Saturday, May 19, 2012

Beginning Forehands

 How do I get started? Let's go to the beginning. The game today uses a progression with balls that helps you develop the correct technique. If your you're a little one (age3-4) start with a foam ball. If you get hit in the face it won't traumatize you for the rest of your life. The rackets start at 19 inches and progress up to the standard adult sizes. These balls are fun to hit and are easy to control. The next ball up is the red ball. Use that in the mini courts designed by the USTA or just use the inside service box/ or one half service box using the alley. Then there is the orange ball for the ten and under players that use a 3/4 quarter court; then the green dot on that court, then the green dot on a full court, and then the regular court with regular yellow balls. I use the colored balls in my adult classes and have found that players develop better strokes with longer rallies which creates far more enjoyment. As the players improve I work expose them to higher level balls and they develop at a faster rate then the traditional yellow ball.
  The first thing you need to learn is how to rally (hit the ball back and forth over the net allowing one bounce). If you are right handed you will hit forehands on the right side of the body and backhands on the left. The right side (for a right handed player) is usually the easiest at first to learn. I like to have players start sideways to the net (left shoulder pointing to the net for the right handed). Put your left arm parallel to the net. This gets you turned and set. The right hand should be in front of the body (palm down). The tip of the racket is pointing to the back of the court. From there I would have you turn your body forward pulling the racket forward to the contact point (racket parallel to the net and square the ball to the strings). Your weight is shifting slightly forward, your hips have rotated square to the net, your left foot is a little to the left of the plane of the back right leg. This allows loading of the hips and angular rotation to occur. When beginning it's usually best to start the racket in the down position to get the low to high feel of the swing which produces topspin. After you develop the feel for that I would then add taking the racket back in a compact looping motion as for some this timing can be extremely difficult. Learn to walk before you run, right? Make sure you keep both hands out in front of your body. Self toss a ball out in front of yourself toward the net step a little with your left foot and bend that knee. As you turn into the ball rotate your hips foward and pass the racket to the contact point (waist high in front of your left knee). You should pull the racket so it lags behind the hand. Nick Bolletterri calls this "the slot." In April's TENNIS Macci did a nice job outlining the modern forehand. He calls this movement of lagging the head "the pull" and then when you finish out in front you "roll" the head to the left side of the body where the left hand hand and arm have rotated around to the left and corral or capture the racket into your left hand. Chuck Kriese in The Science of Coaching Tennis describes the shoulders as swinging from "Mike (the front shoulder) to Ike" (the back shoulder). In the neutral stance shot where you step forward I believe you should master keeping the back foot down for balance and control until such you master the basic mechanics. Then you can "go with the flow" as Ed Krass down at the College Tennis Academy in Tampa would say. When you swing comfortably the hips come around to square into a ready position.

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