Ok, I cannot hit an overhead. I also have a weak serve. But most importantly, I cannot hit an overhead. Everytime i try to I miss.
If the lob comes directly towards me, I hit it long or into the back fence.
If the lob is a little behind me, it goes into the net or into the back fence.
The only overhead I can it is a short one where I just smack the ball down onto the ground.
How can I fix this? What can I practice to fix this? Any techinque tips?
I used to have a major problem with overheads as well, so I know exactly how you feel. The overhead is the most difficult shot to learn in tennis, I'd even say it's more difficult than a serve. When you serve, you have control over where you want to toss the ball AND your feet stays stationary, which is not the case during an overhead.
Here are some tips which I'm sure you'll find useful:
1.
Watch some vids of pros hitting overheads. If you don't know what the correct form is supposed to look like, then there's no point in showing you anything else. Pay attention to everything, their feet, where they're facing, what's their off-hand doing, what's their racquet doing, their elbows, their elbows, their knee-bends, their follow-through, their wrist snap, all of it.
2. You should realize this if you've analyzed the videos thoroughly, but I will say it anyhow,
make sure you stand sideways to the ball.
3.
Your non-dominant hand should be pointing up, toward the ball, and keep it up until you swing through the ball. This motion is very much like a serve when you keep your tossing arm up.
4.
Bend your knees a little bit, again just like the serve.
5.
Timing is key! Make sure that the ball is still high when you go for an overhead, if it's too low it'll go toward the net. How can you tell the correct height? For most people, it's just simply their
service toss height.
6.
Stay calm and relaxed. Don't try and force a lot of power into your overheads, you don't need to.
First reason: a lot of power comes from timing and transferring your bodyweight into the shot, it has little to do with how hard you can swing.
Second reason: a lot of players have a tough time returning overheads, no matter how lightly you hit it, as long as it's not going toward their comfort zone.
Most people are scared of returning overheads, mainly because they're expecting their opponents to do something crazy with it, therefore they've pretty much mentally gave up on the point already. All you need to do is get the overhead in, and try to hit it to where they're not, it's as simple as that.
Remember how you feel when you send up a lob for someone else to overhead? Yea, that's how your opponents will feel as well, so just focus on timing, placement and form. Without good form, your overheads will be too weak to do anything, form alone will give you all the power you need.
