How to Hit HIGH Balls in Tennis - Forehand Guide 

No! Don't let your opponent take away your positioning!

My thoughts exactly.

but their is no reason to tilt your upper body.... just lift your arm like the pros do.... it is easier on your back...@@HammerItTennis

Awesome! Glad to help!!

Thanks for the comment! Glad you like the content.

Glad you like the video! This will help neutralize those annoying high balls and keep you in the point better!

@@HammerItTennis I tried this diagonal hit last night and absolutely ripped his high forehand. Even my hitting partner was like whoa where did that come from? I sent the link to this video. Definitely interested in the rest of your content, immediate improvement

That is awesome! Great to hear that you were able to implement so quickly into your game! Thank you for the share!

learn about the Fade.... www.congruenttennis.com/post/shot-matching-heuristics-using-fade-and-draw

Great to hear!

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the Sub!

Glad you like the content! Good luck on the court!

Thanks! Glad it helped!

Awesome! Thanks for checking out my videos. Glad you like it.

Thanks! I find that breaking down the technique helps players of all levels understand the concepts better. This allows them to be able to apply those concepts as needed.

Glad it was helpful!

Forehand slice is absolutely an option. You can really get that moving right to left and open the court up the other way. I usually try to hit a topspin shot first but if I get out of position I’ll use a slice to try to keep the ball low so my opponent can’t pick it off at the net easily. Thanks for the comment!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Hey! Thanks! Hope you're doing well!

Glad it was helpful!

Glad you like the content!

Thank you! Hope this helps you take control of the point!

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thanks!

@@HammerItTennis for sure I will use the taking it above the shoulders tilt tonite in my ladder match .

Check out my other video in which I show you some Slinger drills and settings ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WmMsQ8Q0JlQ.html

Michael Lee the Slinger puts a lot of topspin so it kicks up really well!

@@HammerItTennis Great video. What were your Slinger settings?

@@oregonzzr4980 To be honest, I do not recall the exact settings I used on this video. I am doing Slinger Bag settings videos and I will make sure to do a high ball drill!

Sorry I do not remember exactly but slow speed with pretty high launch angle! I find it easier to set up around the service line.

Thanks! Glad to help!!

@@HammerItTennis I’m 39 and just started playing last year. Your channel along with a cpl others have made all the difference. I didn’t realize this was such a difficult game to play. I spend a lot of time at the wall tho and am seeing good progress. Thanks again

@@deseancarter9643 that’s awesome! Glad you like the channel and find it helpful. Feel free to ask any questions you may have!

Thank you!!!

Thanks! glad you like the video!

You are welcome! Glad you like the content!

Thank you!

Me too

Works the same for the Bh

Appreciate it!

Thanks for the kind words! Glad you like the content!

You’re welcome!

Thank you!

Thanks! Let me know how it works for you!

How did this work for you? Thanks for watching the channel!

Thanks! Glad you like the video!

Glad you like the video! Thanks for the comment!

I really appreciate that! I always hated high balls until I learned how to better attack them so I wasn't being pushed off the court! Thanks for the comments!

Slice shots on high balls are definitely an option, but as you said it usually is to just to get the ball back deep and in the middle of the court. If I can, I'd rather try to maintain my court position and drive the ball back with pace so that I can stay offensive. I will def use a forehand slice if the ball is moving wide and I am not able to get there and I am reaching.

To be honest I don’t exactly remember, it can be a little trial and error with the speed and height adjustment to get that perfect feed! I am working on getting out a video of Slinger bag drills and settings!

Yes!!! Attack those moonballs and make them hit on the run!

@@HammerItTennis I've been trying to hit those with a high contact point and flat swing path with a closed face vs my regular forehand but it doesn't work for me. Leads to low confidence putting away those high balls and a lot of backing up - then your in Moonball wars until you get to the net or they cough up a short one. Will try this leaning to the left trick to hit the ball inside out up there as your advising and report back

Sounds good. Getting the racquet head higher than the grip as your hitting this shot really helps. Also trying to match the angle of the incoming shot with your out going shot generally makes it easier to hit. If you are trying to take a hit bouncing ball back with a flat shot you are changing the angle and it creates more complex shot trajectory calculations. Let me know how it goes!

nope, not good

😂

Maybe, but my go to would be a slice in those high ball situations. You’d still want to finish in line with shoulder racquet head up

@@HammerItTennis is it good idea at finish for high balls one hand backhand to roll wrist thumb pointing to right ? This might help bring ball dip more

Some thumb roll will allow the racquet head to extend more. But right directional rolling of the thumb will make it finish pointing up, not to the right. If you do that you’ll most likely break down at your elbow and lose that extension

Glad it was helpful!

I use the Wilson Triniti balls that Slinger recommends. Mainly because they give you a very consistent shot out of the Slinger and they obviously aren't going to go dead. Pressurized balls work just fine, but as they loose pressure and felt the shot out of the machine becomes more inconsistent. The Wilson Triniti balls are ok, a little hard.

I generally try to avoid hitting high backhands, as that is a very low percentage shot to hit. My first go to is to run around the ball and hit a forehand. If I am unable to do that, then I usually hit a slice if it is over my shoulder.

Thanks for the comment. You could let it drop but then you’ve had to back up. I like to stand my ground or work forward if I can to maintain my position. So many players have been drilled into thinking low to high to create spin, so that’s their problem when the ball is high, how do you go even higher??? What I’m trying to demonstrate is that spin first of all is created by your face angle relative to your path, so that you understand how to make different flight patterns. So if “regular” topspin is 6 to 12 rotation for example, then if you hit 5 to 11 or 4 to 10 there is still some upward launch before the ball deviates off that line from the spin. But if you are hitting across the ball say 3-9, it is very hard to also get the racquet to be going upward as you are going across, that’s why it works better on high balls already above the net.

@@HammerItTennis ok, that makes sense. Sounds like it allows you be more aggressive and keep the forward momentum. I'm going to practice this more and like that diagonal angle it produces. Nadal uses this quite a bit. thank you!

Yes! That is the whole point of keeping your hitting structure, but just changing the angle of your shoulders so that you are able to still drive and attack the ball! Great question!

Timing a jump that is specifically made to get up to hit, is probably going to be hard to time. The "jump" that you should be doing instead is the natural launching of your body up into the ball. If you are trying to think about "jumping" your probably going to be screwing up your technique in the upper body structure. If you notice in the video when I hit the ball I am off the ground, but I am in no way actively thinking of jumping. That will usually cause your feet to get out of wack. Think explode upward with your shoulders instead and your feet will naturally do their thing. Otherwise, if you are still having trouble, then try to take the ball on the rise or get back and let the ball drop back into your strike zone.

I think you should be able! I do not have any restrictions on my end. May be a viewer location issue? I’m not sure! Thanks for watching!

@@HammerItTennis I really love your videos. Keep up the good work

Wally Friend Yes, when it is landing deep you still need to hit up. When I describe the flight of the ball similar to a golf fade shot, I say it goes up, down and off to the right. You definitely still are hitting up as you hit this shot. Swing volleys are an option too but I was mainly focusing on high bouncing balls, maybe should have made that more clear. Yes depending on how high and quickly you can get to the ball, I’ll rip those out of the air as well! Thanks for the comment.

I use a semi-western, but it is a little more toward Eastern I'd agree. My wrist is firm-ish but I am allowing it to "press" through contact. This press is applying leverage. Check out these videos: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZcH_PxNL7Sc.html (how to Hammer the Ball) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--zxWTvCfFtk.html (How to get more leverage) These videos will give you a good idea of how the wrist can work to give you more leverage into the shot. And that should help your timing issue. I see alot of players that try to "snap" the wrist but instead it leads to creating a slap.

@@HammerItTennis Indeed - it's all about the "quality" of the contact.

It helps to practice if you have a ball machine and you can set the launch angle and spin to kick up a ball to work on. That's the good thing about basically hitting a high ball with the same technique as you normally would, as it is lower you just lower your shoulders. Your right shoulder always sorta points at the contact zone, so as in the video, when the ball is high, the shoulder is up at contact, and when the ball is low, it points down, and when the ball is normal height the shoulders are more level because that is the height range of the ball. So mentally, you prepare the same as you would for any other forehand, but as the ball climbs up you then have to get your shoulders inclined more.

@@HammerItTennis good !! I guess I’m the tempo of swing remains same no matter height just technique changes little bit

Himanshu Bhardwaj timing and tempo stay the same, just how you are angling your shoulders and extending

@@HammerItTennis thanks 🙏

TBH I do not really remember the exact settings. I had the elevation about all the way up and the pace slowed down. I made a video of other drills with settings shown! check it out for other drill ideas. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WmMsQ8Q0JlQ.html

I do not change my grip. That is why in the video I teach to change your shoulder plane. Changing a western grip will not allow you to adjust your shoulder plane and stay within your structure.

@@HammerItTennis Thanks for your advice!

Yes and no. Mainly the way you approach the ball will change, as you want to slide into your shot more than you do on a hard court, but the fundamental positioning relative to the ball as you are contacting it will be about the same. The ball may tend to kick off the court a little more (depending on how much spin your opponent hits) so it may get higher than it would on hard courts.

Check out this video about the Hammer, in which it shows yow the elbow position at contact. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RAj-0kGPkF0.html

Yes! You can hit the ball this way anywhere on the court, but just be aware that the ball will move left to right, so you need to aim accordingly.

Set up this video because high balls to the backhand tend to be harder to deal with than to the forehand. That is why I would try to be as proacative in getting around a high ball to the backhand and take it as a forehand. However, if you hit this shot cross court to the forehand corner it will move towards the center of the court and tend to jam a righthanded player.

Watching the ball definitely helps! However, everything happens so fast at contact that you can't really see the ball during contact. But you want to keep your focus on the ball during the rally and use your peripheral vision to keep tabs on your opponent and your target on court. You want to be able to track the ball with just your eyes and not moving your entire head or body. Some players will turn their entire head or body to track the ball and that will most likely get your body out of position.

@@HammerItTennis do you mean that get fixated on ball so head facing ball as we move body to ball ? As our eyes see the world or ball in this case as super fast snapshots is it important to keep seeing ball till just before contact so that we can set the swing plane behind ball in space properly for clean hit ?, I believe it might help slow down things? Your thoughts Any drills ?

Sorry to clarify, when I mean don't move your entire head and body, I mean like together, similar to a grasshopper that can only move the way it looks. You can turn your head to look at the ball, but alot of players will turn their entire body to move their head to look at the ball. Your lower body should move independent of your upper body so that your feet can move properly to the ball and not get out of position because of the way you are looking. So by thinking about using your eyes to track the ball that will help you be able to stay on track. Yes you want to try to watch the ball right into the strings and right after. A good drill is to try to read the ball print and really see the spin. Try to see the ball spinning as the ball comes in, and try read the print/see the spin as it leaves your racquet and goes over the net.

@@HammerItTennis understood !!! Couple of things here is it also good to keep watching print of ball till last moment and at the same moment start swing towards ball as well depending upon flat or spin just so that are never late Secondly if I watch print of the ball getting getting out and crossing over net isn’t that lead to pulling head off may be it should be delayed little right ?

I've seen some coaches teach to keep your eyes at the contact spot like a freeze frame after you hit, but I've never been a fan of that. Now you have to look up and find the ball and you loose track of your opponent because you are focused on watching something that you cannot see. Also, more importantly as I was saying with moving your head and your body, if you stop your head from moving you'll probably not let your right side clear through and rotate. By following the ball, you'll tend to help your body rotate and pull your right side through during the shot.

Thanks! I hit a lot of inside out forehands and try to hit as few backhands as possible. High balls to the forehand side can be hit the same way, and yes you’d have to account for the shot curve, but it is curving back into the court more so if anything it usually just ends up more middle of the court.

It's more of the tilts. Like you want to get in the habit of replicating your movements for consistency. So it is the same forehand, but for high balls you tilt your right side upward more, low balls tilt lower, and normal height you will be more level. Yes, on the serve! The rotation is almost vertical so you toss your right shoulder is lower, then goes up over the left. Then it rotates back down. Your shoulders basically orbit your spine. So in an orbit, the opposite action happens on the opposite side. So If you start off with your right shoulder down and left up, as you rotate you will have the natural happening of the right wanting to go up and the left down. This is why servers that do not get their left side up in the tossing phase struggle to get the proper vertical rotation.

@@HammerItTennis coach only thing I have noticed is that if I think about rotation I usually feel like I’m pulling my head /eyes off the ball too quickly sometimes before contact or close to it , how do I take care of both any ques or drills Thanks

Sounds like over rotation or rotating too soon, not keeping your head on the ball and your structure together. You may be pulling with your left side too much and not allowing your right side to push through more, and probably sliding off the ball with your left side, pulling your head with it. One thing you can try to counter this is to hold your right forearm with your left hand, making a right angle with your left arm at the elbow and your left forearm is parallel with your chest and stomach. This should force your right arm to be 90 degrees out from your trunk. Now bend your right wrist at a 90 degree angle and your racquet will be parallel with your left forearm and your chest. Now as you hit feel how your arms and torso all turn together. Don't mash your arms across your chest. Practice this by just turning back and forth with your eyes fixed on on a single point where contact would be. Feel how your head does not move. Try to really feel the right shoulder pushing forward toward the ball. If you have already rotated past the ball it cannot go forward toward the ball, as it will be moving left already and your head will be going with it.

@@HammerItTennis will sure try this !! How can I feel this in serve ?

One of my favorite ways to feel basically the same thing may seem kind of silly, but it works! without a racquet just standing balanced, lean backwards so that your chest is facing skyward. Now hold your left arm up and pull your right arm down like you are really getting ready to punch with your elbow lower than your torso. Now just start punching back and forth the sky. Left down as right goes up and then they keep switching back and forth. Your head should not move and your shoulders will switch positions. Another way to think of rotation is that the shoulders are just switching positions like a board that is between two walls and one end is forward the other back, and then the ends get switched, as the sides stay against the sidewalls. Basically if you think of it in this manner, you are getting leverage out of your shoulders, because they move opposite of each other. I like to think of it in this manner more than like a circle rotation, because that tends to get everything moving to the left too much, whereas if I think more of a seesaw action that is more forward and back or up and down.

Couple ways to return high bouncing serves. If you get a good read and an early jump, I run around to set up for a forehand and yes rip the return inside out. If its in the duece court, then I rip it cross court. This shot can also be used once you get the hang of curving the ball to the right, with a middle aimed return that will curve towards their backhand side. You can also move back if you have time & space between your side's fence/curtain and let the ball drop into your strike zone. BUT if you can stand your ground and adjust the angle of your shoulders like I've shown here you'll be able to get the return back sooner and catch them off guard.

@@HammerItTennis ripping it with sidespin inside out would take alot of practice, i haven't used that shot before. sometimes it can happen naturally but its not a natural shot for me

@@HammerItTennis according to this guy, Stan is doing exactly what you were teaching. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ba0wn1csSac.html&ab_channel=TopspinTennis

@@TheDrakulie Focus on contact our in front with the racquet head getting more vertical at contact. The left shoulder needs to get low to help get the right side up.

I am using a semi-western grip. In this video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZcH_PxNL7Sc.html I talk about my hitting structure and grip that I am using.

Appreciate that! Thanks for watching!

If you are utilizing the offensive technique I'm showing in the video, you will put some side spin on the ball, which is what helps move the ball off the court!

I guess that is supposed to be an insult. Using women as an insult is not cool.

@@HammerItTennis Not an insult at all. Stop victimizing yourself. It's just a fact. you hit like a girl. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zA0H7Fjohb4.html

@@HammerItTennis maybe you should educate yourself on it before defaulting to getting super defensive LOL ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zA0H7Fjohb4.html

I guess if you’re volleying from the baseline and swinging…

Not sure how my explanation is different from what I am doing technically but then visually doing something correct... Changing of the grip has nothing to do with it. You need to alter your contact point height, since these are high balls, as most players do not understand how to keep their swing structure but change the contact height. Not sure what level you are playing at but even on tour high balls put players in a more defensive position.

High balls are usually also a little slower pace so you should have time to step around and hit a forehand, when your opponent is hitting high balls to your backhand. That is one of the points to the video, taking a shot that your opponent is trying to use to put you on the defensive and step around to make an offensive shot. Whichever side of the court you are on, might change your highest percentage target, but not your technique. If you are deep away from the court cross court is going to be your safest options. From the ad court I’d always try to hit a forehand.

That type of player is exactly who this is aimed at! Those moon balls are so frustrating to many players! Take those moon balls and drive them back at them and put those moon ballers on their heels!