands until your shoulder's are aligned to the incoming ball.

hold the racquet in both hands longer during the takeback.

Even better is to start your warm-ups with your left hand above your right (two handed forehand) if you are a right hander. It will emphasize your shoulder turn more on your forehand. You will then feel how your shoulders should be turning. Then switch back to one 1hfh... or not and stay with 2hfhl like I did.

I vote for this. Mardy Fish does this really really well.

This is a "must" for me.

when the neck muscles that turn the head to the side is weak, turning body while watching the ball can become lazy. look for some exercises that strengthen and stretch your neck muscles esp turning.

I think i do that but still not sure if i'm fully turning my body. I feel like my body rotates 60 degrees to the normal position, not 90 degrees but i don't know how it affects my game. Maybe a better idea to take a video of myself and put it here.

Interesting. I totally feel what you are describing. I want to watch the ball everytime but watching the ball and turning the body at the same time feels weird sometimes. Also have some stamina problems with my legs, think i need a proper workout routine to get better.

Go to this site http://lockandrolltennis.com/ and watch the videos on the FH. He talks about originating the foreward swing from the leps/hips. You prep and then start forward by lifting with the R leg and rotating the R hip forward. The racket arm and racket head lay back and bit and then come forward into contact.

30 years ago Vic Braden taught sit and lift. Basically, get low and lift into the shot with the thighs pushing up. James Blake's dad taught James this method.

I sometime think let my R Thigh/Hip area start the forward swing. Make your pivot/prep motion very eary - before the ball crosses the net. Then move to contact area. Get a little knee bend and load the R leg with your weight. Then think lift and rotate with the R thigh/hip. This lift/rotate will pull the arm into the swing. You can do this with an open, semi-open, or neutral stance. Best to try it on a few medium paced rally balls to get the feel.

It is also far easier to time the ball using big muscle groups like thighs and core rotation rather than arm, forearm and hand.

I love lock and roll videos. The hip rotation is done after you fully complete your unit turn and drop your racquet. My problem is sometimes i can't be sure if i'm doing that or not. As long as you are not completing the unit turn, you are just arming the ball and it really frustrates me.

Also about lock and roll, when i do the unit turn, drop the racquet and turn my hip, my arm goes totally straight and the racquet comes from behind and crash the ball. But it creates a lot of stress on my elbow when i turn my hip so quickly and my elbow goes straight rapidly. Think i need to turn back to a double bend forehand, don't know how.

Thread on forehand body turn.
 

This recent thread had a lot of information/links for body turn on the forehand.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showt...d+video&page=2

Tennis Oxygen Youtube series.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFEo0RbKaHY
http://www.youtube.com/user/xstf/videos?view=0

Macci video on the forehand with body turn pointers-
http://www.tennisresources.com/index...100&vidid=3549

An excellent book spelling out the biomechanical principles for the body turn is -
Technique Development in Tennis Stroke Development, B. Elliott, M. Reid, M, Crespo. Available from the ITF for about $25.

I have recently been putting more body turn into a few returns and it works right away for more pace. As of now, its difficult for me to time under pressure in doubles - but I'm a believer.

Thank you for valuable information, appreciate.

Just to inform, today i have found my perfect forehand.

My problem was not the unit turn, i was doing that okay but after i take my swing, i was not completing the hip and torso rotation and mostly arming the ball. Today i did everything right. Pivoting, unit turn, hip rotation, and as a result of that, i could feel the laggy movement of the arm and racquet due to the momentum of body turn. Whenever i had a complete body rotation, the racquet came behind and smashed the ball, totally effortless power. Also i should say that i had turned to a double bend arm forehand instead of straight arm and realized the straight arm was just not for me. It was one of the factors that destroys my rythym.

Want to say thank you guys, appreciate your helps.

Video
 

Sounds as if you have found something!

The only way that you can see everything that you are doing is to take video of your strokes.

Some of the recent DSLR cameras have 60p fps and can set shutter speed manually. For the forehand stoke always video in direct sunlight and use the highest ISO and fastest shutter speed available to minimize motion blur. 60fps is very useful for ground strokes but high speed video (240 fps) is much better.

Some of the Smartphone cameras might also do 60fps and have fast shutter speeds in bright sunlight.

My friend has one of these and i think i can handle this, thanks. To talk about the stroke, for sure i have a lot to improve especially my footwork but it will be way easier for me until now because i can feel i'm on the right way. All this time i always felt i was doing something wrong and i was right, now time to improve my game.

I will put the video as soon as i record my strokes.