First of all, for just playing (seriously) for a year, You are doing well- not ready for The US Open, but nothing seriously wrong.
One thing that will help is practice and becoming sensitive to the feeling you get when everything seems to gel- as you strike the ball
unforced and natural.
Most of what people will tell you is things like, your arm should do this, your wrist should move this way, your feet should be in this
position, your hips and shoulders... your racket... and it's not that they are wrong- it's just that those things should not be "forced"-
and focused on as if you are cobbling together your stroke from bits and pieces- rather think of it as all those bits and pieces will happen naturally,
without thinking about or forcing.
When I was in jr high, some neighbor kids and I took judo lessons in the summer at the city center- just for that one summer.
Years (15?) later I bought a bicycle and on the way home from Carl's jr. I didn't notice the RR tracks crossing the road.The front wheel
turned 90 degrees, stuck in the groove, and I flew through the air, did a complete flip, landed with a perfect shoulder roll and stood up unscratched.
The point (if there is one) is that all of that happened automatically- without thinking about all the individual components of a complex
shock-absorbing roll- and that's kind of how it should be with tennis.
So, try this:
1. Make some practice (air) swings with your forehand and pay attention to the forces acting on your body- how your arm swings, bends, resists, flexes-
Notice your balance, shifting of weight, racket-head path and so on- but mostly (at this point) notice your contact point- its height and position relative
to your body.
2. Now that you have discovered your "sweet spot" the next step is to make sure you get into (as much as humanly possible) that same relationship to the ball
every time.
3. So, to get into that position, work on your movement. anticipation, perception. If you can, set the ball machine to vary placements between forehands and backhands.
If it does not have that feature, work on moving around yourself around to alternate forehands and backhands.
4. Tennis is not just about getting to the ball and hitting it, it's more about controlling the ball- so each time you get yourself in position, imaging your
racket heads pathway through the ball and height over net to send that ball where you want it with the spin you need
5. If you need extra help (and can afford it) find a coach who will work with you- someone who knows the process, because some tweaks are minor-
just fine tuning.
6. If poor movement continues to be a problem, you might try lessons in dancing, gymnastics- something like that- juggling, perhaps,
maybe jump rope.
7. I haven't actually tried this next idea, so it may be completely inane. But try it anyway and see what happens.
Take your best swing (forehand) that you practiced up above- but instead of using a racket, use a broom- one of those smaller brooms that
come with a dustpan clipped onto the stick. As you begin your motion, notice that the butt-end of the broomstick moves/pulls forward while the
head-end lags behind because mass tends to resist changes in motion. Eventually the head speed will catch up to the butt speed and as it accelerates will begin to move forward
until it (the broom) becomes perpendicular to your body. that moment of highest speed should occur in that place in relation to your body
that you have already determined to be the most natural spot to strike the ball.
What should i do to avoid the mistake (i dont even understand the mistake, sorry).
Can you elaborate that more or give me a video that explains what i should be doing or is there a video which showcases my mistake here(and maybe the other one stated by you?).
