I know ! I remember my forehand was a pretty big shot back then. For some reason I thought the open stance forehand was all cool and superior to everything else and started using it for everything.
I can't tell if it was bad TTW advice that transformed my forehand like this or if it was just me being stupid. Whatever, this is fixable at least. I know what to do
Reread that thread about the open stance. It does have its advantages that even you noticed.
I reread the original thread from 2012. No one told you to shift your contact point so far back, and to swing straight up. (TBH, your swing path was becoming more straight up and back).
5263 said:
Yes, you want to get strongly into the ball, but also strongly up and across as well.
As some have mentioned, all 3 dimensions are key.
I don't know if he's not a native English speaker, but it's worded kinda strange. To translate, you still need to hit through the ball AND up at the same time. So if you combine a flat stroke with a vertical swing, you get a 45 degree swing path which is how I described it. _ + | = \
(Your 2012 fh is flat. Your topspin fh is vertical. Your newest vid is 45 degree topspin.)
5263 said:
IF you intend to hit lower to net, you need more emphasis on the across aspect and a tad
less on up. This greatly aids net clearance control while giving and allowing more pace.
If you want more TS, then more focus on the Up than the across aspect, which is
mainly getting more below the ball before contact. The across aspect may
hardly be noticeable in this case, which is why so few understand it.
Make more sense?
Worded badly and bad grammar makes it hard to understand. First paragraph says if you want to hit flatter (more power), use a 15 to 30 degree swingpath.
Second paragraph says if you want more topspin, use a steeper swingpath (like 60 to 75 degrees). Basically, he's telling you how to vary your swingpath to get more power or more topspin. He also throws in other concepts that confuses me. When I gave you advice earlier, I left out these 2 things (hitting flatter, hitting more spin) since it seemed like you didn't understand the basic concept of how to generate topspin. I don't like the kitchen sink approach to advice. Once you get the basics down of how to hit topspin, then you can work on varying the amount of spin/pace.
Going back to the issue of how you came down this road the last two years. Some of it might be due to the hard to understand advice. Some of it is your lack of tennis knowledge to correctly apply the advice. And some of it is your penchant to take things to the extreme. (open stance is awesome, swinging straight up, open stance is the cause of all my problems).