Lesson 02: Tennis Forehand Lesson with Ryan Reidy

As I struggled with consistency and power on my tennis forehand, Ryan Reidy from 2minutetennis evaluated my forehand and offered excellent pointers for improvement.

Here is a list of technique items to work on:

Forehand Pointers:

1. Watch the ball, and split step when the opponent hits the ball
   
2. From the standard ready position, twist the shoulders clockwise, with the elbow sticking out (elbow the enemy)
   
3. Move to the best position to hit the ball
   
4. Choose a stance:
1. Open stance - fast or high balls (stay in place)
   
2. Neutral stance - slower or low balls (need to step forward)
   
3. Closed stance - balls far away, step sideways)
   
5. Make sure the shoulder and arm are horizontal and in a line, with the racket leaning right
   
6. When the ball bounces, separate the left and right arms
7. The left arm tracks the ball (and moves out of the way) to the desired height of the swing (arms like to be together so that the right arm will naturally track to the left arm)
   
8. Drop the right arm (push it away, as if you are putting it down on the ground)
9. Bend your knees (like sitting down in a chair)
10. Initiate the rotation (both hips and shoulder move at the same time, together)
11. For more spin, the racket must point down so that it has a more significant vertical path to travel
1. It travels from 6 o’clock to 3 o’clock, making contact with the ball at 3:00 for maximum spin
2. For more spin, a more vertical stroke is needed
12. Decided on the proper vertical racquet angle:
1. Flat - flat shots
   
2. Closed - topspin shots
   
3. Open - lobs
   
13. Try to look through the racquet
    
14. Keep the head still while looking at the contact point (and after contact, too)
15. The racket should travel upwards and not turn left too early
    
16. The racket follow-through should end up above the head (not on the side)
17. The left hand moves with the right hand and should catch the racket overhead (wave to your opponent)
18. For low-to-high stroke, the racket must start below the ball to get enough low-to-high transition

 

Additional Helpful Videos

1. How to Make Perfect Contact with the Ball by MyTennisHQ (Karue Sell)