What is wrong with this picture

[gindyo]

It was beautiful out today(50F and and just a bit of wind) so I decided to to take my ball machine for a spin and took some video.
I felt really off with my timing and as though as I was wrestling the ball. I wanted to blame it on the dead balls but after I watched the video I think I know what was wrong. Anyhow I would like to get some different prospective and would love to hear from guys like tennis_balla, ash_smith and 5263
here is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooQcrd24c
thanks

[LeeD]

I can't tell what's wrong, but I commend you for hitting every modern forehand with a closed stance.

[Cheetah]

my input:
.not consistent. some shots you hit on back foot. some you hit on front foot.

.not enough leverage. i think you need to lay the racquet back a little more.

.you're not using your legs. you are rotating but not using legs at all. like almost zero. use legs and lay your racquet back a little more for more leverage.

.you're not using your left arm. you're doing 'something' with it but you are definitely not 'using' it.

Stick your left arm out parallel to the baseline and to start the swing by pulling that arm in. don't just let it dangle there doing nothing like you are doing now. pull it in. dont YANK it. this will do several things. it's good for balance. it helps you open up and swing w/ body more. it also helps increase racquet speed (if done correctly) by using the law of conservation of momentum. like a figure skater pulls her arms in to increase rotational speed.

also when you pull your arm in it's good if you can feel your pectoral muscles stretch. stretched muscles contain energy. pull your arm over and if you are loose you will feel tension in your chest. this will whip the racquet around faster and help you not to arm the shot.

. i think, but not 100% sure, maybe one of the experts can chime in here, but your contact point is a touch too far in front of you.

[gindyo]

Good points, especially the "left arm" one. I had the same feeling when I watched it.

[gregor.b]

Lazy left arm. It's causing your shoulders to open a little too early.

[atac]

Form looks good to me, but it'd be better if we could see where the ball is landing.

[dr325i]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

my input:
.not consistent. some shots you hit on back foot. some you hit on front foot.

.not enough leverage. i think you need to lay the racquet back a little more.

.you're not using your legs. you are rotating but not using legs at all. like almost zero. use legs and lay your racquet back a little more for more leverage.

.you're not using your left arm. you're doing 'something' with it but you are definitely not 'using' it.

Stick your left arm out parallel to the baseline and to start the swing by pulling that arm in. don't just let it dangle there doing nothing like you are doing now. pull it in. dont YANK it. this will do several things. it's good for balance. it helps you open up and swing w/ body more. it also helps increase racquet speed (if done correctly) by using the law of conservation of momentum. like a figure skater pulls her arms in to increase rotational speed.

also when you pull your arm in it's good if you can feel your pectoral muscles stretch. stretched muscles contain energy. pull your arm over and if you are loose you will feel tension in your chest. this will whip the racquet around faster and help you not to arm the shot.

. i think, but not 100% sure, maybe one of the experts can chime in here, but your contact point is a touch too far in front of you.

Can you post your own video, please?

[Bobby Jr]

Simple. You tried too hard to hit your forehand like Federer.

Kidding. It's a nice looking Federer-inspired forehand. LeeD covered the main comment I'd have made on it.

[Chyeaah]

Originally Posted by Bobby Jr

Simple. You tried too hard to hit your forehand like Federer.

Kidding. It's a nice looking Federer-inspired forehand. LeeD covered the main comment I'd have made on it.

Federer's forehand is more open stanced.

Was it your first time with a ball machine? First time I used a ball machine the ball was way faster and harder than I'm used to.

[treblings]

first of all, i would like to say that it is a very beautiful forehand stroke.
regardless of what technical errors or faults might be there.
the one thing i noticed is that you seem to be holding back on your stroke with your body. you are holding back your right hip therefore prohibiting a natural flow of your stroke.
that is why i agree with the poster who thinks that the contact point is sometimes too much in front of your body.

[Limpinhitter]

Originally Posted by treblings

first of all, i would like to say that it is a very beautiful forehand stroke.
regardless of what technical errors or faults might be there.
the one thing i noticed is that you seem to be holding back on your stroke with your body. you are holding back your right hip therefore prohibiting a natural flow of your stroke.
that is why i agree with the poster who thinks that the contact point is sometimes too much in front of your body.

Agreed! And that is made more difficult with a neutral stance on the forehand.

[Timbo's hopeless slice]

Originally Posted by Chyeaah

Was it your first time with a ball machine? First time I used a ball machine the ball was way faster and harder than I'm used to.

this is just soooo revealing

[treblings]

Originally Posted by gindyo

It was beautiful out today(50F and and just a bit of wind) so I decided to to take my ball machine for a spin and took some video.
I felt really off with my timing and as though as I was wrestling the ball. I wanted to blame it on the dead balls but after I watched the video I think I know what was wrong. Anyhow I would like to get some different prospective and would love to hear from guys like tennis_balla, ash_smith and 5263
here is the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooQcrd24c
thanks

i would like to know your own assessment of what was wrong
since nobody else seems to want to give his opinion

[gindyo]

I would have liked to make a separate video with comparison but dont have the time right now. Basically if you look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooQcrd24c you can see how Djocovics torso shoulders and arm move together as a unit the whole way until contact and if you look at my video you can see how my arm starts getting ahead from the shoulder midway to contact. That is probably due to as I call it having the speed sensor in my hand rather then in my core. It is a false sense of speed by trying to move the racquet quick through the air and taking feedback from your hand instead of your core (if that makes sense).
I will work on that the next time I go out and see if there will be a difference.

[Mountain Ghost]

You're not getting a full racquet-head drop before you start coming forward. Elbow positioning and simply not being consciously aware of it are the culrpits.

MG

[gindyo]

Originally Posted by Mountain Ghost

You're not getting a full racquet-head drop before you start coming forward. Elbow positioning and simply not being consciously aware of it are the culrpits.

MG

I understand what you are saying, but I like to concentrate on the basics that go into every one shot . How much you drop the racquet head is all depending on how much spin you want to impart on the ball. In this particular video I was hitting pretty flat hence the lack of substantial racquet head drop.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by gindyo

I would have liked to make a separate video with comparison but dont have the time right now. Basically if you look at this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErooQcrd24c you can see how Djocovics torso shoulders and arm move together as a unit the whole way until contact and if you look at my video you can see how my arm starts getting ahead from the shoulder midway to contact. That is probably due to as I call it having the speed sensor in my hand rather then in my core. It is a false sense of speed by trying to move the racquet quick through the air and taking feedback from your hand instead of your core (if that makes sense).
I will work on that the next time I go out and see if there will be a difference.

if you look at my post #9 it seems we have been seeing more or less the same thing, only i described it differently.

[gindyo]

Originally Posted by treblings

if you look at my post #9 it seems we have been seeing more or less the same thing, only i described it differently.

yeah a lot of times it is difficult to explain in writing what one wants to say. We have different ways of picturing things in our heads. A lot of times I struggle understanding what people mean when describing technique. That is why I like video analysis.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by gindyo

yeah a lot of times it is difficult to explain in writing what one wants to say. We have different ways of picturing things in our heads. A lot of times I struggle understanding what people mean when describing technique. That is why I like video analysis.

true. in my case english is a second language, so that makes things even more challenging for me....and others
the main thing is how you are able to correct that flaw in your fh.

[gindyo]

Originally Posted by treblings

true. in my case english is a second language,
.

So it is in my case