Exploding into the Ball

[crazygamer2091]

Many pros in today's game hit a majority of their forehands while in the air. Are they jumping (probably not precise terminology or classification) or is it because of the torque that their legs, hips and shoulders create that causes them to be in the air?

Many of my peers who play high level tournaments like nationals have this trait and I want to incorporate this into my game to add consistency and more power to my shot making but I'm not sure what exactly to do. Any suggestions and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[TheCheese]

Yeah, it's just a result of properly uncoiling your body. They're not trying to jump just for the sake of it.

[The Meat]

Originally Posted by TheCheese

Yeah, it's just a result of properly uncoiling your body. They're not trying to jump just for the sake of it.

Monfills

[5263]

lifting into a strong up and across contact.

[crazygamer2091]

Wait, so it's the result of the kinetic chain. We all know that you're supposed to bend your knees and thrust up into the ball along with throwing your hips and shoulders when making contact to hit with more pace. This motion alone should lift you off the ground? Would it be similar to serving where your feet leave the ground?

[5263]

Originally Posted by crazygamer2091

Wait, so it's the result of the kinetic chain. We all know that you're supposed to bend your knees and thrust up into the ball along with throwing your hips and shoulders when making contact to hit with more pace. This motion alone should lift you off the ground? Would it be similar to serving where your feet leave the ground?

yes, very much similar.

[user92626]

It's rather simple once you understood it. You just need to weigh lighter than the force you could produce with your movements.

ATP Pros are skinny and strong. They don't do anything special other than running and hitting very hard and the thrust of their actions lift up their lightweight bodies.

For this reason WTA pros don't go airborn as much as the ATP. Well, Serena and Sharapova can run up and smash a FH winner with their feet off the ground though.

Fat or out of shape guys, no matter how technical, won't go off the ground much either.

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How is this a 5 star thread whereas other much worthy threads got 3? :confused

[WildVolley]

First, I'm not sure that most groundstrokes, even fhs, are hit in the air. Do you have statistics for that claim?

The reason that guys are going into the air is because they are jumping (hopping might be a more accurate term) into the shot. This is either to put more power behind the stroke, to lower the strike zone, or to get into position quickly, or some combination of the previous.

The most common technique is to load your hitting side leg and jump or hop strongly off that side to initiate the stroke. Nishikori is one of the few guys who will do a "lay-up" type move in which he drives the knee of the hitting side leg into the air as he jumps and then kicks back as he hits the ball.

[crazygamer2091]

Who needs statistics? Simply YouTube any tennis highlights.

[luvforty]

yeah, yanking to the left is a small contributor... most of the power comes from the ground.

[WildVolley]

Originally Posted by crazygamer2091

Who needs statistics? Simply YouTube any tennis highlights.

We need statistics.

I've seen a lot of highlights and it still isn't clear to me that the majority hit the majority of their forehands in the air. Most recently I watched highlights of the Murray/Dimitrov match in Australia. Seems that most shots were hit with a foot on the ground. Just as many hops seem to be to shift the feet into position (especially on wide balls) as there were to kill the ball.

In any case, I'm not against jumping into the ball. Just know that it requires a lot of energy.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by luvforty

yeah, yanking to the left is a small contributor... most of the power comes from the ground.

Most of the power doesn't come from the ground / legs.

[luvforty]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

Most of the power doesn't come from the ground / legs.

ok - try hit a FH on ice.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by luvforty

ok - try hit a FH on ice.

Same result. Doesn't change anything.

[luvforty]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

Same result. Doesn't change anything.

that was funny.

[Cheetah]

Yup. And it's also true.

[sureshs]

Where does most of the power come from? Upper body coiling and shoulder rotation?

[luvforty]

you need something to coil AGAINST... and here is where the 'friction' comes into play

[sureshs]

Very interesting, and something I wanted to do for a long time.

Do you know what is the main cause of friction? Your weight. The frictional force is usually a coefficient (less than 1) times the weight.

So this is a physics question I always had. If a person standing on a scale tenses his leg muscles to try to "increase" the force on the ground, will the scale show a higher reading? No.

I just tried it now and it is confirmed.

So, pressing against the ground cannot increase friction.

It can only provide a springboard to rise.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by luvforty

you need something to coil AGAINST... and here is where the 'friction' comes into play

It's not the friction. It's the ground reaction force. Literally the planet Earth pushing on you. The legs contribute about 20-30 something %, somewhere in the area, of the power IF you have a well established kinetic chain all the way to the racquet. The energy from the legs has to be efficiently transferred through each link in the chain which means up to the quads, gluts, hips, back, torso, upper chest, back, shoulders, forearm, wrist and then racquet in a coordinated sequential order. Then if you have good rotation and no kinks or hitches or a break in the chain you will get the 20-30 or whatever % it is.

It is not over 50% of the power even if you're Roger Federer. Therefore MOST of the power does not come from the legs. It's only one of the major contributors. The torso area contributes more power than the legs if you want to get technical.

I rest my case.

You're welcome.