aiming forehands and backhands. Swing path, and/or timing?

spacediver

Hall of Fame
aiming 1hbh. Swing path, and/or timing?

Took my first lesson yesterday, and one of the things i was taught was that I should never alter the swing path of my shot to aim the ball, but should change the time of contact (I use 1 handed backhand and an eastern forehand).

Is this true even for the 1hbh? I've always thought that to aim a 1hbh cross court, you allow your hips to open up a tiny bit more so that when you abduct your shoulders, the line of the swing is aimed towards the target.

But I was told that I should never alter the angle that my arm swings out at, but should rather hit the ball earlier.

Anyone have any insights here?
 
Last edited:

Zachol82

Professional
Technically, what you were told "can" work, but it's still pretty bad advice nonetheless.

Assuming that you DO have to hit the ball earlier for a cross-court shot, what will you do then if you want to hit down the line? Hit the ball later? I don't think so.

Everyone has heard of "taking the ball early," or some other variations of it. You should always attempt to contact the ball in front of you, this way you can maintain balance as well as stepping in and transferring all your energy into your shot.

If you hit the ball late, you're only using your arm and you're most likely hitting off your rear foot if you're hitting late as well. Very ineffective and inefficient.
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
It's a feel thing. But I do hesitate on inside outs and attack cross court shots earlier. It's real subtle though...really more about point of contact then being late or early.
 

papa

Hall of Fame
As a generality this is true but this a tricky area depending on many factors including the skill level of the player involved.

IMO, once you start opening up the hips and shoulders bad things happen quickly and shot consistency goes down quickly. Keeping the arm straight (on the forward swing), the hips sideways and the head still, will produce a consistent/reliable stoke/shot.
 

spacediver

Hall of Fame
ess.

Assuming that you DO have to hit the ball earlier for a cross-court shot, what will you do then if you want to hit down the line? Hit the ball later? I don't think so.

Everyone has heard of "taking the ball early," or some other variations of it. You should always attempt to contact the ball in front of you, this way you can maintain balance as well as stepping in and transferring all your energy into your shot.

Part of the problem is that he recommends open stance 1hbh in many situations, and recommends taking the ball much earlier, almost when it's reached the hip. He says that I should learn how to do this from an open stance, and then use that as a foundation to learn the proper neutral stance. He seems to recommend against a full closed stance.
 
W

Winky

Guest
The coaching trend I've seen is a more open stance and an earlier contact with the ball for both FH and BH.
 

Zachol82

Professional
Part of the problem is that he recommends open stance 1hbh in many situations, and recommends taking the ball much earlier, almost when it's reached the hip. He says that I should learn how to do this from an open stance, and then use that as a foundation to learn the proper neutral stance. He seems to recommend against a full closed stance.

If by open-stance you mean both feet pointing toward the net, then this is definitely odd. I understand that an open-stance can be hit with a 2hbh, but an open-stance with a 1hbh? It just sounds odd and feels really odd.

Taking the ball early is always a good idea. "Hitting on the rise," as it is called, is a powerful weapon once you've learned it. You get the most power for the least effort this way. You'll also take a lot of time from your opponent and it's just overall a good technique for everyone to master if they want to become a competitive player.

If your coach is actually recommending you to take the ball early, then why would he advocate taking the ball later if you want to change direction to a down-the-line shot?
 

spacediver

Hall of Fame
He made me do drills where I'd run from the centre of baseline a few steps to the left, and plant my left foot to the left of my right foot (toes of both feet pointing towards the left), and then make the stroke.

As such, all the power would be generated only from shoulder abduction.
 

GetBetterer

Hall of Fame
"Aiming" shouldn't be concentrated on too much. You have hit cross courts and down-the-line shots before, so your body remembers how to hit those shots.

I recommend just "thinking" about where you want it to go.
 

papa

Hall of Fame
The coaching trend I've seen is a more open stance and an earlier contact with the ball for both FH and BH.

Well, this is certainly true especially for more advanced players. However, players have to let the ball come a little further back on the 2HBH to get power, control and keep their balance on the stroke.

But in teaching good stroke mechanics, its not a bad idea to use (at first anyway) a more neutral stance. Many players find it difficult to get the correct/any hip or shoulder rotation with an open stance.
 

GuyClinch

Legend
OP sounds like you are a very advanced player with a top coach. I never heard of this but maybe you should see how it plays out.
 

spacediver

Hall of Fame
guy: I'm not an advanced player at all. Been playing for a year. (hard to tell if u were being sarcastic! :p )

papa, winky, keep in mind my backhand is 1hbh.
 

Blake0

Hall of Fame
I'll try to keep it simple..for your 1hbh (assuming you're a righty), to hit down the line you brush up the back of the ball. To hit crosscourt, you have to hit a little bit to the outside side of the ball. For inside-out, you have to hit the inside side of the ball. Too far on the outside or inside will cause it to go out. The more outside side of the ball you hit, the further crosscourt it will go. Find how far you need to go to get what you want.

In a sense though, to hit the outside of the ball, you have to catch the ball a tad bit earlier to get your racket head to the outside side of the ball and hit it effectively.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CNiWdu4kLw
you can see federer hit a tad bit earlier to hit the shot crosscourt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC7Hld2zBtQ&feature=related
Although this is a 2hbh, you can see djokovic hit the outside side of the ball to hit it crosscourt. Federer on the other hand went mainly straight up the back (although a little bit of the outside) to hit the dtl winner.
 

papa

Hall of Fame
papa, winky, keep in mind my backhand is 1hbh.

Yeah, I realize that. The arm has to be straight on the forward swing as I mentioned - important or you won't be able to hit a diagonal backhand, just won't happen on a consistent basis. And, if you open up too early with the hips or shoulder the shot loses power and consistency also.
 

Manus Domini

Hall of Fame
I was taught the swing path should be the same, BUT you should reposition yourself for hitting the ball to different locations, as well as time it differently. E.g. don't have a completely different swing path for cross court and dtl, keep it steady. This works for me 100%.

Also, you said that the coach recommended power only from shoulder? My instructor told me to put my entire body into the shot to get the power, use hips, shoulder, legs, core, everything. Lean into it.

This is just based off what my instructor told me and what I found works for me.
 
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