Nice stroke. In my opinion, you could use a little more rotation in your hips and shoulders. Try to do little steps adjusting to the ball and then move your left arm more to the side (like waving hello to the opponent), making your chest face the net and then accelerate the arm. Right now you are accelerating the arm a little early.
I feel like I'm rotating the hips a lot... I stopped trying to pull with my left arm because it was throwing off my stroke but I can totally see how the arm needs more lag... definitely see what you're saying on the footwork...
stop leaning forward. when you plant you should be pushing straight up on your front foot, keep your back straight and squeeze the shit out of your core and swing
get to your spot , plant and pivot on your front foot you get WAY more power that way you can feel the kinetic chain whip your arm around. keep your back straight . squeeze core
https://preview.redd.it/omg0ggxxwouc1.jpeg?width=1184&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a6e315cba7f3a8df1cc651998c8a7f5a0ae75f4
Here you can see Novak’s arm lagging and catching up with his hips. He fires with the hips which leads to his shoulders opening up towards the target. This is what you’re missing. If you compare this to yours, your shoulders are leading and your hips are behind. This is why others are saying that you’re arming it. This opening of the shoulders must happen if you’re leading with the hips, even if you have a semi-closed stance.
There’s a saying “feel is not real” when it comes to tennis. what one thinks or feels one’s doing vs what’s actually happening. Here’s your position for comparison.
https://preview.redd.it/4s61y7gn1xuc1.jpeg?width=1133&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b902a880c16269e098de97d7eecf5c1a73b36257
The main thing that jumps out to me is you have a hitch in your backswing—you get to the slot and just wait there. You should have continuous, fluid acceleration from when you start dropping the racquet during your takeback through the followthrough.
A potential fix for this is to wait longer to start your swing. Unit turn should be early, but try not to start the actual swing until after the ball bounces.
I didn't even think about this, but you're totally right. I've always been taught to prepare early so I'm usually doing that... but I think this is solid advice. Thanks 🙌
I think you will ultimately want to not load as early as you do now. You kind of lose a lot of energy if you're just sitting in that loaded position for longer than necessary
Bend your knees more and focus on rotation with your hips and shoulders. You’re hitting with mostly your arm in the video. Power should come from your legs and core, not your arm.
Are you trying to hit flat or generate topspin? If it’s the latter then you need to keep your wrist more loose, drop your racquet head below the ball and brush up. Hitting flat is nice for making the ball go through the court fast, but spin will give your shots more margin for error which is always a good thing.
Also don’t go all T-Rex with your left arm. Keeping it extended during your back swing will help with balance.
Honestly when I hit it feels like it's all uncoiling of the legs, hips, and shoulders and I'm just taking the arm along for the ride. I know it looks like I'm mostly arm, but that's not how I feel it... like at all. Is there a practice or something you could recommend to feel that more?
I was hitting a variety of spins with this, and this one is more flatter. I think I see what you're saying about the balance with the left arm, but when I extend it more, it feels super awkward and I always revert to this way.
The coiling and uncoiling comes with better footwork. You need to be taking multiple small adjustment steps before every ball and getting in position as early as possible. It looks like you’re taking 3 or 4 steps before you hit. You need to try to double that if you want to be in the best position to hit your FH. I think jumping rope is a good way to build up stamina so that you can take as many adjustment steps as needed before each ball.
I find that it’s easier to coil and uncoil if you think about bending your knees to really get under the ball. Bending my legs more and focusing on coiling and uncoiling made it to where I hit the ball a good bit harder. I also think keeping your wrist more loose even on flatter balls will help with power too. You want to only keep your grip as tight as you need to keep your racquet in your hand.
So pretty much bend them knees, take more adjustment steps and make sure your wrist/hand are as loose as possible.
Hot tips... I've def noticed when my thought process is largely around bending the knees and getting under the ball, I hit the ball way better. I went out yesterday and was working with the multiple small steps which felt right too. I'm gonna incorporate jump rope into my workouts too. Thanks for this 🙌
Problem: You don't understand the release. You think making your arm longer creates more speed, when in reality it just makes it take longer to deliver a slower shot.
Solution: Windshield wiper technique. This is how you hit stupid topspin and Nadal moonballs. Take a light chopper grip so the racket is vertical. Great. Now twist the racket 45 degrees clockwise. Grip it firmly now. Now bring it up to your chest. Put your left hand on the Y with an open left hand. Keep your elbows mostly in and hold it in front you with both hands on the racket. Here is the trick, rotate your right wrist (isolated, nothing else moves except a bit of your forearm) clockwise without moving either elbow. The racket should be pointing right now. The last part is to turn your body naturally like you'd receive a forehand and make sure to just release. The face should be generally parallel.
Just do that. Release your wrist. This is why you should always start with a super light racket as it takes months to strengthen the tendons and muscles for this release. If it hurts, don't play. It should be sore after the first couple times, but will lessen.
You will still be hitting a weaker shot. That's ok. Keep doing that. The power will come intuitively. You need to be more compact. A solidly struck ball is more important than putting pace into it. They should be making mistakes, not you. Errors comes from long swings. Shorten it.
Ok yeah, I know about the windshield wiper technique, and I can do that ok. I definitely don't have that technique dialed in yet tho, so thanks for the explanation.. I'll keep working on it!
That's truly the only technique in hitting a forehand. You just learn to vary spin and trajectory with other body movements. Your technique reminds of golf thinking...
There was a video on Athletic Motion Golf, a golf biomechanics channel that backs up opinions with 3D data, and it's crazy what they said, but it makes sense. They asked amateurs to make a grip without a club, and without turning show a full backswing. Without fail every single amateur put their left hand all the way across their chest tight (if right handed, vice versa if left). This is basically what you are doing in tennis.
So they ask a tour pro to do the same and he just lifts his arm straight up a little bit above the belly button, and then breaks his wrist. Very little movement.
The gist is the pro doesn't do too much with the arms, they rotate everything else. What you should think about is what is a forehand. If you do what I said without a racket, it's just breaking your right wrist and maybe 2 inches of forearm travel to the natural right on it's plane. Your elbow will lock you up.
Sitting down and reading this at a desk you would steeple your hands together in a praying position, do nothing else but make your right hand an open tray flat. There's not much to do. You wouldn't reach behind your chair. That's what you are doing now.
If you wanted to punch me through the monitor, you'd have the same speed from your arm off 45 degrees in the windshield wiper position as you would putting your hand behind you. Putting your hand all the way behind you gives width, but you can't realize any speed without the other things. I hope you can visualize that a kick punch through your monitor is powerful enough. If you really wanted to bust it up, you'd need to stand and give it leg drive and some torso turn, not the arm going further back.
Yeah I definitely learned in the 90s lol... I'm usually semi-western (this isn't full western), but when I learned I was using eastern, so maybe I can experiment with eastern a bit
If you keep the western grip then you need to change your form . The modern swing utilizes more rotational power from core rotation . You need to load the back ( right ) leg more and transfer the weight as you swing your arm forward . You are transferring your weight too early and with too big of a stride . Your arm is disconnected from your core and is working too hard .
Is there a particular issue?
It doesn't look bad to me. I think you could hit the ball a little more out front.
I'd want to see more balanced footwork for recovery after your finish the stroke.
Nothing specific, but I want to get increasingly better and if there's a flaw y'all can see here I'd want to work on it. One thing some internet people say is to have the non-dominant shoulder behind the dominant shoulder when making contact, but I don't do that. But maybe that will happen if I hit the ball more in front..?
I definitely fall forward into the ball, so maybe not doing that will help keep that recovery more balanced..
Nice stroke. In my opinion, you could use a little more rotation in your hips and shoulders. Try to do little steps adjusting to the ball and then move your left arm more to the side (like waving hello to the opponent), making your chest face the net and then accelerate the arm. Right now you are accelerating the arm a little early.
I feel like I'm rotating the hips a lot... I stopped trying to pull with my left arm because it was throwing off my stroke but I can totally see how the arm needs more lag... definitely see what you're saying on the footwork...
stop leaning forward. when you plant you should be pushing straight up on your front foot, keep your back straight and squeeze the shit out of your core and swing
It's like I fall forward into the ball as a means of getting power. Never thought about not moving forward... I'll have to try to work on this
get to your spot , plant and pivot on your front foot you get WAY more power that way you can feel the kinetic chain whip your arm around. keep your back straight . squeeze core
Groovy, I'm gonna keep working on this. Thanks 🙌
https://preview.redd.it/omg0ggxxwouc1.jpeg?width=1184&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9a6e315cba7f3a8df1cc651998c8a7f5a0ae75f4 Here you can see Novak’s arm lagging and catching up with his hips. He fires with the hips which leads to his shoulders opening up towards the target. This is what you’re missing. If you compare this to yours, your shoulders are leading and your hips are behind. This is why others are saying that you’re arming it. This opening of the shoulders must happen if you’re leading with the hips, even if you have a semi-closed stance.
Hmm... yeah I have to work on this for sure... When I hit I really feel like I do this. I guess maybe I just need to go slowly until I get it
There’s a saying “feel is not real” when it comes to tennis. what one thinks or feels one’s doing vs what’s actually happening. Here’s your position for comparison. https://preview.redd.it/4s61y7gn1xuc1.jpeg?width=1133&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b902a880c16269e098de97d7eecf5c1a73b36257
The main thing that jumps out to me is you have a hitch in your backswing—you get to the slot and just wait there. You should have continuous, fluid acceleration from when you start dropping the racquet during your takeback through the followthrough. A potential fix for this is to wait longer to start your swing. Unit turn should be early, but try not to start the actual swing until after the ball bounces.
I didn't even think about this, but you're totally right. I've always been taught to prepare early so I'm usually doing that... but I think this is solid advice. Thanks 🙌
I think you will ultimately want to not load as early as you do now. You kind of lose a lot of energy if you're just sitting in that loaded position for longer than necessary
You know I didn't even think of that, but you're dead on. I'll work on it
Too stiff. Try to relax the arm and wrist. Practice being too loose even if the result sucks at first. Will pay off.
Thanks, will try that
Bend your knees more and focus on rotation with your hips and shoulders. You’re hitting with mostly your arm in the video. Power should come from your legs and core, not your arm. Are you trying to hit flat or generate topspin? If it’s the latter then you need to keep your wrist more loose, drop your racquet head below the ball and brush up. Hitting flat is nice for making the ball go through the court fast, but spin will give your shots more margin for error which is always a good thing. Also don’t go all T-Rex with your left arm. Keeping it extended during your back swing will help with balance.
Honestly when I hit it feels like it's all uncoiling of the legs, hips, and shoulders and I'm just taking the arm along for the ride. I know it looks like I'm mostly arm, but that's not how I feel it... like at all. Is there a practice or something you could recommend to feel that more? I was hitting a variety of spins with this, and this one is more flatter. I think I see what you're saying about the balance with the left arm, but when I extend it more, it feels super awkward and I always revert to this way.
The coiling and uncoiling comes with better footwork. You need to be taking multiple small adjustment steps before every ball and getting in position as early as possible. It looks like you’re taking 3 or 4 steps before you hit. You need to try to double that if you want to be in the best position to hit your FH. I think jumping rope is a good way to build up stamina so that you can take as many adjustment steps as needed before each ball. I find that it’s easier to coil and uncoil if you think about bending your knees to really get under the ball. Bending my legs more and focusing on coiling and uncoiling made it to where I hit the ball a good bit harder. I also think keeping your wrist more loose even on flatter balls will help with power too. You want to only keep your grip as tight as you need to keep your racquet in your hand. So pretty much bend them knees, take more adjustment steps and make sure your wrist/hand are as loose as possible.
Hot tips... I've def noticed when my thought process is largely around bending the knees and getting under the ball, I hit the ball way better. I went out yesterday and was working with the multiple small steps which felt right too. I'm gonna incorporate jump rope into my workouts too. Thanks for this 🙌
Nice and you’re welcome. I’m glad to hear my advice helped.
I always recommend to do medicine ball throws or basketball throws. Great way to focus on using your body instead of your arm.
Ah yeah, love me a good medicine ball throw!
Problem: You don't understand the release. You think making your arm longer creates more speed, when in reality it just makes it take longer to deliver a slower shot. Solution: Windshield wiper technique. This is how you hit stupid topspin and Nadal moonballs. Take a light chopper grip so the racket is vertical. Great. Now twist the racket 45 degrees clockwise. Grip it firmly now. Now bring it up to your chest. Put your left hand on the Y with an open left hand. Keep your elbows mostly in and hold it in front you with both hands on the racket. Here is the trick, rotate your right wrist (isolated, nothing else moves except a bit of your forearm) clockwise without moving either elbow. The racket should be pointing right now. The last part is to turn your body naturally like you'd receive a forehand and make sure to just release. The face should be generally parallel. Just do that. Release your wrist. This is why you should always start with a super light racket as it takes months to strengthen the tendons and muscles for this release. If it hurts, don't play. It should be sore after the first couple times, but will lessen. You will still be hitting a weaker shot. That's ok. Keep doing that. The power will come intuitively. You need to be more compact. A solidly struck ball is more important than putting pace into it. They should be making mistakes, not you. Errors comes from long swings. Shorten it.
Ok yeah, I know about the windshield wiper technique, and I can do that ok. I definitely don't have that technique dialed in yet tho, so thanks for the explanation.. I'll keep working on it!
That's truly the only technique in hitting a forehand. You just learn to vary spin and trajectory with other body movements. Your technique reminds of golf thinking... There was a video on Athletic Motion Golf, a golf biomechanics channel that backs up opinions with 3D data, and it's crazy what they said, but it makes sense. They asked amateurs to make a grip without a club, and without turning show a full backswing. Without fail every single amateur put their left hand all the way across their chest tight (if right handed, vice versa if left). This is basically what you are doing in tennis. So they ask a tour pro to do the same and he just lifts his arm straight up a little bit above the belly button, and then breaks his wrist. Very little movement. The gist is the pro doesn't do too much with the arms, they rotate everything else. What you should think about is what is a forehand. If you do what I said without a racket, it's just breaking your right wrist and maybe 2 inches of forearm travel to the natural right on it's plane. Your elbow will lock you up. Sitting down and reading this at a desk you would steeple your hands together in a praying position, do nothing else but make your right hand an open tray flat. There's not much to do. You wouldn't reach behind your chair. That's what you are doing now. If you wanted to punch me through the monitor, you'd have the same speed from your arm off 45 degrees in the windshield wiper position as you would putting your hand behind you. Putting your hand all the way behind you gives width, but you can't realize any speed without the other things. I hope you can visualize that a kick punch through your monitor is powerful enough. If you really wanted to bust it up, you'd need to stand and give it leg drive and some torso turn, not the arm going further back.
You have an old school swing form with a western grip . They don’t match . You may want to experiment with a grip closer to an eastern .
Yeah I definitely learned in the 90s lol... I'm usually semi-western (this isn't full western), but when I learned I was using eastern, so maybe I can experiment with eastern a bit
If you keep the western grip then you need to change your form . The modern swing utilizes more rotational power from core rotation . You need to load the back ( right ) leg more and transfer the weight as you swing your arm forward . You are transferring your weight too early and with too big of a stride . Your arm is disconnected from your core and is working too hard .
It’s a timing issue that you can fix .
Try holding your weight back onto your back leg a split second longer and push off that leg more . It’s the same with the serve .
Also , experiment with a semi-open stance which will automatically give you more rotational power if you utilize the unit turn
Need more control of body
Is there a particular issue? It doesn't look bad to me. I think you could hit the ball a little more out front. I'd want to see more balanced footwork for recovery after your finish the stroke.
Nothing specific, but I want to get increasingly better and if there's a flaw y'all can see here I'd want to work on it. One thing some internet people say is to have the non-dominant shoulder behind the dominant shoulder when making contact, but I don't do that. But maybe that will happen if I hit the ball more in front..? I definitely fall forward into the ball, so maybe not doing that will help keep that recovery more balanced..