when I should really start accelerate the racquet?

[sophistrock]

I took a lesson from a tennis couch(He is playing in a D1 college teamnow) to improve my forehand. He told me after the racquet take back and at the very beginning the forward swing, I should start to accelerate the racquet.

I do somewhat see this when I watch Any Murray's forehand.

However, when I watch Federer's forehand and Berdych, I found when they start the forward swing they racquet is not that fast, it start to really accelerate when the shoulder almost parallel to the baseline and the racquet getting pretty close to the ball. To me, by doing this, Fed/Berdych can 1) time the ball at the hitting zone really well because of short accelerating distance, 2) can put their whole body behind the ball at very last moment to increase the heaviness of the ball.

Save logic for backhand swing.

Am I wrong?

thanks
-Kexin

 

[Ash_Smith]

Accelerate from the "lock in" position or " Drive position" or "butt cap pointing at the ball position" - whatever you want to call it!

See "rotation stage" - No# 5 in the sequence for a pic...

Ash

 

[sophistrock]

Very informative pics.

But on pic5, I see the shoulder - plane of body - is 15-45 degree to the net, but not "shoulder & hit facing the net". The picture makes sense, but not the "description of the picture".

I am not saying the acceleration didn't happen before pic5, but the real hard racquet acceleration seems starting from the cross-body pulling action beginning from pic5. Agree?

 

[Mr_Shiver]

I try not to think about it and just let physics do its thing. If every else is correct (weight transer, coil/uncoil, etc) then your arm will do want your body wants. Simple test, try it the way your coach says and the way you have been doing. Whichever produces the best shot is the one to use.

 

[darthpwner]

At the end of your backswing, the butt cap should point at the ball. Then you really accelerate.

 

[Blake0]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLmCqGIotM

Very informative on what you're looking for. I don't think you'd want to shorten your acceleration time. Federer's arm starts to pick up speed when he swings forward, and right around contact his forearm pronates giving him additional racket head speed that whips through the ball.

 

[5263]

find the ball with your hand, (handle area)
then accel the racket face to the ball,
with the pull up and across.

 

[ManuGinobili]

I try not to think about it and just let physics do its thing. If every else is correct (weight transer, coil/uncoil, etc) then your arm will do want your body wants. Simple test, try it the way your coach says and the way you have been doing. Whichever produces the best shot is the one to use.

Rather... let the unconscious do its thing. However, we should be armed with the knowledge of what is the right thing to do, so that our unconscious could utilize it, and also so that we would know that the stroke we just hit was right or not.

However, when I watch Federer's forehand and Berdych, I found when they start the forward swing they racquet is not that fast, it start to really accelerate when the shoulder almost parallel to the baseline and the racquet getting pretty close to the ball.
-Kexin

You're wrong. Pros or any advance players, they all start to accelerate at the "buttcap pointing at ball" position, then it gets faster and faster until the moment of contact. My point is, when they start accelerating, it doesn't just become a blur right away... it's a sequence, chain of action to build up that speed.

And oh yea, from that start, everything is already really fast... your eyes were just deceived because TV slows everything down.

 

[charliefedererer]

I took a lesson from a tennis couch(He is playing in a D1 college teamnow) to improve my forehand. He told me after the racquet take back and at the very beginning the forward swing, I should start to accelerate the racquet.

I do somewhat see this when I watch Any Murray's forehand.

However, when I watch Federer's forehand and Berdych, I found when they start the forward swing they racquet is not that fast, it start to really accelerate when the shoulder almost parallel to the baseline and the racquet getting pretty close to the ball. To me, by doing this, Fed/Berdych can 1) time the ball at the hitting zone really well because of short accelerating distance, 2) can put their whole body behind the ball at very last moment to increase the heaviness of the ball.

Save logic for backhand swing.

Am I wrong?

thanks
-Kexin

I think you are witnessing the pull (versus push) action of Fed and Berdych's strokes.

As they start the swing, they pull the racquet with the butt cap facing the ball. As they get close to contact, the arm is pronated, and the racquet rapidly accelerates rapidly forward.

Forehand Lesson 12: Point the Buttcap for Power http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4850XNU503A

push pull http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=312281

Tennis Forehand - Windshield Wiper Forehand in High Definition http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtuTHsFlfGg

Roger Federer's topspin backhand 360 degree breakdown 2.0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNdZtkKPFhA&feature=digest

 

[Blake0]

I took a lesson from a tennis couch(He is playing in a D1 college teamnow) to improve my forehand. He told me after the racquet take back and at the very beginning the forward swing, I should start to accelerate the racquet.

I do somewhat see this when I watch Any Murray's forehand.

However, when I watch Federer's forehand and Berdych, I found when they start the forward swing they racquet is not that fast, it start to really accelerate when the shoulder almost parallel to the baseline and the racquet getting pretty close to the ball. To me, by doing this, Fed/Berdych can 1) time the ball at the hitting zone really well because of short accelerating distance, 2) can put their whole body behind the ball at very last moment to increase the heaviness of the ball.

Save logic for backhand swing.

Am I wrong?

thanks
-Kexin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLmCqGIotM

Federer actually starts to accelerate when he starts swinging forward, the whipping motion you see is when he pronates his forearm to add a bit more racket head speed.

 

[5263]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLmCqGIotM
.

This is a cool vid and really show the up and across motion of modern tennis when you look for it from behind or from the position above. Actually the mentioned angles focus on the across part, which is what many conventional folks have trouble with.

 

[user92626]

In this clip, Fed doesn't drop his racket much below the contact point at all, right? This seems to be pretty flat and low percentage rally shot (after all it's a winner). It's amazing that pros know when to flatten out a shot and they could do it at will.

In contrast, I seem to hit everything with just one style -- drastic low to high and resulted in lots of topspin.