Learn how to play tennis:
The Forehand
the tennisforall
Tennis book
by evvy
The first of three sample chapters from The Forehand,
which is Part 1 of an ongoing digital tennis book.
If knowledge is power and technical communication an art form, then this is
the tennis book no tennis coach will want you to read... for it could put them
out of a job.
Want to teach yourself, your pupils or your kids tennis?
Whether you are just starting to learn tennis, or you want a fuller understanding
of the advanced stuff that you do on court every day and take for granted,
read on. Technical tennis has rarely been so thoughtfully communicated and
artistically presented. .
Click letter e, then
the rest of the letters to change the images.
Chapter One: Contact Point
In these first few pages, I write about things like topspin and slice
before I've explained what they are. I am assuming a couple of things:
one, that
you have sufficient natural ball sense to actually hit the ball and, two,
that most of you will have at least a little knowledge of tennis technique.
Even if you can't yet hit with topspin and slice, you probably have some
knowledge of these ball spins from watching tennis on television. Readers
completely new to learning tennis will not have long to wait before slice
and topspin are explained. If something doesn't make sense at the first
reading,
I
recommend you return to the relevant section later.
The Cornerstone: Contact Point
There are numerous components that make up a working tennis forehand and
each separate ingredient is essential if you consistently want to dish
up a good stroke. Some of the various bits that form a smooth, fluid tennis
forehand, however, are more important than others, in both the making and
keeping of a good stroke.
‘
What is the most important part of a forehand’?
If the question were different and I'd asked myself 'what
is the most important part of playing tennis?', my answer would probably be 'movement'. Meaning,
the ability to move to and from the ball and set up precisely for each
stroke, which is evident in all the top players. Occasionally a weak stroke
will
surface in great players, but great movement can be found in all of them,
and the likes of Graf, Sampras, Federer, Agassi, Wilander, Navratilova
and Connors spring immediately to mind.
But the question was 'what's the most important aspect of a forehand?'
If I were forced to single out one aspect of building (and sustaining)
a tennis stroke, I'd say contact point is the single most important part,
because
only a perfect contact allows a stroke to fully and properly develop (and
only precise movement delivers a perfect contact...but I'm getting ahead
of myself again).
If the ball is in the wrong place at contact, the stroke will not be the
genuine article, but at best a mere fraud; an impostor. For example, if
the said bad connect zipped the ball down the line for a winning passing
shot,
the reason it did so will not be your precise movement and well-timed technique,
but rather good luck or your ability to improvise (not surprisingly, improvisation
often develops best in those who continually make bad contacts!). The best
response to such shots is to recognize them for the impostors they are,
and never take credit for a winning stroke when good fortune was the key
player.
Be honest with yourself. It was a fluked winner and you know it.
If, on the other hand, you make a good connect by setting yourself up properly
and you stick strings-to-ball at the right time-and-place, this will give
oxygen to all other parts of the stroke. A perfect contact, therefore,
is the cornerstone of your tennis stroke. It is the foundation stone on
which everything
else is built and it is the fertile soil in which timing and technique
are encouraged to grow to fruition. And if you plant in fertile ground
or build
a solid stroke on perfect foundations, it will last for as long as you
are able to take it to the court. Contrastingly, if you try to build on
here-there-and-everywhere
contacts, you'll be building on crooked foundations and the shots you develop
will be unsound.
Better to get it right now then, eh?
Contact: Constants & Particulars
These are terms I shall use to describe characteristics of a perfect forehand
contact.
'Constants' are those aspects of a perfect contact shared by all world
class players, along with good standard players everywhere. They are the
things
that are constantly found in good forehands. For instance, every player
connects with the ball in front of the body, as we shall see soon.
'Particulars' are those characteristics particular to the contact point
of each individual player or player-type. They are personal variations
on the
constants, which work well for individuals and certain player types. For
example, all players should constantly be making contact forward of the
body, but particular players may make contact further forward of the body
than
others. The reasons 'why' are various, but this is one of many particular
questions that we shall deal with later, when we begin to unravel some
world class forehands from the past couple of decades.
The Constants
A perfect contact on a forehand drive is the fulfillment of a combination
of three guiding rules or precepts:
1, contact between the racket strings and the ball must be made forward of the body, or at the very least forward of the hitting shoulder,
2, at a comfortable
height: not too low, not too high. The majority of
good contacts are made around waist or belly height,
3, and at a comfortable distance from the body. Far enough away to be able
to hit a full rackets length out to the side, allowing the racket to be
parallel to the ground at contact.
We'll look at the various reasons 'why' when we begin looking at player
strokes. You'll find these three constants evident in the forehand contacts
of every
player in the world's top 1000.
That's why we're calling them 'constants'. They constantly and unfailingly
appear in accomplished strokes.
The Particulars
Of the three above constants, there is most variation in
1, the height of the ball at contact and
2, the distance the ball is in front of the body.
'Particulars' are variations in the point of contact which are 'particular'
to individual players. They are 'particular' to types of shot, and also
'particular' to different player types.
But these 'particulars' only need to come into
focus when we have first of all grasped the things that all good tennis forehands
share.
First of all we'll look at the contact point of a selection of top players
past and present, then we'll take a closer look at their forehand grips.
Now click through the letters on the image, starting with t.
t
Memory test: What are the three 'constants'? And does Michael Chang fulfill
them all?
I'd say he fulfills all three. Michael hits,
1,
forward of his body,
2, at a relatively manageable height, just above the
belly and
3, a racket's length and more away from the body. This
contact isn't too far forward of the body but most importantly, it's
forward of Mikey's hitting
shoulder, which is a 'particular' aspect of Chang's forward contact.
We'll look at Michael's full stroke later.
e
Now click the e button. Much the same thing here: Goran Ivanisevic also connects
forward of his hitting shoulder. Both balls in the first two images have
been hit
deep,
and Goran
and Michael have been pinned back behind the baseline. As more advanced
readers will realize, Goran in particular is whipping up topspin, which
requires
him to direct much of his efforts upwards. For this reason he doesn't
need to be hitting quite as far forward of the body as, say, the aggressive
Roddick does later.
n
Lleyton Hewitt's exceptional movement around the court guarantees the
perfect contact for his intentions almost every time. His all-round stroke
play
offers some of the best examples I could hold up to aspiring tennis players.
Contact
is made forward of the body at waist height, and a racket's length-plus
away from the body.
n
Stylish stroke-maker Hana Mandlikova gives a good demonstration of all
aspects of a perfect forehand contact point:
1, forward,
2, to the side her body and
3, at waist-ish height.
This is also a clear side-view of how far away from the body the racket
should be. To free up your potential stroke and allow you to either hit
up for topspin,
or follow through long after contact for a powerful drive, you need the
racket to be parallel to the ground at contact. This can't happen if
you get on
top of the ball.
i
Here we have a great vantage point, from the very top of the stands at
the French Open's Suzanne Lenglen court. In the photo Tim Henman connects
with
the ball forward of his body and pretty much level with his leading foot.
The racket is parallel to the ground at contact, and the distance Tim
makes (or keeps), between his body and the racket head, facilitates (allows)
this parallel racket. If a player gets too close to the ball, they force
themselves
to drop the racket head and the outcome can only be a scooped or 'spooned'
shot. Think about it.
s
Andy Roddick's contact has been made behind the baseline and is
higher than some of the others. The further forward connect suggests
two things:
one is aggression and the other is high-bouncing topspin from his opponent,
which has done nothing to stop Roddick's aggressive, out-front contact
point.
f
It looks like the ball is stuck to Pete Sampras' racket strings. Note
how the racket head is slightly ahead of the hand at connect. Any idea
what
Pete hopes to achieve by contacting the ball with the racket out in front
of his
hand.
o
Patricia Tarabini's racket head is even further forward of the hitting
hand at contact. The reason should be obvious to more advanced players,
but I'll
let the rest of you work on this question: what is Tarabini's intention
in meeting the ball so much further forward of her racket hand (and consequently
her body) ?
r
This is an example of a higher contact, as Andre rises aggressively to
a chest high connect. Taking the ball high and early is pretty advanced
stuff,
but you should understand early in your tennis education (!) that such
shots do exist, because strokes often develop along the lines of a player’s
attitude, rather than some text book path: if you're feisty by nature,
an aggressive attitude may soon fight it's way through to the surface
and manifest
itself in your game. Good coaches will often recognize and nourish these
natural inclinations, but the term 'learn to walk before you can run'
applies fully to tennis technique.
a
Wayne Ferreira gives us a perfect, full-frontal definition of what 'comfortable
distance' from the body actually means, as he swings his parallel-to-the-ground
(ish) racket into a forward contact, on a waist high ball.
l
We've seen Tarabini make contact with the ball almost too far forward,
with the racket head meeting the ball forward of the hitting hand. Here,
Lleyton
Hewitt does the opposite, as he purposefully connects with the ball with
a slightly delayed racket head. When the strings meet the ball the racket
head is behind Lleyton's hand, rather than in front of it. It's not important
at this stage, but exercise your mental juices nevertheless and consider
why?
l
Monica Seles' two handed forehand was the ultimate push-me, pull-you
of tennis strokes and one of the top few power-forehands of all time
in the
women's
game. This two-handed shot also fulfills the '3 constants' for a perfect
forehand contact.
THE FOREHAND
3 Sample Chapters (of the full 12)
THE
FOREHAND Chapter
One
THE
FOREHAND Chapter
Two
THE
FOREHAND Chapter
Three
THE SERVE
Two sample Chapters (of the full 12)
THE SERVE Chapter One
THE SERVE Chapter
Two
Juan Carlos
Ferrero
Tennis for
All?
Simon Roberts:
A County Tennis Odyssey
Anabel Croft
Andy Roddick
Elena Dementieva
Gabriela Sabatini
Tim Henman
Jimmy Connors
Venus and Serena
Williams
Serena Forehand
Mary Joe Fernandez
How to hit a tennis backhand: Part
1
How to hit a tennis backhand: Part 2
How to hit a tennis backhand: Part 3
How to hit a backhand: Part 4
How to hit a backhand: Part 5
