Tennis Players of all Levels,
Every stroke should always begin with a split step, pivot, and simultaneous coiling of the torso while taking the racquet back into its final preparation position. As you coil and take the racquet back with your body and your non-hitting hand, you will begin to load your weight onto your right foot until you are in the final preparation position. We will call this final preparation position #1.
Dimitrov and Federer taking the racquet back with the body and their non-hitting hand.
Position #1 (the preparation)
There are four (4) key reference points in position #1:
1. The first reference point is the position of the left arm, which should end somewhere around shoulder height and parallel to the net. This final left arm position mandates that the racquet was taken back with the body rather than just the arms. Whenever you reach across your body with the opposite arm, the shoulders and trunk will naturally have to rotate.
2. The second reference point to note is the loading of weight to the right leg. This is crucial for the set up of proper weight transfer, which will occur from the right side of the body to the left during stroke execution. As you can see from the pictures below, both players have great balance and have stored most of their energy on their right leg.
3. The third reference point to mimic is the right hand position during #1. The important thing to observe is the height of the hand is shoulder height. The reason for the high preparation is to take advantage of gravity and centrifugal force. The higher the racquet preparation the less energy a player will have to use to gain maximum racquet speed before striking the ball. Also more momentum will be gained due to the longer distance the racquet has to travel before making contact compared to that of a straight back take back.
4. The fourth reference point to mimic is the position and direction of the racquet head. The racquet should be pointing towards the sky at about a 45-degree angle to the ground. The racquet should also be positioned at about 45-degrees from the back fence and directly above the flight path of the ball.
Position #2 (the contact point)
Contact Point: The player begins to let gravity do its thing by letting the racquet fall into the hitting zone using very little of his or her own energy. Gradually the player uses more and more of his or her own energy as the racquet approaches the contact point. To achieve maximum racquet speed use only as much energy as needed to complete the motion within the technique. This will enable more racquet head speed and encourage proper fluid form. Make sure the racquet drops below the ball before making contact.
There are three (3) key reference points in position #2:
1. Contact point should be between waist and chest height. This allows the player to be aggressive since the ball is above the net and he can drive the ball.
2. Contact point should be out in front of the body approximately even with the toes of the left foot (contacting the ball out in front as such allows the downswing of the racquet to gain maximum racquet speed before contact as well as enhances visual acuity).
3. The racquet should stay on a linear plane with the flight path of the ball throughout the hitting zone and contact point.
Position #3 (the ending)
Position #3 is the secret to controlling all that racquet speed and power and still being able to keep the ball in play.
There are four (4) reference points in position number three, the ending:
1. The right hand palm and underside of the forearm are facing the ground.
2. The racquet head ends to the side of the left arm, either by the elbow (excessive roll), the hip (excessive), or just below the top of the left shoulder (excessive bang) rather than up over the shoulder.
3. The right shoulder has rotated 180 degrees from its starting point in the preparation.
4. The player’s weight has completely shifted from the right leg to the left leg.
There you have it, all the reference points you need to go out and hit your forehand like the pros.
To your tennis success,
Jimmy Mendieta