Are you supposed to feel the "weight of the head" during a swing?

[New Daddy]

As a novice player making transition from golf to tennis, I find many similarities and dissimilarities between golf swing and tennis swing.

In a golf swing, you are advised to feel the "weight of the head" leading your swing. In order to do that, you must apply the right pressure in your grip (the right pressure is often likened to holding a raw egg in your palms) and keep the wrist very relaxed.

Is this also applicable in tennis swing? I think I can produce better head speed (without any balls involved) in tennis as well if I aim for feeling the weight of the head, but since (1) unlike golf clubs, the head of a tennis racket is not the weight center and (2) soft grip and relaxed wrists may not overcome the power of a strong stroke from the opponent, I am not sure if "feeling the weight of the head" is a right approach in tennis.

Any thoughts on this? Many thanks!

 

[bad_call]

imo loading up the head is somewhat of a game style in tennis. only a few players that i've seen use it with any regularity. reason being is the nature of the game. unlike golf where a player has the time to analyze and setup, tennis does not always offer this time luxury.

 

[35ft6]

I do try to be aware of the weight of my head on shots, mostly as a way of reminding myself to let the racket do some of the work, to not overswing. I'm more of a feel hitter. Especially on my slice backhand, it's really a feel shot that I can hit with more pace and accuracy the less effort I put into it.

 

[Mountain Ghost]

Feeling the Weight of the Head

A golf club head has to travel much farther than a tennis racquet head does, and a golf club head also strikes the ball at the bottom of the stroke, whereas a tennis racquet head strikes the ball in the middle of a low-to-high, a high-to-low, or even a flat path.

If you are just starting tennis, then a low-to-high (topspin) stroke is what you would work on developing first, and I don’t think feeling the weight of the racquet head would be anywhere NEAR your primary focus. Even later in development, there are many more important components of an overall tennis game to think about.

At this point, I would advise working on recognizing the “feel” of a proper backswing and swing path for each tennis stroke. As opposed to golf, where distance is highly rewarded, tennis is more of a tight-space control sport.

MG

 

[zapvor]

it also depends what kind of racket you are using. that would make it easier/harder to feel the head depending on its balance.

 

[Bagumbawalla]

This is not a question for which there is a clear yes or no.

People have different styles. You need to find yours and work with it.

I used to like a head-heavy racket and the pendulum-like feel of it's action through the air. Now, I am just the opposite.

Much depends on your physiology, technique, and general style of play.

Good luck in your search.

 

[fearless1]

A golf swing with a club is a high swing weighted pendulum type swing. Compared to a golf swing, a tennis swing is more like a "slash" with a lighter swing weight racquet. In both cases, there is swingweight that one can certainly be aware of. The real question for tennis play is when should awareness of a racquet's swing wt be heightened and when should awareness be minimized?

In general, the only time I have increased awareness of a racquet's swing weight is during warm up, when practicing dry swings, and when sampling racquets at a tennis shop. However, during play/practice and expecially when keeping score, I'm too focused on making the shots and playing the point to be distracted by "racquet sensations".

If you are asking or thinking that golf and tennis shots are very similar...they are not...and you are hoping to transfer some skills over from golf to tennis...you really can't or shouldn't.

 

[SFrazeur]

I would not think of it in the terms of feeling the weight of the head. This is becuase you do not sawing the head of the racquet an important length of the time when hitting your groundstrokes.

After you take the racquet back and it drops, you begin by swinging the butt of the racquet forward, just like you would swing the handle of a hammer to hit a nail. After that the body of the racquet will begin to naturally swing forward. If you try to feel the heaviness of the head I would fear the you would miss the handle of the racquet swinging forward first. If you do that you will miss out on a lot of spin, power, consistency, and control.

You should certainly let the weight of the racquet, as a whole, swing through.

As for how firmly you should hold on, there is an old saying that you should hold as tightly as you would a bird, firm enough that it does not fly away but now too hard you kill it. I hold on just tight enough that the racquet doesn't fly out of my hand.

I wrote this quickly, if something does not make sense let me know and I will clarify.

-SF