overhand smash help

[Wilsonbro11]

I am 5 foot 4 and i cant smash very good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcO9M3aOJ1I Do you think i am to short to do this or it might not be enough experince but i want to beable to do this on just a regular concrete court. Is there any way to practice this or how could i possibly get better at this. And i want to beable to do it on a bounce.

[WildVolley]

Originally Posted by Wilsonbro11

I am 5 foot 4 and i cant smash very good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcO9M3aOJ1I Do you think i am too short to do this or it might not be enough experience but i want to be able to do this on just a regular concrete court. Is there any way to practice this or how could i possibly get better at this. And i want to be able to do it on a bounce.

Being 5'4" is going to make getting to the ball for a smash harder, but it won't necessarily make it any harder to hit the smash if you're in position.

The reason most people stink at smashes is because they never practice it. When I was in high school, I spent a summer practicing tennis and we hit smashes almost every day. By the end of the summer my smash was a very strong shot.

The video you cite is good to learn from. Make sure to turn to the side, move to position, hold the continental grip, use your off-hand to time the ball and then turn and pronate (internally rotate) into it. The closer you are to the net, the less you need to worry about pace as the opponent(s) have very little time to respond.

Start practicing overheads every time you practice. If you can't find someone to practice with, you can hit a high ball and then get under the bounce. This can even be done against a wall. Good luck and start practicing.

[LeeD]

Lots of coach's say to point at the ball with your non racket hand, to simulate your service motion. Hit the ball flat, don't try for topspin, but slice is fine.

[tennis_pr0]

Originally Posted by WildVolley

Being 5'4" is going to make getting to the ball for a smash harder, but it won't necessarily make it any harder to hit the smash if you're in position.

The reason most people stink at smashes is because they never practice it. When I was in high school, I spent a summer practicing tennis and we hit smashes almost every day. By the end of the summer my smash was a very strong shot.

The video you cite is good to learn from. Make sure to turn to the side, move to position, hold the continental grip, use your off-hand to time the ball and then turn and pronate (internally rotate) into it. The closer you are to the net, the less you need to worry about pace as the opponent(s) have very little time to respond.

Start practicing overheads every time you practice. If you can't find someone to practice with, you can hit a high ball and then get under the bounce. This can even be done against a wall. Good luck and start practicing.

I agree with this. The junior program at my club we don't work on smashes enough, and I see the kids miss them all the time when they get one. It is a good idea to practice them a bit every hitting session. I am going to start making more of an effort to practice overheads with my junior players.

[Wilsonbro11]

Ok thank for the information

[Chas Tennis]

This recent thread is a little unclear as to what people might agree on but is has some related information and discussion.
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=448030

In my opinion, the overhead is very similar to the serve. Both use primarily internal shoulder rotation as the largest contributor to racket head speed at impact.

ISR is shown in this serve video by the rapid axial rotation of the semi- straight arm seen best by looking at the bones at the elbow.
https://vimeo.com/27528701

(The best stop action single frame can be done on Vimeo by pressing the play-pause button as fast as possible.)

[Greg G]

Height shouldn't be an issue with the overhead, it's just a matter of positioning well and anticipating which balls to expect a lob off of. Gotta make up for it with speed of foot, but that applies to court coverage in general. I'm 5'5" so I'm in the same boat as OP

[NLBwell]

By the way, it's overhead smash.

Greg G is right - you can hit an overhead just as well as anyone else, you just have to cover more court to get there.