loose grip and decreasing tension is the key - thank you very much! This tension gave me golfer's elbow but the blessing is, now I have to learn the right way! Thanks again.
Happy Holidays! I'm proud to let you know that I have finally finished my book that I've spent years of research and writing to finish. I think you will find the information useful as I wrote it in the lens of someone wanting to improve their tennis game through technique, mental toughness and fitness. You can check it out here: www.amazon.com/dp/1693364743?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 If there are other friends of yours that may be interested, please pass on the information. I appreciate it!
I think that the most important part of the backswing is when you move your wrist forward, as you show us, and we can get more power effortlesly, it's amazing how much power you can get, thanks Ben great tip.
Thanks again for the instruction. It's interesting to watch Fabio Fognini (well its interesting to watch this hot headed Medeterranean for a number of reasons... ), but it's interesting to see this lag operation perhaps in its purest form. He has no takeback of his racket whatsover, yet he generates a ton of racket speed with the technique that you have been demonstrating.
Exactly! The shorter the take back, the easier you can make great contact with the ball and get the control you need to hit hard. Some players like Fabio can generate faster racquet head speed than someone like me :) I also like watching about him is how well he stands straight up when he hits. Notice his posture. He is straight up with his back and shoulders, allowing maximum power with his body. Similar to an Olympic lifter. Great talent!
Hi Ben, I enjoy your channel. I just want to point out that the "fist moving forward" is a relaxed wrist with some ulnar deviation. Its a combination of the angular momentum from the hip initiation for a "heavy ball" but this also happens with hitting a low ball on the run. If i relax my wrist it with mild grip pressure and I move forward, the racket lags behind, but anatomically it's in ulnar deviation
Part 1 is the best tip I've ever seen. Thank you so much, Ben. My forehand changed instantly. I don't even hit hard, still get more power and topspin. However, I had to practice a bit to adjust a rachet angle at contact and try not to mis-hit with my lower frame.
You are doing a good job here Ben - really fine tips; your background as a science teacher shines through... I have a video by Oscar Wegner (MTM: Finding the Ball) where he has the student grip the racket by inserting racket handle through the forefinger & middle finger, instead of having forefinger wrap around racket; very weird at first but forces student to grip with last two fingers instead and they must relax hand...
Ken Powell that's a great tip! Thanks for sharing. I'll try that with my students that I'm teaching right now. I always love learning new things especially in this sport :-)
Great. First time i hear about the pink pressure. makes sense. Gotta feel this of course as not to release the racket which will become a rocket. :) I like your teaching style, as you are a teacher in front of a classroom by profession. :) Now my main problems are: 1- my wrist turns so that the racquet strings do not square with the ball leaving a weak brushing stroke and short ball ending in the net. 2- I do not seem to place myself correctly relative to the ball ending up with an arm close to my body and only the forearm swinging with the ball ending short on the court or in the net. (no porblem with my backhand though). 3- I do not rotate well for starters legs/ hips and torso AND my arm does not extend out and back enough. This because I do not 'see' or 'track"the ball correctly in the space or the court and therefore do not adjust well ending 'crowding", Very frustrating.
Bruno Coutant thanks for the feedback! Remember adult brains are built to perform and not to learn like kids. This makes it harder for us to learn new things like this so just remember it will take time. Keep practicing and you will see improvement. Start off slow and work your way up. Good luck!
Progressions can be great for this sort of re-training of a so called "mature" mind....I played tennis throughout high school and had to "re-teach" myself a few years after....mostly due to not much coaching...developing poor technique and then going through injuries because of it. In my opinion you are best off if you have the problems you say...to seperate the movement and forehand at the start as much as possible...and work on one or the other...I would suggest the swing first logically haha...won't probably feel to rewarding the other way. But thier are drills for anticipation and you can work on your forehand or backhand technique in a living room or garage basement (something with some space for shadow swings. If you're serious about improvement it's all about baby steps. Especially when it comes to changing match habits. The mind can be your biggest crutch.
The mind is what controls the body to hit the ball :) Great advice Lee! Bruno, listen to the advice above from Lee. It's good stuff. This is why I make players shadow swing when they are trying to figure out their form. Thanks again for contributing Lee. Love the conversation of helping each other out!
Great question! I think so. I hit with a guy who was on the tour for awhile and notice my grip was too tight on the backhand (easy to do with two hands) and he showed me his grip and it was really loose and seeing his swing it's quite similar. I think the backhand would be a bit tougher though. I'll see what I can do to come up with some good tips in a video that I've learned from my experience and others :)
Short balls (and missing them)! There are a few good videos on how to handle short balls on the net either with forehand (while in play) or with a weak serve. Could you do videos on this too? I often hit too short or too long on balls that I know should be a winner.
Well, the head speed is fine, but the shoulder opens up early. The stroke works fine if the swing is earlier compared to shoulder opening up. May be some clarification is needed on the shoulder turn as well.
Right! These 3 fingers,the thumb,the index and the middle finger,are the cancer of Tennis,if you put too much pressure on the grip ! The Graal is that trick ! Only pressure level 1 that s it
Agreed! Great inquiry. What works for me is that I use the same concept but swing up at the ball. This allows a more natural motion of the racquet swing path (going up) than for me to drive down at the ball. This is the case whenever the ball is not in my strike zone. I'll swing more up with a loose grip rather than forward. Not the easiest to do as you said but hopefully that helped a bit!
I think what TNT court may mean is by putting the hand further down on the handle where the pinky is now at the end/off the racquet handle, this allows more loose racquet head whip. I find this gives me more power on the forehand and on the serve. I welcome your thoughts, Ben.
Happy Holidays! I'm proud to let you know that I have finally finished my book that I've spent years of research and writing to finish. I think you will find the information useful as I wrote it in the lens of someone wanting to improve their tennis game through technique, mental toughness and fitness. You can check it out here: www.amazon.com/dp/1693364743?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 If there are other friends of yours that may be interested, please pass on the information. I appreciate it!
Hey Nick. Good question! I will cover this in a video soon but I'll do my best with words. When the racquet is to your side and the strings are facing the ground, relax your grip. You will hopefully notice that the racquet head naturally drops down further than the handle. That is the key in ensuring the racquet is below the ball. You can also try this: while taking your swing to meet the ball, imagine drag the racquet head on the ground, ensuring you are leading with the butt of your racquet head and the top of the racquet head is down. I hope that helps!
