Hitting Flat
- Thread starter gugafan05
- Start date
well, I guess you could try to hit flat all the time but you'd probably get a maximum of about 4 balls into play at most simply because when you get a ball that is ankle level or close to the net, you'd hit the net or shoot way out.
Anyway, just hit it like a regular stroke except hit through it more. I'd suggest putting a little bit more topspin on some shots to get them over and to be more consistent though.
Oh, and yeah, you can hit a flat shot with a bent arm.
Anyway, just hit it like a regular stroke except hit through it more. I'd suggest putting a little bit more topspin on some shots to get them over and to be more consistent though.
Oh, and yeah, you can hit a flat shot with a bent arm.
I know the number 77 player in the nation for 16s and he hits flat on his groundies. He can make more balls than most players who hit with topspin. See, it doesn;t matter whether you hit with topspin or without, because if you practice for an hour or two a day, you will learn to hit the ball in. Also, if you go for winners all the time with topspin or without, you are going to miss one way or another. The problem with modern tennis is that players hit with more topspin and have to hit more balls in rallies to win the point. This leads to running down more and more balls. After awhile, the body wears down. If you hit flat and dictate the points by placing the ball, you can win points faster and not have to run as much. Therefore you dont wear out your joints by age 30. When the balls are low, I wouldn't be an idiot and hit flat drives, they would hit the net like you said. On the low balls I would slice them. Any other tips?
noobplayer
Semi-Pro
im great at hitting flat but not with top spin. i wouldnt recommend hitting flat because almost everyone hits with top spin and its hard to play against ppl with massive topspin when ure hitting flat
Amone
Hall of Fame
gugafan05 said:
Well, firstly, it's hard to adapt to the continental. My wrist naturally wants to slice the ball, so I've been fighting that for a bit of time. But to answer your question to the best of my abilities: If you are in a difficult position, then slice, or just adapt. When you see that shot coming to you, change to an eastern. You know? Same as you don't hit a kill shot for a rally stroke. You can change your mechanics for a different shot.
I currently use both spin/flat ground strokes. I usually use flat when I am going to hit a slow ball but, when I hit flat I usually use my leg power and jump and smack the ball. Work's great! Sooo much power and consistency.
I reccomend using spin though, it's really the most used ground stroke and it's very useful at times.
I reccomend using spin though, it's really the most used ground stroke and it's very useful at times.
Pushmaster
Hall of Fame
Yeah, but Berdych is 6' 3". I wouldn't recommend hitting flat if your 5' 9" (give or take a couple inches), you might have a hard time keeping the ball from going into the net.Amone said:
Slazenger
Professional
gugafan05 said:
To hit flat, think of a straight swingpath. No low to high or brushing, just directly through the ball.
For a flat groundstroke with an eastern, you want to swing in a level plane, straight through the ball, extending fully through the shot to target, and then followthrough. (Take a look at Kournikova hit a flat forehand slow-mo with an eastern grip here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qX7WrNhYGo
It is the last shot in the clip.)
Yes you can hit with a bent arm.
You can make this type of gameplan work (hitting all flat groundies), but I feel you have to play a first strike sort of game and be aggressive. I don't see it being effective for a defensive player.
noobplayer
Semi-Pro
well i learned to hit flat first because my coach is extremely old. he started playin tennis i think in the 1950s. i find it is easier to hit flat with more oversized racquets and with higher string tension for more accuracy. i know with my nps95 it is harder to hit flat then with my triad t5. i noticed hitting flat with this racquet was much harder and ya the ball doesnt go over the net sometimes. the 18x20 is suppose to be better for flat hitters but it doesnt seem to work for me. btw im only 5'11"
tennis_hand
Hall of Fame
gugafan05 said:
eastern is good for flat shots. maybe it is your swing path that you find it difficult to hit flat shots. when i wanna hit flat shots, or receive low flat balls, i use eastern grip. if i want top spin, then i go a little more towards western direction.
llamalordoftennis
New User
well for me, when i want to hit flat. I point the racket head like, slanted downwards before I hit and then when the ball comes I just wack it. Somehow....its a flat shot, and its really wristy. It looks like you're imitating a preying mantis.
Amone
Hall of Fame
@llama: Are we talking flat, or fast? Because if I know anything about groundstrokes (which I may not), it's that only two things are wristy and flat, and they're your serve and overhead. Never minding the part about the racquet face being closed, which should produce plenty of topspin.
looseswing
Professional
I agree with those that have said that you should learn to hit with topspin, because it is much easier to play like this. If you insist on hitting flat it will be much harder for you to gain consistency and therefore rise through the skill levels. I used to hit flat, I still do on my backhand, and if my timing is a little bit off I will have huge trouble controlling balls.
Jonny S&V
Hall of Fame
Actually he's 6'5", and yes his height helps him so he can hit flat from any position. I didn't know anyone in the modern game used a continental. On my serve, I S&V on every first serve and 3/4 of my second serves, but my fh is a weak sw (meaning not quite a sw, not that it's weak). Maybe I just don't have the wrist strength.Pushmaster said:
I must be ******** but I can't understand how you can hit a ball "flat" and follow through at the same time. I've only seen people hit a flat ball by hitting the ball with a half-swing, similar to pusher style. Any low to high swing seems to always result in top spin and any high to low swing always results in back spin from my experience.
Amone
Hall of Fame
Jonny S&V said:
McEnroe. He's still winning doubles matches on tour, and with Ivanisevic on the senior tour, I wouldn't call it a bunch of pansies or anything.
raiden031 said:
I've never understood how people can only half-follow through. The follow through, or intention to follow through, is what really gives the ball it's control in the first place, and without it, I can't see how someone can keep the ball in. When I hit, I have to actively place the ball where I want it, when I'm hitting it flat properly (I tend to get wristy and spinny sometimes) and when I try to hit it without any setup or follow through, I feel like I'm using a $20 Wal-Mart racquet. Which is bullocks, I got one from Target for $30, and it was quite the rocket launcher, but oddly enough I couldn't get much speed at all on the ball. I was smacking it as hard as I could and still getting to it easily, against a wall about 10 ft away. Same thing with my DNX and it was causing me serious difficulty.
Bagumbawalla
G.O.A.T.
Though the grip matters, to an extent, it is the path of the racket head through the ball that determines the amount of spin (or lack of spin).
If you are hitting with lots of spin, now, your topspin stroke impacts the ball while driving forward (toward where you want the ball to go) at a fairly steep angle (low to high)-- possibly 45% or more.
If you want to hit a "flat" ball, the easiest way is to follow through with less of a low to high angle- possibly as little as 5%, depending on your racket speed. All good ground strokes have some kind of spin placed on them to help control the shot. Even with a "flat" ball you need some spin.
Note- There are other ways to generate a flat-style drive, but they are less common and more difficult to execute.
With the power of the modern racket, control becomes a problem, and few players hit all their strokes "flat".
I would recommend a medium topspin, as your normal stroke, to safely control the ball until you get an opportuntiy-- then you can drive your placement with a flatter ball (usually across the diagonal) for a winner.
Hitting a flat ball is not hard to learn, just harder to learn to control.
Good luck,
B
If you are hitting with lots of spin, now, your topspin stroke impacts the ball while driving forward (toward where you want the ball to go) at a fairly steep angle (low to high)-- possibly 45% or more.
If you want to hit a "flat" ball, the easiest way is to follow through with less of a low to high angle- possibly as little as 5%, depending on your racket speed. All good ground strokes have some kind of spin placed on them to help control the shot. Even with a "flat" ball you need some spin.
Note- There are other ways to generate a flat-style drive, but they are less common and more difficult to execute.
With the power of the modern racket, control becomes a problem, and few players hit all their strokes "flat".
I would recommend a medium topspin, as your normal stroke, to safely control the ball until you get an opportuntiy-- then you can drive your placement with a flatter ball (usually across the diagonal) for a winner.
Hitting a flat ball is not hard to learn, just harder to learn to control.
Good luck,
B
