How can I improve my serves and ground strokes (youtube clips inside)?
- Thread starter Longbow
- Start date
MMmh I can recognize one of my errors in your backhand 
Watch your left leg coming behind your front leg ! It's really obvious in the second video (0'39"). Same thing on your FHs in the last video. You should always be relaxed, but solid at impact, here it looks like you are somehow "dislocated" (sry for the wrong phrasing, not a native speaker). Hitting this way ("dislocated" kindof) lead me to frame a lot of shots. Now that I'm more "dense", "solid", "compact", but still relaxed I miss way less shots.
Try to stick your feet into the ground when you're hitting a backhand, your stroke will be more consistent this way. For the FH, you can let your right feet move forward, but just "following" your hips rotation (not sure if it's crystal clear :\ )
Also, I think your left arm should be a little more tense at impact (backhand, still), your elbow looks (from the second video) bent.
You should hit the ball in front of you. If you need some advice on how to do so, imagine :
- that you're riding a bicycle and the racquet's grip is the handlebar
- that you should punch the ball at impact (litterally as you would punch someone in the face, your arm should be tensed at impact)
Watch your left leg coming behind your front leg ! It's really obvious in the second video (0'39"). Same thing on your FHs in the last video. You should always be relaxed, but solid at impact, here it looks like you are somehow "dislocated" (sry for the wrong phrasing, not a native speaker). Hitting this way ("dislocated" kindof) lead me to frame a lot of shots. Now that I'm more "dense", "solid", "compact", but still relaxed I miss way less shots.
Try to stick your feet into the ground when you're hitting a backhand, your stroke will be more consistent this way. For the FH, you can let your right feet move forward, but just "following" your hips rotation (not sure if it's crystal clear :\ )
Also, I think your left arm should be a little more tense at impact (backhand, still), your elbow looks (from the second video) bent.
You should hit the ball in front of you. If you need some advice on how to do so, imagine :
- that you're riding a bicycle and the racquet's grip is the handlebar
- that you should punch the ball at impact (litterally as you would punch someone in the face, your arm should be tensed at impact)
unclenimrod
Rookie
OP: This is a really great baseline to work with. Your strokes are relatively fluid and repeatable. Don't look for too much advice...just compare your video with someone's you admire. Watch YouTube videos of one handed backhands from professionals and pay close attention to their feet, their extension (seems to be your main issue as far as power goes), and how much they use their cores. Your strokes can be immediately improved by mimicking better footwork and better use of your core (which includes your upper legs and hips). Otherwise keep going...your strokes are very solid.
Unclenimrod, could you explain more on what you mean by extension? Thanks!
unclenimrod
Rookie
Sure! You seem to abbreviate your ground stoke swings. You are brushing the back of the ball to keep it in the court. Now you need to add hitting through the ball, really win the moment of contact, in order to improve your strokes. Use your core to load up and let the racquet move through the ball and out beyond the contact point while brushing the back. You are finishing your swings on purpose, whereas an advanced level tennis player's strokes finish as a result of their release. Watch video of a pro's forehand and backhand that you admire, and watch how far their racquet travels in front of them before finishing. You sometimes do this on your backhand really well in the video. Just remember to load up on your legs (even bend the knees some more) and really release into a nice full stroke.
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Thank you! Your explanation rings a bell. I had multiple coaches/friends pointing out the problem from different perspectives: "more penetration," "move your contact point forward," "extend your arm forward," "hitting in front of the body," "pushing/punching while brushing," "throw your racquet forward," etc. Also thank you for the reminder of loading up on legs/bending knees. I will incorporate these ideas in the practice. Hopefully I will post some updated videos soon, to compare.
On both your backhand and forehand (but especially your forehand), you take the racquet back over your head during the preparation before you swing. This will make your stroke slow to start (no way to return a hard serve) and also put you in a bad balance (because you are pulling back and up to start). Even if you eventually settle to a good starting position, you are wasting a lot of energy for no benefit. Instead, start with the racquet in front of you at chest height and prepare by rotating the shoulders without raising the racquet. I think it feels like being in swivel chair.
My other suggestion is that you want to get more underneath the ball on your drive/topspin ground strokes. Your stroke now looks like a "U" that starts high, goes down to the level of the ball and the swings back up. Ideally, you want to be looping under the ball and then swinging up and through the ball. The more you get the racquet head under the ball, the more topspin.
My other suggestion is that you want to get more underneath the ball on your drive/topspin ground strokes. Your stroke now looks like a "U" that starts high, goes down to the level of the ball and the swings back up. Ideally, you want to be looping under the ball and then swinging up and through the ball. The more you get the racquet head under the ball, the more topspin.
Nellie, thank you! Last night I was watching a youtube clip by Coach Mauro Marcos talking about exactly the same problem as you pointed out. He said that in the ready position I should raise up the racquet head bit, instead of low close to belly button. Proper ready-position racquet head height leads to a quick "turn-ish" compact nike-swoosh-like preparation (unit-turn). In contrast, low ready-position racquet height leads to a big-loop arm-dominant "arm-ish" preparation (exactly my problem!).
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Simon Paterson
Rookie
Forehand: When hitting your forehand all your weight is on your front leg 
You need to get into a semi open stance position as soon as possible, bend the knees, load your weight on your back leg (right) and as you swing your weight should come through naturally onto your front leg and your body will turn into an open stance position (the ready position). This will add heaps of power to your shot because of weight transference. It will also aid you to follow through further with your stroke. You seem to stop your follow through prematurely. Try catching the racket with your left hand around shoulder height. This will ensure you are fully following through. Thanks
You need to get into a semi open stance position as soon as possible, bend the knees, load your weight on your back leg (right) and as you swing your weight should come through naturally onto your front leg and your body will turn into an open stance position (the ready position). This will add heaps of power to your shot because of weight transference. It will also aid you to follow through further with your stroke. You seem to stop your follow through prematurely. Try catching the racket with your left hand around shoulder height. This will ensure you are fully following through. ThanksSimilar threads
