How can I improve my forehand?!

[sharpy]

Hello everyone, heres a video of my forehand.. Any suggestions on how I can improve my forehand? Of all my strokes, my forehand has got to be my weakest link.

Constructive critiscism is very much appreciated. thanks


http://youtube.com/watch?v=oI8yQ7cDeaU

 

[Zachol82]

What I noticed right away from watching your video were:

1) You snap your wrist.
2) You don't take full swings.
3) Your legs are still horizontal to each other. You should place your left leg infront of your right leg and step into the ball. This gives you more power as well as better balance.
4) You are reaching for the ball. Make sure that you get into the right position first.
5) You are shifting your weight to the wrong foot. Noticed that after you hit your forehand, all your weight is shifted to your right foot. If you step into the ball, you would end up shifting weight into your left foot as well as transfering all that weight INTO the ball and TOWARD your opponent.


To sum it all up, you need to work on your footwork. You should take #3 and #5 into consideration since the rest isn't as those.

 

[Zachol82]

Also, I'm assuming that your backhand is good since you didn't post it as a problem. Just out of curiousity, are your feet still in the same position as your forehand when you hit your backhand? If it's not then obviously it's your footwork that's the problem.

 

[sharpy]

Also, I'm assuming that your backhand is good since you didn't post it as a problem. Just out of curiousity, are your feet still in the same position as your forehand when you hit your backhand? If it's not then obviously it's your footwork that's the problem.

what do you mean by 'do you have feet in the same pos. as fh on bh?'

i use mostly neutral stance on the backhand

 

[Kokopelli]

You seem to be able to effortlessly generate very good racket-head speed.

It depends on your goal. Do you want to have a "professional/modern" swing? If so, then do all the things that have been suggested, especially footwork, weight shifting and firmer wrist with more follow-through.

If you're just playing for fun then I don't think you need to lose sleep over your forehand because I think you're already have a reliable and consistent one, INHO.

Again, nice racket-head speed for such little effort.

 

[Zachol82]

what do you mean by 'do you have feet in the same pos. as fh on bh?'

i use mostly neutral stance on the backhand

Oh, nvm. And I agree with the above poster that you do have good racquet head speed. However, it could be a lot better if you step into the ball.

With your current stance, it would be difficult to hit a down-the-line shot, which is also apparent in your video since all your shots are cross court.

 

[Nellie]

The timing seems all off and choppy - you turn your shoulders and bring the racquet back, unrotate to square your shoulders to the net and bring the racquet mostly forward around th right hip, stop for milisecond and wait for the ball, and then swing quickly with ony a very short and wristy swing. It is like you tried jumping to level 7 without doing levels 1-2.

This may be very hard to unlearn and I would suggest you do some basic drills where you start with the racquet back (perhaps butt cap pointing at the ball machine) and shoulders turned sideways and hit alot of balls. Then add a split step, initial turn, and loop take back.

 

[sharpy]

anyone else?

 

[Bottle Rocket]

anyone else?

What do you think?

I would be interested in hearing your own critique of yourself.

Do you think your footwork is good? Do you think you're timing the ball correctly? Do you think you've got good weight transfer into the shot? Are you using your lower body as much as you should?

I hope I don't sound like some snotty tennis player who claims to know everything, but I am just curious what you think. Everyone posts these videos for tips and advice, but you rarely get to hear the posters perception of themselves.

 

[tricky]

Sharpy --

So, the first thing is the footwork. Closest foot to the ball should take the first step. This is important on two levels. First, it saves you a step to the ball. Second, it helps establish your unit turn with the back foot, rather than using your non-hitting arm.

Try this: with the machine, try catching the ball square with your racquet while mantaining a straight or vertical lower back. This will help drill this into your head.

The second thing is the unit turn. You want the front shoulder to be square with the net (or the racquet frame to be square with the net) before you take back the arm. And you want to avoid using your left arm to set the unit turn, which is what most people habitually do.

Try this: try swinging without a takeback. "Stick" your elbow to your side, only letting it go when you swing forward.

In order to force your body to make the unit turn, initially leave the left arm to the left side of your body through the entire stroke. This will feel awkward (and you won't hit the ball very hard), but it will help force you to turn your body with your hips and set up the back foot. You just want to get into that habit before getting to the next step.

Once you're comfortable with that, then you bring back the left arm. But still leave out the takeback.

The third thing is transferring your weight and hitting the ball more out in front. Weight should shift from back/right foot to front/left foot in your forward portion of stroke.

So, for now, try hitting the ball without the takeback, using your body to drive your arm. This will also force you to find the right POC for you.

The final thing -- and this is just for your stroke style -- is to make sure your back/right/hitting shoulder never dips below your front shoulder during the takeback.

This is pretty easy to solve, just set up your non-hitting arm below chest level. At this point, now you go with a complete swing.

 

[quicken]

Look at the ball you are hitting, you seem to not even look at the ball that you are hitting.

 

[CAM178]

Do you want to use open stance, or is that just what you've learned? Nothing wrong with it. I'm just a fan of more traditional 'stepping into' the ball.

If you are going to stick with open stance, my only suggestions are to:
1. finish your swing up, instead of down as you are doing now
2. hold your racquet tight through the swing, as you seem to be loose.
3. watch your footwork. With an open stance, you need to stay up on your toes a bit more. Just remember to keep those feet moving.

FH looks good, though.

 

[sharpy]

Sharpy --

So, the first thing is the footwork. Closest foot to the ball should take the first step. This is important on two levels. First, it saves you a step to the ball. Second, it helps establish your unit turn with the back foot, rather than using your non-hitting arm.

Try this: with the machine, try catching the ball square with your racquet while mantaining a straight or vertical lower back. This will help drill this into your head.

The second thing is the unit turn. You want the front shoulder to be square with the net (or the racquet frame to be square with the net) before you take back the arm. And you want to avoid using your left arm to set the unit turn, which is what most people habitually do.

Try this: try swinging without a takeback. "Stick" your elbow to your side, only letting it go when you swing forward.

In order to force your body to make the unit turn, initially leave the left arm to the left side of your body through the entire stroke. This will feel awkward (and you won't hit the ball very hard), but it will help force you to turn your body with your hips and set up the back foot. You just want to get into that habit before getting to the next step.

Once you're comfortable with that, then you bring back the left arm. But still leave out the takeback.

The third thing is transferring your weight and hitting the ball more out in front. Weight should shift from back/right foot to front/left foot in your forward portion of stroke.

So, for now, try hitting the ball without the takeback, using your body to drive your arm. This will also force you to find the right POC for you.

The final thing -- and this is just for your stroke style -- is to make sure your back/right/hitting shoulder never dips below your front shoulder during the takeback.

This is pretty easy to solve, just set up your non-hitting arm below chest level. At this point, now you go with a complete swing.

tricky

Could you tell more about what you mean by 'right hitting shoulder' never diping below the front? If you look at the elbow of some pro fh's the elbow is 'low', but if you have a 'low' elbow or what you call an abbreviated stroke, then how can the hitting shoulder not dip below the front shoulder?

Regarding the unit turn/footwork, after you take a step out to the ball with the closest foot, would you continue turning your shoulders with your left arm/hand? I'm having lots of trouble getting that passive straight left arm at the end of the unit turn

 

[sharpy]

Look at the ball you are hitting, you seem to not even look at the ball that you are hitting.

You know, that's really interesting, because i've noticed this a bit myself.

 

[tricky]

Could you tell more about what you mean by 'right hitting shoulder' never diping below the front? If you look at the elbow of some pro fh's the elbow is 'low', but if you have a 'low' elbow or what you call an abbreviated stroke, then how can the hitting shoulder not dip below the front shoulder?

No, you're correct -- it depends on the kind of FH you're executing. In your stroke, you were opening the racquet face almost all the way and straighten the arm a little before initiating the forward swing. Which is similar to how many WTA players hit their stroke. In that style, it's hitting (right) shoulder at or above front (left) shoulder. If you need to hit a really low ball, your whole body (i.e. knees bend) has to drop to that level.

The actual rule of thumb is, you don't let the back shoulder "cross" the horizontal plane defined by your front shoulder. You either set your takeback below or above that plane, and keep it in that area. You will also find that your forward swing will be different depending on which one you choose. The "area" where you get better extension and where the POC is more out in front is the correct one. In your stroke, that would likely be where your back shoulder is above or at level with your front shoulder in the takeback.

Regarding the unit turn/footwork, after you take a step out to the ball with the closest foot, would you continue turning your shoulders with your left arm/hand?

No -- it should be passive. It's really hard to unlearn, so what you first want to do is leave out the left arm altogether. Just leave the left arm to your side through the whole stroke. It'll feel awkward because you won't have the proper balance, but it'll get you to turn with the body.

 

[sharpy]

Tricky,

Heres another video

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f2qSKGB4sKU

So this is a wta stroke?

 

[tricky]

It's close to one. You want the takeback to be a little higher, where the back shoulder starts above the front. Also, again, the arm set

http://www.easitennis2.com/PowerClinic/StabilityAndPower.htm

BTW, I'm not implying one stroke is inferior than the other. This style of stroke generates a lot of power, and Courier has a similar style.

 

[herosol]

Tricky,

Heres another video

http://youtube.com/watch?v=f2qSKGB4sKU

So this is a wta stroke?

What is so weird, is not really the stroke but man you take giant leaps and you are sure flat-footed WAY TO MUCH.

Yes you split step, but you split step with your entire foot planted. Of course if you're a just a weekend warrior, or don't play junior tournaments at any level or even a high school varsity team, then you're fine. But even when competing with a Mid-Division Singles 2 Player in High School, you would be late to every shot.

Remember on the court. There is no reason to have heels touching the floor.
Always on Toes.

My god, i have so many blisters/callouses, being on my toes all the time.
I even run sometimes with no heels. That's house tennis players run lol.

 

[sharpy]

It's close to one. You want the takeback to be a little higher, where the back shoulder starts above the front. Also, again, the arm set

http://www.easitennis2.com/PowerClinic/StabilityAndPower.htm

BTW, I'm not implying one stroke is inferior than the other. This style of stroke generates a lot of power, and Courier has a similar style.

Would you like to finish whatever you were saying about the arm?

 

[tricky]

Would you like to finish whatever you were saying about the arm?

Haha. Yeah . . .

Yeah all you need to do is set your non-hitting arm a little lower. Just below chest level works fine. It's the last thing you'd work on after you've looked at the feet and unit turn.

 

[sharpy]

Haha. Yeah . . .

Yeah all you need to do is set your non-hitting arm a little lower. Just below chest level works fine. It's the last thing you'd work on after you've looked at the feet and unit turn.

sorry but this requires further questions.

I've just watched a few wta players and really they do have their nonhitting arm real low, but they dont really get a full straight arm either.

So what is it now? Actively making the right shoulder shoulder/elbow therefore higher
or is it keeping the nonhitting arm lower? Im confused, sorry.

What player would you say my stroke most closely represents?, so i can get a better picture of what I have to do.

And one other thing, if you were to describe exactly my stroke, is it pronating or supinating on the backswing? And also how could you tell this is a wta style fh?

 

[Pusher]

Hello everyone, heres a video of my forehand.. Any suggestions on how I can improve my forehand? Of all my strokes, my forehand has got to be my weakest link.

Constructive critiscism is very much appreciated. thanks


http://youtube.com/watch?v=oI8yQ7cDeaU

Sharpy, your technique is OK but I've seen 12 year old girls hit harder. Don't be afraid to ratchet up your intensity. Start hitting your forehand hard, really hard, and then you will see if your technique is good enough. I think you're one of those guys that needs to start with power and then work on technique.

Good luck.

 

[HappyChappy]

swing as fast as you can, use as much spin as you need to keep it in and then go from there.

 

[boojay]

Hey, your forehand looks a lot like my hitting partner with the orange shirt, except you finish across more often and he windshield wipes like a biznit.

You'll probably find in a match or intense rally that you'll lose directional control quite often if you do indeed hit like him. There's something about his takeback (and yours) that slows him down, causing him to hit late when faced with heavier paced balls.

edited: I'd like to add that the "slowing down" part during the takeback wouldn't be a problem with an earlier preparation. I have the same problem myself.

 

[tricky]

And one other thing, if you were to describe exactly my stroke, is it pronating or supinating on the backswing? And also how could you tell this is a wta style fh?

I took a look at your side-view video clip, and I realized I misread what you did in your stroke. I wasn't really paying attention how your racquet face was rotating in your takeback. Usually when the racquet face opens toward the back fence, that is a sign of a WTA-style stroke. But, through most of your takeback, you're pronating your forearm, and I wasn't looking for that.

The stuff on the unit turn and footwork still stands. But it looks like you're really really close to getting the slingshot takeback down. I'm actually excited about this!

What's correct
1) For this stroke, your front shoulder is correctly above the back shoulder. The height of the non-hitting arm is correct.
2) The way you set your racquet tip at unit turn is correct.
3) At height of takeback, everything looks good.
4) You're correctly pronating after you've reached the height of takeback.

The issue:

Even though you're correctly pronating your forearm after the height of takeback, you're actually supinating too quickly and you're actively straightening out the arm. Due to both factors, when you reach full extension, your racquet face is now open to the back fence, and your wrist is very laid back. Because of that position, you find yourself supinating -- while still in your takeback -- to scoop your arm out of that position, so that you can initiate your forward swing. If you tried initiating your forward swing while still in this position, your hitting arm would not open up correctly.

Solution:

This turns out to be really easy to fix.

Once you've reached the height of takeback . . .

1) Let gravity drop the racquet and finish taking the racquet back, just as you would do in a normal FH stroke.

2) Pronate the forearm slowly until you initiate the forward swing. You pronate continously until the end of takeback, but you do "just enough." From the height of takeback to the end of takeback, you may end up only supinating your forearm about 20 or so degrees.

3) Completely ignore the arm. Don't intentionally straighten the arm. Let the arm relax. You will find that when you do steps 1 + 2, the arm will do "its thing." Don't be concerned with whether the arm straightens or not. As soon as you do, it'll disrupt the flow of the takeback.

4) It helps to visualize the racquet tip still pointing between right side fence and net, as the racquet falls. This can help make initiating the forward swing easier.

 

[sharpy]

Solution:

This turns out to be really easy to fix.

Once you've reached the height of takeback . . .

1) Let gravity drop the racquet and finish taking the racquet back, just as you would do in a normal FH stroke.

2) Supinate the forearm slowly until you initiate the forward swing. You supinate continously until the end of takeback, but you do "just enough." From the height of takeback to the end of takeback, you may end up only supinating your forearm about 20 or so degrees.

3) Completely ignore the arm. Don't intentionally straighten the arm. Let the arm relax. You will find that when you do steps 1 + 2, the arm will do "its thing." Don't be concerned with whether the arm straightens or not. As soon as you do, it'll disrupt the flow of the takeback.

4) It helps to visualize the racquet tip still pointing between right side fence and net, as the racquet falls. This can help make initiating the forward swing easier.

tricky.... from wta to slingshot? I thought you were supposed to know what your doing, coach! I was going to change up my forehand once again today because its so frustrating. Way too many mishits.

Please explain #2 more. What do you mean by supinating way too early? How do you stop supinating too early?

#3. Its really tempting not to straighten the arm to lower the racket, it feels like the racket wont go anywhere otherwise.

 

[tennisthehilife]

sharpy, I think you just need to
-Move into the ball, weight into the ball.
-Use more your legs, hips, torso, shoulders. Less arm.
-Stay on your toes.

Practice that a few days then post up a new vid to see how your doing.

I wouldn't worry about anything else until you try those first. And keep it simple, don't over think it.

 

[tricky]

tricky.... from wta to slingshot? I thought you were supposed to know what your doing, coach! I was going to change up my forehand once again today because its so frustrating. Way too many mishits.

Yeah, yeah . . . blame youtube!

Just want to add that there are underlying issues still with the unit turn and feet. That's going to continue creating problems for you. This is more esoteric, left-field stuff . . .

Please explain #2 more. What do you mean by supinating way too early? How do you stop supinating too early?

I should have said pronating (was about to change that when you replied.)
You should pronate from top to end of takeback, but you want to pronate slowly, so that by the end of your takeback, your forearm has turned only a little bit (about 20-40 degrees tops.) This way, your wrist won't lay back, and your forearm won't be constricted. It's similar to what you're doing, but you just do it more "subtlely" or "less of it."

#3. Its really tempting not to straighten the arm to lower the racket, it feels like the racket wont go anywhere otherwise.

This is what's happening right now with your takeback. When you pronate aggressively or quickly, at some point, your forearm can't rotate anymore. Then you'll have to actively or manually straighten out the arm to give your forearm more room to rotate. You don't want that, because it leads to what you're experiencing now.

However if you pronate the forearm well within its normal range, then this doesn't occur, and then the arm naturally stretches out as the racquet drops. You will find that even just slightly turning the forearm downwards does that.

 

[sharpy]

tricky,

trickster, if I'm catching you correctly here, the solution is:

pronate forearm less at the height of the takeback, which will lead to an automatic straightening of the arm??

Isn't all the forearm pronation accomplished prior to dropping the racket down and straighthening it?

 

[A.Davidson]

Haven't read the majority of the other opinions, so feel free to disregard this if it has already been said:

Try pulling your racket further back during the beginning of the stroke; rather than hitting the ball harder, this will increase depth and velocity without killing the ball, as you seem like more a finesse player.

 

[tricky]

pronate forearm less at the height of the takeback, which will lead to an automatic straightening of the arm??

Exactly. Pronation + gravity = elbow stretches out by itself. A little goes a long way.

Don't be too concerned how much it straightens out. You just want a more natural flow with this.

Isn't all the forearm pronation accomplished prior to dropping the racket down and straighthening it?

Nah, and that is what was causing the problems. That wasn't clear until I saw the side video. It wouldn't have been easy to pick it out had you shown just stills.

 

[sharpy]

do you think this matter is causing the excessive amount of mishits?

 

[tricky]

I think it will help. For one thing, your swing will be much shorter, and your cadence will be much better. Right now, you actually execute two separate backswings in succession in your takeback, and it's kinda amazing you've been able to hit the ball as consistently as you have.

THAT said, I think the mishits are coming mostly from your unit turn, which is related to the feet. Your POC is way too close to your body. You may be slightly late to the ball, and your body may be constricting your swing, because you open up way too soon before the racquet comes around. That is all due to the feet and unit turn.

In a sense, it looks a bit like as if you were playing ping pong. I think going through the progression from page one will help.

The slingshot and all the other neat variations of the FH are fun to experiment, but it's also understood that all this stuff is fairly advanced. Ideally, you would have had all the body stuff fairly worked out before giving it a go, even if it meant throwing out ANY takeback altogether initially.

 

[sharpy]

yea. i've noticed I open up too soon as evidenced by the 'flying' left arm.

Just to review the unit turn order it's

feet, and hip turn which gets you to 45 degrees turned, then you use the left hand to turn the shoulders more to about 90 degrees or squared shoulders to net, then you let go with the left hand and enter height of takeback?

correct me if im wrong

 

[tricky]

Forcing yourself to use your right foot (i.e. foot closer to ball on FH wing) first would help a lot. When you cross over like you do, this constricts how much you can turn your hip. And if you can't turn your hip, you can't really establish your point of contact.

feet, and hip turn which gets you to 45 degrees turned, then you use the left hand to turn the shoulders more to about 90 degrees or squared shoulders to net, then you let go with the left hand and enter height of takeback?

The left hand should passively lengthen out through almost the entire unit turn. But, in practice, there's still a kind of "nudge" with the left hand that occurs just before you let go. This will be easier to resolve once you learn to set your feet correctly.

For these kind of FHs, it's helpful to think of "sit and lift" to key off the unit turn. What you'd do is starting lowering your butt a little by bending at the hips flexors. A little bit is all you need to set it up the unit turn. This also helps preventing you from using your left arm to set the unit turn. Also, sit and lift only works if the footwork is correct. If you try crossing over your legs and then sitting, you'll be in a really awkward position.

 

[sharpy]

So, the unit turn and footwork is the cause of all this? (opening up too early, poc, head position) Sounds a little strange, but then again tennis is that kind of strange game.

I'll try fixing the above problems and see what happens.

Also, starting with the foot closest to ball first implies that its lateral movement, but what if i need to step up in the court, which foot? Or run around inside-out?

 

[tricky]

From what I saw in the video, it looks like it. Even though your stance was fairly neutral, your body was almost open to the net when you set up your unit turn. That would cause big problems with any stroke.

Also, starting with the foot closest foot first implies that its lateral movement, but what if i need to step up in the court, which foot? Or run around inside-out?

If you need to step up, it's still the foot closest. Same with inside-out, (usually the right foot still steps to the right, but behind you.)

Papas did a pretty good with the high level reasoning (court geometry) for the feet to work like this. His stance recommendations are not ideal for this stroke style, BUT the stuff about ball trajectory and so on still holds.

http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/step1.html
http://www.revolutionarytennis.com/step2.html

If you try the drill with catching the ball with your racquet (while your lower back is relatively straight), you'll see how your feet should work. It'll come naturally.