The Intuitive Forehand Swing Path (It’s NOT Linear) 

Forehand Contact Point Correction with 3.5 NTRP 👉 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c5SqRb9i020.htmlsi=700a3f9bJTDQMYYD

Here’s why I listen to Nik; He never ever says “5 quick steps” or “1 easy trick” or “Fix your -- in 10 minutes.” This guy’s integrity is beyond compare. Thanks Nik!

Coach Nick, this is the most correct and honest dissertation on the forehand which really emanated from Dick Bradley and then Oscar Wegner many years ago. Kudos to your precise analysis. I’m almost 76 now, who played at an early age with my physician dad who brought home every book he can find for his five boys to read and apply. I became a USPTR teaching pro because of this and my youngest brother played the satellite tours in the US. 70 decades of confusion is enough. This video says it all, and thanks coach Nick for laying it all out.

First learn to make contact on the sweet spot and hit flat, and hit your target (classic). I started with a wooden racket as a kid and became very accurate. I eventually moved to the modern swing -- and a modern racket -- to get power. My swing path naturally became circular... hit low to high, corkscrew my torso, hit the ball early, and improved my footwork. I now strike my forehand very well with good shots during my game.

Very insightful video as usual. I do like to imagine Im hitting 3 balls in a row since it prevents me from hitting too thin and I get more accuracy. On video, however, that’s not what is actually happening. Nick is definitely right on this issue. Having said that, for some learners it is okay to tell them to hit through more since a lot of time we are not doing exactly what we think. It is just a way to trick our bodies into doing the right thing.

Certainly one of the best tennis videos I have seen on RU-vid. The first time I learned about torso rotation was on a RU-vid channel called Powerflail. The creator of this channel was very critical of the linear swing. Torso rotation can be improved by throwing a medicine ball with both hands which strengthens the core and enhances the feeling of using the kinetic chain correctly. Many professional tennis players use the medicine ball as part of their routine training. Many thanks for this outstanding video. Sincerely, Norman Ashbrooke

Great instructional video - really clear and helpful - addresses the stroke exactly as it should be done. Thanks so much !

Thank you sir. It really helps me alot. This video is medicine of struggling the swing patch.

I've had so many instructors tell me to hit linearly and it never felt natural or made sense to me. If you think about the swing path in baseball or golf it seems obvious you have to swing in a circular motion around the body if you want any power. Otherwise, you'd only be bunting the ball. Thanks for this video!

Thank you, Nick. No more guilt for having my arm bent a little on my forehand.

ANOTHER EXCELLENT TEACHING VIDEO - FIRST you have to QUESTION the Status Quo and EXPLODE the Myths ! What I like MOST about your videos is the ANALYSIS and ATTENTION you put into the mechanics, questioning EVERYTHING, taking NOTHING for granted, accepted ZERO dogma-for-the-sake-of-dogma, then BUILDING-from-PRACTICAL-PRINCIPLES an INTUITIVE swing. Please never stop. You've single-handedly taken me from a barely-functioning mockery of a 3.5 to a solid 4.0; and when you're 62, that's no small feat. - Mark in North Aurora IL (USA)

It’s like trying to hit a baseball and trying to hit through a baseball, your swing isn’t set for hitting through 3 baseballs, I compare baseball because I use baseball drills to help me on my two handed backhand. This was an excellent video Coach Nick.

I think that many coaches do not really mean to "hit through" for too long. What they really mean is during the contact, there should be sufficient hitting through. They do not mean that hitting through is linear. The reason is simple, many beginners just brush the ball or timidly hitting the ball. So coaches encourage them to "hit through" as a way to make solid contact. But other than that, it is a great video. Thank you!

When he credits Oscar Wegner, I immediately pay attention. I played some of my best tennis when I listened to Oscar back in 2008 - 2010. I no longer play because I cant run around like I used to. I'm teaching my kids and this is exactly how I teach them. And make them watch this video.

Don't worry about negative comments. I know what you are talking about. You are absolutely right. I am a victim of "linear" and "perpendicular" terms. Some youtube coach even holds the edge of a racket by 2 hands to push the ball to show how the ball make contact with the racket. Some another coach says that the direction perpendicular to your racket determine the direction of your shot. Their tips cost me years and I am still struggling with the consistency. Firstly, your momentum is 45 degree to direction you want to hit. Djokovic said when he hits backhand, if he wants to cross the court, he opens a little bit, if he wants to hit down the line, he closes a little bit. Secondly, if you record the sideview, you still see the string of the racket which means the face of the racket which is NEVER perpendicular to the direction, may be 80 degrees. If the shot is linear, why we need follow through in the first place. Oscar Wagner and Jack Broudy are correct. They both says you try to cross to ball. Jack Broudy says when you cross the ball quickly, you can make crack sound. It works for me. No matter how fast you push forward, you NEVER make crack sound. You dont need to accelerate the racket all the time all the way to make crack sound, just accelerate right before the contact crossly or circularly. I wish I had followed their advice earlier. You are right that is 90% of your shots is a game. Sometimes, you have a super loose ball, maybe you want to smash linearly. The problem is coaches demonstrate their strokes by dropping the ball with zero speed which you don't counter often in a game even in a practice rally.

Amazing advice, thank you :) I have a problem with my forehand and my coach said me to imagine hit through 3 balls. That doesn't helped me. Later, he said to reverse my left shoulder with my right and it was a better advice. I understand why with your video.

Wow. This has been an incredibly ‘freeing’ lesson. These were the two things I’ve been trying to do, based on someone else’s RU-vid tennis videos-straighten my arm/add extension, and swing through the ball. Neither was intuitive to me, and maybe this bad advice contributed to my struggles.

This video is very helpful. For a long time i would swing to into a straight line like a airplane and my arm would adjust to straight to bent to straight, to contact forward and turn wrist. I Never really realized that my arm at take back stays the same through out the shot. Another video i watched from another coach also explained pronation of the arm and shoulder to keep the racket face from changing as much instead of over the shoulder which over the shoulder i think, doesn't explain pronation enough and why we do it. When i first started it was windshield wiper was taught to create top spin which couldn't be farther from the truth its just a natural pronation after the swing path based on where the racket head started and ended. So much involved in a tennis stroke. D

I like most of your stuff - as a long ago high level athlete and tennis teaching pro . The problem is not that you are right of wrong but rather you are discounting what is really important on hitting a tennis ball correctly and that is the release point of the hand ( racket) and weight transfer .. If i failed to recognize those two points and not address "staying on the ball" or deal with extentuon then players would be confused . You are not wrong , i as a bio mechanical teacher would have a hard time getting students to hit a shot accurately Agassi was famous for saying "hit and continue 6 inches inorder to get length on shots Short angles which are hit with more spin ( windshield wiper ) is much more circular and angular .land not with extension So again i like your videos a lot but we tennis teachers csn sometimes be very right but confusing to the student who takes everything literally and or misinterprets what they think they see when they watch a pro player . You snd i see this all the time when students come to us with so many extra movements in their strokes . Thanks !

Excellent vid as always .Very few kids stress swing path as you do Barry

I am the first! The way I understand is that the swing path should be a combination of linear (some parts of the shot, i.e. the approach to the contact point) and circular (preparation and follow-through) motions. The toughest thing for me is to evaluate the right proportion of each motion in a given situation. I guess that comes with time and practice.

This is very good information. I never seen it explained like this before but i know from years of tinkering with my forehand that your exactly right in what you saying. Wish i seen this years ago. The problem with the forehand is you can play it in so many ways that why the backhsnd is technical easier. But how you explain it is difintly how it should be played

Hi Nick, do you have any videos on how to execute proper body torso rotation and loading of the body? Thank you for sharing all of your great video content!

Thanks Nic. Would you please address wrist position and flexibility in the circular swing path on the forehand?

Hey nick, great vid! Could you maybe do a video on serve tactics and serve patterns for succes? It’s a topic that seems to be overlooked

Nick, this makes so much sense. I have found in the lessons I have taken (with teaching pros, most of which were strong college players), that their technique is very good. If you can copy them ( ie “hit it like this” ) you can be n the right track. But the words they use ( hit 3 balls ) often makes no sense at all. Translating complex (intuitive) physical movements into words is really hard to do with any level of accuracy.

Great video Nic, you rock.

I noticed that in modern tennis, coaches emphasize hitting the forehand far from the body and quite strongly in front. (I don't know if I'm explaining this exactly, but you can see it in the example at 2:47 when you show Federer's forehand). I can't get used to it and I've been playing on and off for over 20 years. I prefer to hit more from the side and closer to myself. Thanks to this, I have greater control over the ball's flight path. When I try to hit my forehand farther away from my body, I feel like I lack body coordination. I also don't have the same precision and there are bounces with the racket frame.

I recently starting concentrating on , or visualizing, hitting the bottom of the ball during mini tennis and then transfered it to full stroke ralleys and it was for some reason a huge eye opener. Actually felt like i was driving the ball more.

I always feel confused when coaches telling me to hit "with more extension". When I look at the players such as Iga and Sinner, it seems to me that their swings (both forehand and backhand) are almost purely rotational. I don't get why linear extensions are necessarily better. Perhaps that in the old days when people were hitting forehand with continental or eastern grips, it made more sense to feel the sensation of "hitting forward". But with the modern semi western or full western grips, it seems to me that a rotational swing is more natural. Coaches would probably do better by teaching beginners the proper body turns early on, and let them just have the arm riding the body turn. For me who started learning tennis late as an adult, I felt it was much harder to master the body turn. Being told to "extend the arms through the contact" only adds confusion. Thanks for making it clear the circular nature of the top spin swing path.

If you watch Federer hit a forehand in slow motion, the racket face is facing the target (aka going in a linear fashion) for a while, including before/during/after contact. The racket is rising during this time, but it certainly goes in a linear fashion, before tracking horizontally. The racket stays on the hitting side of his hand for a significant amount of time. Most players pull across their body too early (as a result of failing to close the racket face). I like the three ball drill with the closed racket face, because it helps players exaggerate the forward length of their swing. I don't believe most players have an issue of having too much of a linear swing. Rather, I think most players have the opposite issue, where their swing is way too horizontal, reducing racket head speed and topspin.

There is a confusion between many different aspects of the swing, both from players and coaches. Yes the swing path of the arm/wrist is indeed circular, as Novak demonstrates in that video clip. But the body weight moves 'forward' which gives him the drive and weight on the shot.

Honestly it was never a confusion for me. Hitting through always meant using my body "into" the ball which automatically makes me "hit through" the ball mostly in front of me.

Great video. Thank you.

1. Try focus on the shoulders movement of Federer,Djokovic or Nadal forehands especially camera angle from the back. The ratchet head is always in circular motion. 2 “ hit through the ball” or “step into the ball” doesn’t mean “ move your arm linear or move your body forward”. It means you need more impulse (I =FT)at the point of contact! By the way, more impulse, more “pop” sound you will get!

Personally I have had success with teaching the forehand with using "hitting through the ball" as a sort of mentality because I find it is an easier way to teach ball pocketing.

You are 1000% right Nick

Great teaching!

Another great video. Do these principles apply to the backhand?

Thank you Nick, here is a puzzle for you. Why is the TopSpinPro device you showed here , sets the ball axis and wings for down to up motion and not circular motion?

In my experience, everyone sees from their own perspective. Language is not a perfect way to convey information. Even if it is true in theory, it does not mean that the brain of a tennis player will understand it in that way. It happened to me to say completely incorrect information (with a reason), but through that information the player did the right thing. It follows that if the drill works and if there is progress, it doesn't matter what you say, but what matters is that the player does it correctly.

Depending on the incoming ball, for the slower ball, you probably have to hit through the ball a bit more to give it some energy to penetrate the court. Or else the ball will just lands short and sits up for your opponent. It's the matter of getting the right mix of top spin and drive based on the incoming ball and situation. In some cases, you may want to hit short with sharp angle (more top than drive) to pull your opponent off the court

Maybe i'm wrong, but you can create topspin with two things, whith pression through the ball and scratching the ball, i preffer the pressin, in order to make a heavy ball, but that's ok, you put a defense shoot on the video of djokovic , so it's good, but not all the strokes are that way, when you can hit where you can hit you put the torso turn and shoulder turn first, and then the racket. So if you want a short ball, you will do that thing you're saying, if you can hit the ball, you're doping what i'm saying. If you put the three balls in your stroke at the end, you will tke all three. Maybe i'm wrong, but i think it's good enough to take all of them when you turn your shoulders before making contact with the ball, as i learned. thanks and regards (if you can reply, thanks again)

great vid!

This question is not related with this video but i saw some of your recommendations of tennis strings and you recommended the head hawk, because it is soft and has nice touch, do you recommend the head hawk touch? Or the rough version of it? Or even a hybrid with the rough on the crosses? Thanks!!

Great insights about the dominant shoulder at contact. So why do almost all coaches today push the straight-arm-at-contact narrative?

Didn't Oscar talk about Deflection? Nik, would you say that deflection is a good technique / mindset for making contact?

Nick, hitting through the ball more helps myself to have a more Solid, better contact point because I tend to Hit the ball too Thin and spinny naturally. Of course nobody should hit through three balls with a linear swing path. Maybe you have some other advices how to fix too spinny and thin contact points on the forehand?

Hi Nick, what would you do with an slightly older student that has a conservative grip (eastern or even a little more continental) that has always played like that and has a linear stroke. Would you always try to get them to switch to a circular swingpath? If you have them once a week..

Would it be possible for me to send you a video of my forehand so you can tell me how to re-learn it? For 10 years of playing I’ve an unconscious habit of not dropping the racquet low enough, and therefore cutting at the ball, not getting proper topspin, and I can’t seem to fix it.

Technically I am using the semi western forehand grip, but I am feeling I am not getting a solid enough contact with the ball...do you recommend I adjust the grip?

thank you

Ummm, well, it is sorta correct. The problem is you can still use the swing thought of hitting thru 3 balls if you envision swinging up thru the 3 balls and not straight parallel to the ground. Vic Braden taught an inside out and upward swing path in the 1970s and used the hit thru 3 or 4 balls tip. The balls are on an angle upward and you envision hitting up and thru the balls and yes, this works for a modern stroke where you drive the power from core rotation. The other point about a "bent arm" player shouldn't try to extend into a straight arm is sort of correct but both bent arm and straight arm players can extend outward toward the target and the pros actually do this. Watch high speed stop action and you will see that Federer, Djoko, Murray and Nadal all extend the hitting up structure up and THRU contact where the racket face stays facing the target area until the arm structure reaches is full extension. Of course you don't change from bent arm structure to straight arm structure but that has nothing to do with extension. Extension is your friend.

Amazing !!

I don't know any pros who have the modern forehand in mind when they teach their students to lengthen their contact area forward. It's more for the lower level recreational players who hit flat and who will never be able to master a modern topspin forehand.

Brilliant

Nik - is that a White Pro Staff you are using?

Hi Nick, when are you going to start 7 days challenge just like OTI coaches. I 'very love to join ur line 7 day challenge. Thx & u r the best cosch in the market. Prince

Technically yes the ball leaves the string at contact but the more I focus on follow through the better control I get and the less I brush over the ball and hit the net on cross courts etc. Even Agassi talks about it being beneficial to have a contact point which allows for maximum follow through before the natural circular motion starts. Circular is natural so the momentum of the racket has somewhere to go.

Based on this, would you say then that on the two-handed backhand one might indeed try to hit through 3 balls and extend through contact?

One thing that is really wrong with my strokes lately especially my forehand, is that I try to hit topspin or force it.

So according to your logic, players should never close their stance because that would be too linear? I think you should have addressed that in your video. Personally, I am always trying to lengthen my hitting zone, which implies a more linear element to the swing. And my tennis has improved because of it. This applies to both a closed and open stance, btw.

you are the coach right? did you see what most of RP do? on forehand? they swing so short, trying to generate topspin, and they can never control the ball. so, in general you are right, even though Federer and Tsitsipos might prove you wrong, but as RP are concerned, it is not helping. Of course the motion of your racket is circular, but if you don't have that extension that feeling of getting forward/linear with your swing, well, you might get lucky some times, but bye bye consistency and accurate aiming. funny thing is that you are showing Novak's forehand, where he is extending almost to the max. If you would pull out Roger's forehand, it would be even more extreme. advise - don't hit through the ball is a disaster in 99% cases. the reality is - you don't. the feeling is - you do. even for extreme topspin player like Rafa - just look where his arm is after the contact point. extended to the max, before he do his boggy whip. If he/anybody else would just swing across, he would still have a great topspin, but no power.

Is that Ema with the vintage Pure Drive? 😮

Been a fan of your channel. but this is not great for beginners. because of your earlier video about circular swing, I struggled for a while with extension and directional control. for people below 4.0, linear extension around the contact point towards the target should be higher priority. Otherwise, slight mistiming of the swing will lead to major inconsistency. the idea of circular swing can come much later in the learning process.

Is there any truth to hitting through the ball on the backhand. I’m currently working with a student who “pulls up” too much on his backhand and doesn’t get a solid contact. I’ve been trying to get him to hit flatter and more through the court but is this a mistake? Thanks!

Hi Nick, you can easily hit through 3 balls with your flat topspin forehand! No, all joking aside. Although it is never possible to hit through 3 balls as you say, the instructies to hit through 3 balls is intended more for the novice tennis player for dorsiflexion during the hitting zone to better direct the ball, I assume.

OK what about knocking the birthday hat off on the serve should we be doing that?

great tip, coach! I like the ‘delusional’ comment 😂

You hit through for more power and flat on impact You hit circular for more spin and cut on impact You need to know how to hit both in a high level game depending on the intention of your shot It is that simple.

Funny on a channel that's about being "intuitive" that we are going to detailed physics as to describe why something that is used because it intuitively works is wrong.

I am second, and i want more topspin on my forehand! 😀😀

How does this apply to wheelchair tennis ?

So what’s a “thought” I could have if not 3 balls? Rainbow?

Wish I had seen this video 40 years ago

This was great informative information. Thank you coach👍. This game is game of mm , cm to get that perfect shot. So fun to play difficult to master. I must be delusional 😃

The best modern ball strikers ever on the planet hit through the ball: Agassi, Djokovic, Nalbandian, Hewitt... The path may not be linear but you are always finishing and going through the shot. I think modern coaches miss the most fundamental part of the swing which is what leads to poor contact and inconsistent shots - racquet face control.

You have amazing forehead to me. It’s not how it looks, it’s how it works :) and your works perfectly. And looks quite good as well.

Diagonal and forward

👍🙏👏👏👏

alas , there is not single true technique, Nic made more stirring and troubles for many many park coaches.-(. is this explanation can be treated as wind shield wiper motion? I think extension still has a right to exists to give more forward body movement.

Thanks Nick, wonderful advice as usual. Really helped me cut down on netting the ball. You're right about Oscar Wegner talking about this decades ago. I found one of his old coaching videos - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Cfkq4YyeBWw.htmlsi=9yOo64i-Eb7e4cAp

The more common problem I see with low level players is they try to hit with lots of topspin and hit with way too much brush

hi nick, i dont think your forehand is ugly in terms of arm/body movements while hitting the ball but your face expression is like u're catching a hot saussage :)

Always about that 45 degree angle.

I don't think the 3 balls is for the stroke. It's been shown in golf that people tend to relax right before contact. So you pretend like you have to hit more balls to stop that subconscious relaxation. Maybe same idea here? Agree that the path is way off here.

No, not even if you stand sideways does hitting linear make sense.... rarely, but sometimes we are forced to hit sideways and even then you should NOT hit thru 3 balls.

I totally disagree with this. If you play, you can feel the difference between hitting through vs. hitting short.

I'd be happy to hit theough the ball like Sampras did 😂 I know I grew up trying to copy cat the best players best shots too...but its seems there's way too much emphasis on having "atp shots" for people who obviously will never be anywhere near pto or even semi pro level. of course its good to want to pregress and aim higher than you current level but once you acknowledge your never gonna have the technique and the physical condition of a pro, it also makes sense that you're nevee gonna have the exact same shots/swing either

Wrong! Hitting up is great for low balls, higher balls need a more linear path for the swing. No matter how you swing, when the racquet meets the ball, the racquet face is flat and the follow thru generates the spin.

That x scared me

I'll take your forehand if you're not using it anymore?

There’s more bad coaches than there is roaches.

thank you for the tips.

Thank you for busting some wrong teaching out there.

Nick, great explanation, beautiful court, ugly forehand ;)

It's not really circular either!

7:08 why is it so common to use the word "delusional" in tennis when people try to explain things? What's wrong with using the word "wrong" instead? "Delusional" to me sounds like a person whose entire life view is completely wrong, someone that completely lives in a fantasy world, but this is usuallt not the case if someone happens to try to do their stroke a bit differently... sigh

Too much talking and no demonstration

Hey buddy I think is time for you to go on a field with a real beginner adults and check out how intuitive going to be ..... no offence pall but you are begin to sound boring ....