Another Saturday gift for the tennis community. The forehand lessons never get old, and the experience is ever sweetened with brilliant videos like this. Adding Johnny to the story is even sweeter in the mix. All this sugar, and yet no calories added. Gotta love that. Thank you Essential Tennis for keeping it high quality. Cheers! M
what made me click was thinking of the forehand swing more like a whip action than a swing. your wrist needs to be very loose and you need to whip the racket head through the ball
You didn't talk about the angle of the racket face at contact or the part of the ball hit at contact. When I see that Nadal clip you showed, his racket face at contact is something like a 45 degree angle to the floor, whereas Del Potro's is something closer to perpendicular to the floor. Also, Nadal and Federer seem to be hitting above the centre of the ball. How important is swing path vs angle at contact? If my swing path is up, but my angle at contact is perpendicular, aren't I going to hit a nearly flat shot? I'm less confident about the other way around, though. If I hit with a 45 degree racket head angle at contact but a flat swing path and hit the centre of the ball, will the ball not just bounce off into the ground on my side of the court? So does that mean that I need to aim for the top half of the ball to make top-spin?
sort of. just swing up the back of the ball. brush the back of the ball. it all happens too fast to know what angle the racketface is at contact. just brush up the back of the ball.
The racket face of Nadal and Federer are maybe a couple of degrees closed at most at contact. They close more after contact but the ball is already gone.
so weird Ian we all know your lefthanded like myself but nice right handed forehand demonstration now go out and challenge Sainsat you play righthanded he plays lefty lol
Does one need to have mastered an abbreviated John McEnroe-style swing first before attempting a C path? You say the drop phase just happens automatically, but for many people once the racket is high the natural thing is to swing directly from that high position at the ball. Are you assuming that people have already drilled to automaticity the habit of swinging from under the ball up to contact, so when the hold the racket high they instinctively shift down below the ball in their swing? Because that isn't a natural or intuitive thing to do from a high racket preparation position. If my racket is high, what seems most intuitive is to swing at the ball from there. To get down under the ball I have to do that deliberately, turning the wrist so the racket goes down and the butt cap forward, then pull the racket up into contact. It isn't a matter of the drop phase happening automatically and my not needing to think about it or deliberately bring it about.
Gravity and high prep is far from being major reason for Alcaraz hitting harder than JMac. High prep is to handle much higher balls. The difference is because of full uncoil, that is possible with E/SW grips. And because of another league of spin, which generally allows to apply much higher RHS without blasting the ball into the back fence with no bounce. Major power and acceleration comes after the racquet is set buttcap-forward. Everything before is for timing and aligning the shot (and coiling the body, of course). I wonder how comes you transmit this “rollercoaster and gravity is differentiating power source” idea, it’s not right…
@@EssentialTennis Relating to gravity’s influence, You said, “this is why the best players can hit such huge forehands”. Perhaps you should have said “this is why the best players can keep the ball in the court after hitting such huge forehands”. The speed of the racquet head primarily comes from the rotation around the hand, rather than the linear movement of the hand.
@@peterastor613Yes. It's not difficult to hit a forehand hard. It's difficult to hit a forehand hard *and in*. I never understand why there are so many videos about how to "add 10mph to your forehand" and so forth. Almost everything about my forehand swing is about reducing the racket head speed so I don't hit the ball long. If I could just work out how to hit it medium pace at anything more than 2 inches over the net without going long, my game would be 100 times better. I don't need to hit it harder and I can't imagine many male players of ordinary recreational standard do. Maybe women players gain, but they seem to be able to naturally hit the ball at medium pace without hitting it long anyway, presumably because they can commit to the shot more without putting in too much power, simply because they aren't as strong. By contrast, many men hold back on almost every forehand.
Pardon me, I really don't understand how a coach can teach tennis strokes by only showing how other (elite) players hit the ball, but not demonstrating what he himself has grasped and is capable of. Tennis, like many other games, is an experiential sports. One has to hit the ball and understand the nuances, the subtleties, including when mistakes are made, how to stay consistent when the balls come and bounce up at different heights, varying pace and directions etc. These cannot be learnt by merely talking about the 'how to' of the stroke, even when teaching at a preliminary or beginner level. What more the title of the video suggests this is about 'Mastering' the stroke.
Seriously this channel is the worst in terms of tennis knowledge and coaching. It’s hard to know where to start. Forehand racket swing has nothing to do with gravity. It is generated by the weight shift from back to front leg. Racket take back is to create circular path for swing path with shoulder as fulcrum. Analysis of low to high is completely inaccurate and doesn’t account for advanced wrist break and racket angle tip pointing to floor and federers wrist break and covering the ball with the wipe. He uses this because of his eastern grip. The grip absolutely affects the spin as it affects the swing path and contact angle as the western grip allows the palm to face up and allows a natural rainbow arc or windscreen wiper affect. Think Iga Swiatek. Seriously.
![Forehand Compilation - Slow Motion Back View [Alcaraz Djokovic Sinner Zverev Rublev Shelton]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qkQmT4fXKD8/mqdefault.jpg)
Add 15mph to your forehand in just 15 minutes of practice with this free training: www.forehandpower.com/
Another Saturday gift for the tennis community.
The forehand lessons never get old, and the experience is ever sweetened with brilliant videos like this.
Adding Johnny to the story is even sweeter in the mix. All this sugar, and yet no calories added. Gotta love that.
Thank you Essential Tennis for keeping it high quality.
Cheers!
M
You're very welcome.
Really useful illustration - thanks!
Great video. Even your funnel video for your course is super helpful. Thanks Ian!
A slightly closed face at contact in addition to the upward path also adds a considerable amount of spin.
Excelent video my friend, i been’ve problems to take my raquet back in forehand but whit the gravity advice is much better!
Thanks coach ian 😂❤..ur valuable resources is a must nowadays in my tennis..😂
I always used a full Western grip growing up. I've always stuck with it because I was out of the box. Haha.
lol friends don't let friends play pickleball
what made me click was thinking of the forehand swing more like a whip action than a swing. your wrist needs to be very loose and you need to whip the racket head through the ball
What happened to the video on aesthetics vs function and winning? I think it involved MEP
You didn't talk about the angle of the racket face at contact or the part of the ball hit at contact. When I see that Nadal clip you showed, his racket face at contact is something like a 45 degree angle to the floor, whereas Del Potro's is something closer to perpendicular to the floor. Also, Nadal and Federer seem to be hitting above the centre of the ball.
How important is swing path vs angle at contact? If my swing path is up, but my angle at contact is perpendicular, aren't I going to hit a nearly flat shot?
I'm less confident about the other way around, though. If I hit with a 45 degree racket head angle at contact but a flat swing path and hit the centre of the ball, will the ball not just bounce off into the ground on my side of the court? So does that mean that I need to aim for the top half of the ball to make top-spin?
sort of. just swing up the back of the ball. brush the back of the ball. it all happens too fast to know what angle the racketface is at contact. just brush up the back of the ball.
The racket face of Nadal and Federer are maybe a couple of degrees closed at most at contact. They close more after contact but the ball is already gone.
so weird Ian we all know your lefthanded like myself but nice right handed forehand demonstration now go out and challenge Sainsat you play righthanded he plays lefty lol
Does one need to have mastered an abbreviated John McEnroe-style swing first before attempting a C path? You say the drop phase just happens automatically, but for many people once the racket is high the natural thing is to swing directly from that high position at the ball. Are you assuming that people have already drilled to automaticity the habit of swinging from under the ball up to contact, so when the hold the racket high they instinctively shift down below the ball in their swing? Because that isn't a natural or intuitive thing to do from a high racket preparation position. If my racket is high, what seems most intuitive is to swing at the ball from there. To get down under the ball I have to do that deliberately, turning the wrist so the racket goes down and the butt cap forward, then pull the racket up into contact. It isn't a matter of the drop phase happening automatically and my not needing to think about it or deliberately bring it about.
i think McEnroe is gripping eastern, not continental
Every foot your racket travels gains 6 mph
Old gen forehand is pretty much pickleball
😅
I dunno Jack Sock hits with plenty of spin at pickleball.
Sorry ,
101% wrong .
There is a different mechanism behind this.
Cool, thanks for letting me know.
Gravity and high prep is far from being major reason for Alcaraz hitting harder than JMac. High prep is to handle much higher balls.
The difference is because of full uncoil, that is possible with E/SW grips. And because of another league of spin, which generally allows to apply much higher RHS without blasting the ball into the back fence with no bounce.
Major power and acceleration comes after the racquet is set buttcap-forward. Everything before is for timing and aligning the shot (and coiling the body, of course).
I wonder how comes you transmit this “rollercoaster and gravity is differentiating power source” idea, it’s not right…
I didn't say it was "major", simply highlighting one of many differences between old school and modern. Thanks for watching, great comments.
@@EssentialTennis Relating to gravity’s influence, You said, “this is why the best players can hit such huge forehands”. Perhaps you should have said “this is why the best players can keep the ball in the court after hitting such huge forehands”. The speed of the racquet head primarily comes from the rotation around the hand, rather than the linear movement of the hand.
@@peterastor613Yes. It's not difficult to hit a forehand hard. It's difficult to hit a forehand hard *and in*. I never understand why there are so many videos about how to "add 10mph to your forehand" and so forth. Almost everything about my forehand swing is about reducing the racket head speed so I don't hit the ball long. If I could just work out how to hit it medium pace at anything more than 2 inches over the net without going long, my game would be 100 times better. I don't need to hit it harder and I can't imagine many male players of ordinary recreational standard do. Maybe women players gain, but they seem to be able to naturally hit the ball at medium pace without hitting it long anyway, presumably because they can commit to the shot more without putting in too much power, simply because they aren't as strong. By contrast, many men hold back on almost every forehand.
Pardon me, I really don't understand how a coach can teach tennis strokes by only showing how other (elite) players hit the ball, but not demonstrating what he himself has grasped and is capable of. Tennis, like many other games, is an experiential sports. One has to hit the ball and understand the nuances, the subtleties, including when mistakes are made, how to stay consistent when the balls come and bounce up at different heights, varying pace and directions etc. These cannot be learnt by merely talking about the 'how to' of the stroke, even when teaching at a preliminary or beginner level. What more the title of the video suggests this is about 'Mastering' the stroke.
Sorry it wasn't useful for you. Good luck with your tennis journey!
Seriously this channel is the worst in terms of tennis knowledge and coaching. It’s hard to know where to start. Forehand racket swing has nothing to do with gravity. It is generated by the weight shift from back to front leg. Racket take back is to create circular path for swing path with shoulder as fulcrum. Analysis of low to high is completely inaccurate and doesn’t account for advanced wrist break and racket angle tip pointing to floor and federers wrist break and covering the ball with the wipe. He uses this because of his eastern grip. The grip absolutely affects the spin as it affects the swing path and contact angle as the western grip allows the palm to face up and allows a natural rainbow arc or windscreen wiper affect. Think Iga Swiatek. Seriously.
Thanks for the insight. Appreciate it 🙏.