Improving timing
 

I have been playing with a guy who has good understanding about how a tennis player needs to prepare for ground strokes: both forehand and backhand. What he has identified that I have a severe timing problem preparing for a forehand ground stroke. Even he is placing balls very well I am still having issues positioning myself properly: the biggest problem is that I am not opening up in time. I am waiting too long for the ball to bounce. As a result I dont have enough time to get the racket behind me and rotate my body. To compensate for that I often use some jerky movement to get into position. One would say it is all in your head and I totally agree, the only sad thing is that I have absolutely no such problem with backhand stroke, so, there is a hope :) I am looking for some tips to improve my timing. What would experienced players recommend?

Thanks

Search the vids of Federer just warming up for a casual practice.
Notice he doesn't need to move his feet whatsover. His shoulder turn allow him to hit a clean ball early every time.
Start the shoulder turn as soon as you recognize the balls travel to forehand or backhand, and well BEFORE the ball passes the net.

Aha, you are saying turn the shoulder as soon as I see what direction the ball is going to but do not move feet just yet, correct?

I"m saying the shoulder matters, the feet only to give you a ready position in response of the next ball.
Now when you start to hit for real, correct feet becomes increasingly more important.

go to the other extreme by preparing too early on purpose, turn back as if you are gonna hit a ball in the air without bounce... that's obvious too early... then find the mid ground where feel comfortable.

Have you tried practicing?

Yes, I am practicing. But I need to find something that would help me to get into a proper preparation routine. Another question. At what point am I taking my other hand of the racket? When a ball is bouncing?

are you actually practicing where someone is feeding you forehands over and over or hitting against a wall or a ball machine?

try keeping both hand on the racket longer and keep the racket in front of you longer. this helps you track the ball better
dont take the racket back completely until around the bounce
trust me, you will have enough time.
taking the racket back too early hurts your timing and footwork a lot

Yes, he is mostly feeding forehands and backhands. I must say that practicing with a ball machine feels much better and my timing is much better. In a couple of minutes I am getting into routine and have no problem preparing for a shot. It's just when a ball is flying randomly I m not preparing myself correctly for forehands. More specifically, it would take much more time before it starts feeling that I am getting into a proper routine. While playing with the machine I feel it almost right away.

Yeah, that what is messing up my head. My hitting partner is saying that I have to be prepared by having the racket behind. But sometimes it feels when a ball is flying slower or shorter I am too early with that. Is there a good video that would show a proper preparation for a forehand?

Just focus on what is in front of you, the ball. Do not worry about what is behind you, the racquet take back. That will help your timing the best. Just focus on thinking about what you want the strings to do to the ball.

Start slow
 

I think that if you start your swing slow and then accelerate the racquet head just before you hit the ball, it will help your timing. Takes a little more core strength but by starting your swing slow, you have more time to judge the ball and your timing should improve.

Hard to see without video, but I don't agree you need the racket actually behind
early like your friend is saying. That will adversely affect your timing.
Below is vid showing where the racket with both hands is in front of the back
shoulder right prior to the ball hitting for the bounce, so that the hands can
separate, with the off hand getting full stretch across and racket FULL back
at the bounce.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...RQQ1e4Ig#t=53s

Some of the guys in the vid don't keep the off hand on the racket as long
and I realize you can't see the bounce in most, but I liked Murray's position
at 54 secs, which is just prior to the ball hitting the ground for the bounce.
This is good vid per your request.

prep early (shoulder turn) and hit a lot of balls. this is the best advice I can give although it is quite primitive:).

A former coach also did some drill where you had to count numbers loud (1 opponent contact, 2 bounce and 3 own contact). this can help to develope some rhythm and get a feel for the time dimensions but in the end you need to collect data by seeing and hitting a lot of balls, preferably close to match pace (collecting data of soft pushed balls is not going to help against hard hitting opponents in a match).

eye on the ball

are you looking at the ball the entire time until impact? this focus will help you gauge the pace of the ball and you will adjust automatically.

here you go markzolotoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M17mTLoNaE

I am reading all your comments and I am very thankful for them. I guess, my biggest problem is that while awaiting for a forehand to hit, I am basically doing nothing. Seems to me, I am worried too much about the result - hit the ball that a partner cannot respond to, and because of that I am waiting too long staring at the ball approaching me.

If you post a video of yourself hitting you'd get more targeted advice.

Ball bounce and timing
 

Let’s assume that ball travels from opponent’s racquet to your point of contact Ttr seconds and your back and forward swing takes Tsw (can be about 0.5sec). Thus you should start backward swing after Ttr-Tsw when the ball lives the opponent racket. That’s why there is practically no correlation between timing of your swing and ball’s bounce.

To illustrate this idea there is Safin difficult FH from baseline http://youtu.be/PvkLy7vZyy4. He almost finishes his forward swing before ball’s bounce. :shock: