Forehand problem: not keeping the elbow in long enough

[Boris]

Hi all,

again asking for suggestions.

I hit my forehand with a mild semiwestern grip. I have noticed two issues with my forehand:

- I do not get my butt low enough

- though my takeback and first part of the swing are OK (elbow is leading), I tend to move my elbow away from my body a bit too early, and do not hit enough through the ball (rather use my shoulder).

My guess is that my contact point is not forward enough. Do you think that, by hitting the ball a mit more out in front, I'd automatically keep my elbow close to body for a longer time?

 

[ask1ed]

In matches, many take the ball a little late, and a little too far back, and miss into the net a lot under the pressure of a point, shots they would not miss in practice with no pressure. YOu'r over thinking it. Sounds like not engough racq. acceleration, kinetic chain is broken. Video tape your shot. You will see the acc. is not there, hip rotation and knee bend not working in concert, wrist snap not there, follow through abbreviated.

 

[Yuki Kirihara]

If your elbow falls out as you describe, it's because you're hitting late. Work on just rotating into the contact zone, out in front. Doing so should eliminate the need for your elbow to pop out if you hit the ball properly.

ask1ed, weren't you the guy with the pressure problem? Also, you don't want a wrist snap in forehands at all. Or really any wriest flexion in anything, for that matter. Maybe loosening up the wrist around contact, but it's controlled and you're not trying to force anything with the wrist.

 

[ask1ed]

If your elbow falls out as you describe, it's because you're hitting late. Work on just rotating into the contact zone, out in front. Doing so should eliminate the need for your elbow to pop out if you hit the ball properly.

ask1ed, weren't you the guy with the pressure problem? Also, you don't want a wrist snap in forehands at all. Or really any wriest flexion in anything, for that matter. Maybe loosening up the wrist around contact, but it's controlled and you're not trying to force anything with the wrist.

I started that thread to see what people had to say about pressure, also, cause there really wasn't any other thread like it. Everyone has pressure problems on occasion, buy only the honest will admit to it.

 

[Yuki Kirihara]

There are plenty. Loads of "mental game" questions, how do I cope with pressure in matches, etc. Might want to look a bit harder when you use the search function.

I'm not trying to bash you or anything, I'm just stating that there have been hundreds of topics on it. No harsh feelings.

edit- And, on a quick note, if you wanted to see what other people had to say it'd be kind of stupid to title it "Can anybody teach me...". The initial post was describing YOUR situation. It's a bit of a far cry to change that to testing people. It seems you're a victim of not admitting to pressure problems that you just described yourself.

 

[Boris]

If your elbow falls out as you describe, it's because you're hitting late. Work on just rotating into the contact zone, out in front. Doing so should eliminate the need for your elbow to pop out if you hit the ball properly.

This sounds like great news! I guess that by hitting a bit more out in front I will also have to hit a bit closer to my body (laterally), is that correct?

Thanks!

 

[Bungalo Bill]

I hit my forehand with a mild semiwestern grip. I have noticed two issues with my forehand:

- I do not get my butt low enough

Good observation. Practicing this takes time and discipline to engrain this.

- though my takeback and first part of the swing are OK (elbow is leading), I tend to move my elbow away from my body a bit too early, and do not hit enough through the ball (rather use my shoulder).

Check out Tommy Haas here for a visual:

http://www.uspta.com/html/e-lesson-Open%20stance%20forehand%202.swf

My guess is that my contact point is not forward enough. Do you think that, by hitting the ball a mit more out in front, I'd automatically keep my elbow close to body for a longer time?

You should hit out in front anyway. This also takes practice, so you need to strive meeting the ball in front and getting that elbow in front of the body plane through your forward elbow movement and shoulder rotation.

 

[Boris]

Great clip! Comparing his and my forehand, it is pretty darn clear that I need to hit more out in front.

Yes, these adjustments take practice and time, but they are very rewarding when you master them. Last time it was my overhead, and it has made a huge difference to my net game. So now I'm more than willing to improve forehand and serve. Btw, I do get my butt low on my backhand, so I guess it's just bad habit.

 

[Bungalo Bill]

Great clip! Comparing his and my forehand, it is pretty darn clear that I need to hit more out in front.

Yes, these adjustments take practice and time, but they are very rewarding when you master them. Last time it was my overhead, and it has made a huge difference to my net game. So now I'm more than willing to improve forehand and serve. Btw, I do get my butt low on my backhand, so I guess it's just bad habit.

Also, your stance will dictate what hitting in front means. With a nuetral to closed stance, your body plane will be in a 45 degree angle, so hitting in front is relative to that angle and not the baseline.

For an open stance, your body sqaures more so your body plane is more paralell to the baseline. In this case hitting in front is moving the elbow in front of the body plane which is paralell many times to the baseline and not on an angle.

 

[Boris]

Now that you make me think about it, I could probably describe my forehand as hitting from an open stance, but using a swing suited to a neutral stance. Although I fancied myself as hitting from a neutral stance, I have observed that, more often than not, I use an open stance. I will have to verify this again in the video.

Thanks!