Changing forehand speed

[dwalker771]

Hi,
I still think I'm a relatively novice player and was wondering about changing forehand speed. So the forehand is mostly torso rotation with a relaxed arm if I'm correct? So does that mean that to change up the pace of a shot (going for a hard winner compared to a normal rally pace shot) you would rotate your torso faster?

I've been arming my forehand and backhand too much so am trying to work on using torso/ shoulder rotation to drive these shots.

 

[styksnstryngs]

You shouldn't have to think about it. Just imagine/know in your head the shot that you wan to hit, and your body will follow through. Your legs pump harder, your torso twists faster and your arm whips through.

 

[FiReFTW]

FH speed is based on racquet speed and spin.
And you use the kinetic chain to get power which comes from legs all the way through ur body, so basically ur using ur whole body in sync.
You can control pace by taking away or adding spin, more spin means less pace and vice versa.
And also a bit by using more of ur whole body, like pushing with ur legs 100% or 50%, the rest of the body follows how much effort u put to push and explode.

 

[WestboroChe]

I suppose so. The modern forehand is a kinetic chain that starts with the legs and hips and the arm follows.

The key to hitting successfully in tennis is appropriate racquet Head speed. For volleys the temptation is to over hit but on groundstrokes people generally tend to tighten up and under hit. I know I do.

A lot of guys on here will argue about the specific kinesiology of shots but I think with modern video and equipment the pros have shown us that there are several ways to achieve RHS on any specific shot including some very unorthodox methods. If you can’t get lessons then watch the pros watch good instructional videos and practice practice practice.

 

[fuzz nation]

First thought on this issue is to encourage you to think about resisting the impulse to blast a "winner". That's a spectacular recipe for cooking up an unforced error when a routine "rally ball" with sufficient pace will scoot though an open section of court once you've created it for yourself. As you watch the progression of tennis points, I'll bet that you notice that the really "good shot" is the one that a player hits right before hitting a winner. That especially good shot is the ball that puts the opponent on the run and then the put-away is rather anticlimactic.

Now that's only in the case of a point that ends with a winner. Until you reach a much higher level (sounds like you're very much a work in progress and that's awesome), a lot of the points in a lot of the competition you enjoy will end with an error instead of a winner. It's big-time fun to rip a ball through an opponent, but most of us can't do that all the time... or we'd be on TV. Just want to put this idea in perspective. Your biggest possible swings on the ball won't help you as much as your strong-and-steady strokes. Going for too many huge winners will cost you (or me or anybody else) too many donations to the point funds of our opponents.

Enough about that... Lately I've been working with a few kids who are getting bigger and stronger in a hurry, but they can get into trouble if they rely too much on their arms to whack a forehand. You may recognize this feeling when the racquet goes back so far on the forehand side that your entire arm and racquet disappear behind your back. I refer to this as the racquet arm becoming "disconnected" because the smaller pectoral and shoulder muscles need to bring it a looooong way back to hit the ball on time with decent consistency. The racquet arm is disconnected from the big driving muscles in both the legs and core

What we've been working on lately is taking the arm and racquet back to the same spot every time - about 90 degrees over to the forehand side if straight ahead is 0 degrees. For a routine forehand, use a moderate shoulder turn away from the ball and then back through to swing the racquet. To swing a little harder/faster, take the racquet/arm over to the same spot, but use a slightly bigger shoulder turn away and through. To swing bigger, use a bigger turn away from the ball. And if you want to hit a little softer, use an abbreviated turn away, but still follow through after contact.

What's the catch? If you're going to execute a bigger turn away and back through, you need to get it all started sooner so that you're not muscling the racquet back to the ball like a shot-put at the last moment. Get the racquet and arm "set" over at 90-ish degrees FAST so that you can more easily execute a smooth swing though the ball. On either your forehand or backhand, get the racquet/arm over to "set" before the ball bounces in your court with every shot and you'll likely have the earlier preparation you need when the pace picks up.

 

[NuBas]

Hi,
I still think I'm a relatively novice player and was wondering about changing forehand speed. So the forehand is mostly torso rotation with a relaxed arm if I'm correct? So does that mean that to change up the pace of a shot (going for a hard winner compared to a normal rally pace shot) you would rotate your torso faster?

I've been arming my forehand and backhand too much so am trying to work on using torso/ shoulder rotation to drive these shots.

The more you play, you will realize it requires work from your entire body for a single stroke. All of this getting into position is for you to allow your racquet to do the work afterwards.
When people comment arming the ball, it means you mostly use you arm instead of having better technique which requires more lower body. However even after you become better with technique, you still use your arm in the stroke so its not like your entire arm is limp, its sort of there for fine tuning your stroke.

Its kinda hard to give advice without any visuals but I would not focus on a single body area in your situation. If you are trying to reduce arming the ball then yes, learn how the lower body is involved in the stroke. If you are trying to adjust your forehand speed to the type of ball you get then focus on your racquet speed/how you strike the ball. It can be quite different for everybody since there really is not a single certain way to hit a stroke.

 

[Curious]

First thought on this issue is to encourage you to think about resisting the impulse to blast a "winner". That's a spectacular recipe for cooking up an unforced error when a routine "rally ball" with sufficient pace will scoot though an open section of court once you've created it for yourself. As you watch the progression of tennis points, I'll bet that you notice that the really "good shot" is the one that a player hits right before hitting a winner. That especially good shot is the ball that puts the opponent on the run and then the put-away is rather anticlimactic.

Now that's only in the case of a point that ends with a winner. Until you reach a much higher level (sounds like you're very much a work in progress and that's awesome), a lot of the points in a lot of the competition you enjoy will end with an error instead of a winner. It's big-time fun to rip a ball through an opponent, but most of us can't do that all the time... or we'd be on TV. Just want to put this idea in perspective. Your biggest possible swings on the ball won't help you as much as your strong-and-steady strokes. Going for too many huge winners will cost you (or me or anybody else) too many donations to the point funds of our opponents.

Enough about that... Lately I've been working with a few kids who are getting bigger and stronger in a hurry, but they can get into trouble if they rely too much on their arms to whack a forehand. You may recognize this feeling when the racquet goes back so far on the forehand side that your entire arm and racquet disappear behind your back. I refer to this as the racquet arm becoming "disconnected" because the smaller pectoral and shoulder muscles need to bring it a looooong way back to hit the ball on time with decent consistency. The racquet arm is disconnected from the big driving muscles in both the legs and core

What we've been working on lately is taking the arm and racquet back to the same spot every time - about 90 degrees over to the forehand side if straight ahead is 0 degrees. For a routine forehand, use a moderate shoulder turn away from the ball and then back through to swing the racquet. To swing a little harder/faster, take the racquet/arm over to the same spot, but use a slightly bigger shoulder turn away and through. To swing bigger, use a bigger turn away from the ball. And if you want to hit a little softer, use an abbreviated turn away, but still follow through after contact.

What's the catch? If you're going to execute a bigger turn away and back through, you need to get it all started sooner so that you're not muscling the racquet back to the ball like a shot-put at the last moment. Get the racquet and arm "set" over at 90-ish degrees FAST so that you can more easily execute a smooth swing though the ball. On either your forehand or backhand, get the racquet/arm over to "set" before the ball bounces in your court with every shot and you'll likely have the earlier preparation you need when the pace picks up.

Excellent post. Words of wisdom.