do you loosen up your arm/body on lower balls on the forehand side?

[IwishIwasbetter]

I deal much better with higher balls on my forehand, i use a semi western grip, i feel like i am fairly stiff on the higher topspin balls people hit to me, but i hit them back pretty well. the problem is when there is a lower one, especially if someone slices it, i have a lot of trouble , in fact, on both forehand and backhand.

Anyways, my question is: should i loosen up more and more on my forehand the lower the ball is ? or is it unrelated? maybe i should bend deeply so that way the ball would feel higher to me and i can feel myself using my legs like i like to and ? aghh idk

just answer the following: do you loosen up on lower or sliced balls to your forehand?

 

[HunterST]

I deal much better with higher balls on my forehand, i use a semi western grip, i feel like i am fairly stiff on the higher topspin balls people hit to me, but i hit them back pretty well. the problem is when there is a lower one, especially if someone slices it, i have a lot of trouble , in fact, on both forehand and backhand.

Anyways, my question is: should i loosen up more and more on my forehand the lower the ball is ? or is it unrelated? maybe i should bend deeply so that way the ball would feel higher to me and i can feel myself using my legs like i like to and ? aghh idk

just answer the following: do you loosen up on lower or sliced balls to your forehand?

Too much thinking, man. Tennis players, myself included, tend to focus on tiny details and feels that end up being pretty insignificant. The best thing to do is just hit more and get used to the different types of shots.

As for your question, I think getting progressively tighter as the shot height increases is a bad idea.

 

[dozu]

so many people have trouble with this shot.... over the years I have played with some pretty decent amateurs, but none of them have the correct technique to hit this ball.... now granted that I don't play with too many people, but still..

you are on the right track... actually, loosening up is key for all shots... but it is critical for low balls, as timing is more difficult than high balls.

you need to drop that racket below the ball and whip it up and thru, to create spin.

Grip pressure has to be very light, about 2-3 on a scale of 10, you let it free fall below the ball.

Now here is the other key, you can't swing with your arm.... you have to hit this ball with the hopping leg... preferably the front leg, but the rear leg should just be fine.... so that leg hops up, which drags your loose hitting arm over the ball.

And here is the 3rd key - thru impact, use forearm/wrist to really brush up the ball... this is when that grip pressure jumps from 2-3 to about 8

And what can a complicated tip be without the 4th key... because of such a steep brush up, you will often have a reverse finish, which is quite normal.

check your finish - if you are airborne after impact, chances are you are doing it correctly..... it's really critical to have smooth acceleration on this shot, and you can only hit it smooth if the power comes from the hopping leg.

 

[Bender]

Ideally you should be pretty "loose" most of the time.

For some reason, I've gotten a lot better at vapourising low bouncers near the baseline. Could be because I've consciously worked on loosening up and increasing racquet head acceleration when I play in the past year or two. That, with a reverse forehand finish seems to work wonders for me, but I'm not sure whether on a technical level, is the best thing to do.

 

[Ajtat411]

I try to stay "loose" on all my shots other than the volley.

With lower, sliced balls, I pay extra attention to watch the ball longer than normal balls because they tend to slide around. I definitely bend my knees more to get down to the shot and hit thru the ball more and stay low thru the shot.

If the low sliced ball looks really challenging to pick up, I will slice it back and wait for a better ball to hit out on.

 

[Djokovicfan4life]

For me relaxation is easier on lower balls than higher ones. I have a tendency to pull off on high balls, not hit through enough and sort of "over rotate," throwing my balance off.

 

[35ft6]

just answer the following: do you loosen up on lower or sliced balls to your forehand?

I try to loosen up my arm more the more I want to whip my racket, so for extreme cross court forehands, I try to make it looser, and now that you mention it, it would probably be extra beneficial for low balls as well. I say that because on high balls, I do tend to tighten up the grip and hit with a shorter, more deliberate, less loopy motion.

 

[GetBetterer]

No. I just bend my knees more.

 

[dominikk1985]

that's a hard shot for WW FH players. the WW forehand is best suited for balls above net height. very low balls is quite difficult(but can be done if you have a really good kneebend).

maybe try a reverse FH like nadal on low balls.

 

[magnut]

Yeah....Just do what Nadal does

 

[dominikk1985]

Yeah....Just do what Nadal does

People act like the reverse FH is something nadal invented...

however it's at least around for 20 years. guys like lendl, becker and sampras hit it regularly. nothing new and a very good option for shots at the knees. fed also does it sometimes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS3a-CqvoiA (at 0:10)

I think nadal overuses it and that the ww FH is better, but for knee high shots the RFH is certainly a more safe option than the ww FH.

 

[arche3]

Now here is the other key, you can't swing with your arm.... you have to hit this ball with the hopping leg... preferably the front leg, but the rear leg should just be fine.... so that leg hops up, which drags your loose hitting arm over the ball.

And what can a complicated tip be without the 4th key... because of such a steep brush up, you will often have a reverse finish, which is quite normal.

check your finish - if you are airborne after impact, chances are you are doing it correctly..... it's really critical to have smooth acceleration on this shot, and you can only hit it smooth if the power comes from the hopping leg.

Lol Dozu... I disagree completely. do you teach the old dogs this? I can see the leg hop thing if you are in motion towards a short ball and you use the forward hop to assist balance and your momentum towards the net on the approach shot. the RFH finish is not necessary nor the optimal shot even in this case of a short ball approach shot. the front foot hop will have your body positioned sideways in a closed stance and you want to reverse finish while sideways and leaned forward? Add a low ball to this mix and you want to hop as well ? have you ever done the drills that practice this exact scenario?

Now for what the OP was I think talking about. A low slice ball or a low bouncing ball in a rally ball he gets at the baseline in a BL to BL rally.

Do you see ANY good tennis player taking a hopping lead foot forehand reverse finish on a low ball in a baseline rally? No. The simple answer is good tennis payers bend their knees. Hit under the ball with top spin with their normal stroke. WW or Reverse or whatever finish. No hopping needed. With their head still and not jumping into the air. Its body positioning like every other shot. You are absolutely wrong to say you need to be airborn to be hitting this. I can tell you have never had any coaching. Nor done drills that deal with all the different balls. airborn RFH finish to hit a low slice ball to your FH? Really? AND with a hop on the front foot? Dude... wow.

 

[dozu]

arche3, show how you hit a low ball.... or the coaching and drills you said you had never happened.

 

[arche3]

Your stock answer is lame. Does nothing to further discussion of tennis technique.

We can just meet up and I can show you in person how I hit low balls. We are close enough to make it happen. Too hard to video and its kinda hard to say to dudes hey let me video us. But when we hit and play we can video. But your answer still does not show why your technique is correct for low balls. It really seems incorrect. Correct me if I am wrong?

arche3, show how you hit a low ball.... or the coaching and drills you said you had never happened.

 

[Kunohara]

Hmm... the ''hop' thing seems to happen naturally when I hit a reverse on the run, stretched on my fh side. As a rightie, I will hop on my right leg, hit, and land back on my right, ready to recover.

But for low balls/slices, I agree, bend the knees and hit your normal shot.

 

[dozu]

Does nothing to further discussion of tennis technique.

sh1t, I am gonna get banned for this.

actually I mis-read OP's question... somehow had an impression he was asking about low and SHORT balls begging for an approach shot.

if not moving forward, then no hopping needed.

but to OP's question - relaxation is CRITICAL to handle a low skidding ball, because timing is tough.

It should feel like the arm/racket unit 'fall thru' the ball. Gravity is the forever constant acceleration force that will never fail (like human muscles always do), and the arm/hand's job is to make the final adjustment before impact.

Bending of knees, that goes without saying.

 

[arche3]

Ban DOZU!!!! poll? lol. :twisted:

We should get together and hit though as we can make all kinds of videos on tennis technique to entertain the TT crowd. But I will be wearing a mask.

sh1t, I am gonna get banned for this.

actually I mis-read OP's question... somehow had an impression he was asking about low and SHORT balls begging for an approach shot.

if not moving forward, then no hopping needed.

but to OP's question - relaxation is CRITICAL to handle a low skidding ball, because timing is tough.

It should feel like the arm/racket unit 'fall thru' the ball. Gravity is the forever constant acceleration force that will never fail (like human muscles always do), and the arm/hand's job is to make the final adjustment before impact.

Bending of knees, that goes without saying.

 

[Kunohara]

actually I mis-read OP's question... somehow had an impression he was asking about low and SHORT balls begging for an approach shot.

if not moving forward, then no hopping needed.

Now that I can agree with, but you dont necessarily need to reverse hit. You can topspin drive it just fine too.

 

[dozu]

Now that I can agree with, but you dont necessarily need to reverse hit. You can topspin drive it just fine too.

that is right.