Simon from top tennis training does a great job explaining the roll of the wrist in your forehand. The followthrough for spin or more pace is clearly described. A great way to train is to practice your swings combined with footwork. Replay the video, pause it and copy the segments of the swing. Over the next session our groups will
be working on this weapon system. youtu.be/lVSN-JEXPwM?si=2ei-45UT9flQ_Ck8

Milan from Serbia produces great instructional content on YouTube. He shows the forehand in a five step process. A great way to practice your forehand is to drop feed yourself and practice hitting the ball with footwork too. Milan whose channel is Tenfitmen produces excellent short clip videos as well. This guy will train anywhere in cold or hot weather. youtu.be/gdOYVCsE41k?si=vl-3_KA7B25redbj

I endorse you to watch the videos many times with your tennis racquet in hand and work on improving these fundamentals every single day. You don’t need a tennis court to get better. Sure it helps. But when you get on the court you’ll have laser focus. Enjoy getting better every day!

ATP training coach Brian Dabul has produced this easy to follow footwork for the forehand. This player is basically covering the baseline with two steps. He’s being coached a 1-2 timing which is a great way to cover lots of court with the least amount of steps. If you are a smaller player you will need to take more. A wide athletic base with your knees bent and feet beyond your shoulders is required. This is a counter attack forehand. youtube.com/shorts/u0YvuPbd8J4?si=Rz-G1WOEgdM5NvUh

In this next video Coach Patrick Mouratoglu breaks down Victoria Azarenka’s Two Handed Backhand. Azarenka has a great semi-open two handed backhand that also gives her great power on balls hit inside the baseline and those taken on higher deep shots outside the baseline. youtu.be/2luiv1xAzY8?si=dfjAZSLMs6SjPfQx

This is a neutral stance video of Novak D’Jokovic hitting a forehand. This is using more forward movement into the court with the left foot. youtube.com/shorts/G7ZJNaszMrc?si=b48xhgq4lfmAdBH2

There's a ton of content out there on the proper way to hit the volley. In this brief post I'll go over the main points of how to hit a solid volley. There are two main kinds of volley: the mid court and the "at net". To play the net well you need both.

Here's some main points: keep your hands down and elbows bent slightly away from the body, in an athletic stance, with hands below the racquet, and hop up at contact of the player hitting the ball. The grip is continental for most players, but some players may not be able to hold a solid grip and require more grip changing to secure the racquet. The racquet head preparation is loaded at the height of the ball, keeping technique simple. Keep your elbows out a little. Set the racquet where the ball is going to arrive! This produces flat volleys! Keep your strings facing the target.

I found this tip by from Ryan (Two Minute Tennis). I think it's really good. I do however coach more backspin than he does (on the backhand volley) video.youtu.be/rpacFeUeioc?si=XCIzcIJm3MaiAjEe.

If you look at Stefan Edberg one of the best volleyers of all time (be patient, you'll have to see a few backhand volleys before getting to the forehand volley) you can see more slices being used on the bakchand wing. youtu.be/H89CnrqAruQ?si=0ivA7uOLxtaeHLBK

Take a look at Bob Bryan hitting some volleys. This was back in 2013 with his brother, Mike. Notice that there is little if any slice on the forehand volley. His elbows are not as bent as Ryan's two-minute video, but they are bent. He uses a bit of slice on the backhand volley but not a ton. youtu.be/kWLI14pN_QI?si=FSn8Cf75DVdYHXaV. Also, I like the way Bob is taking volley practice near the center of the court. This is great volley practice for doubles where most of the action is.

And finally, this is Leander Paes, the most amazing hands I've ever seen in doubles. His form is similar to Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan. youtu.be/o6qTdftF5LA?si=1Rt8fSzrChNt33SI

What about two-handed backhand shots? There's no better in the business than Chris Evert!
youtu.be/gfF9noOf1W0?si=2kDh6Sa_YDIgwpMF

Emma Raducanu won the US Open in 2021. She’s a British Citizen who was born in Canada. She’s 5’9 and plays a two handed backhand. Her technique and timing is effortless. Note that she has relatively compact swings that allow for efficient power. Her backhand is her best shot and she’s now working on getting her weight transferred better off her forehand wing.

In the video you’ll see her hit open and neutral stance forehands. “Her racquet behind the shoulder preparation is completed before the ball has bounced.” This is critical for launching her weight into the ball. Notice how her load leg releases forward next to or in front of her body after the shot. The way she keeps her racquet moving steady from preparation till finish shows great timing of the ball which is a talent in itself.

Try reviewing these shots and pausing to notice the phases of the swing. 1. Active feet 2. Hop up before the opponents contact 3. Touch Feet and turn, moving to the ball with early shoulder preparation 4. Balanced stance through contact with hip rotation 5. Followthrough with load leg release 6. recover position and repeat sequence again.

​youtu.be/ZSKOj6YsWzE?si=-wBl6anU0KF1GqtL

What is a serve plus 1? youtube.com/shorts/Cj0bhW3L-M4?si=7Uri6z0LSTL0KEpv

In this video by Tenfitmen you’ll see Dimitrov pound a first serve and then quickly get ready to attack the return of the receiver with aggressive court position and pound the ball for a winning shot.

The sequence begins with Dimitrov going through is serving ritual with a routine of leaning forward and pulling is right arm back. This rocking motion provides fluidity for his timing. From there, he rocks back, and then for forward, using a knee bend from a fixed platform stance, with a great left arm toss extension, a lagged racquet arm, finishing up high to the ball launch at 1 o’clock, landing into the court.

Upon landing into the court he quickly resets his feet behind the baseline, now ready for anything high or low fast or slow.
His first serve forced a high ball inside the baseline, where he then move forward with quick adjustments of the feet to hit off the right leg! This type of footwork allows for easier management of higher balls! From that load position he body slaps the ball for his plus 1.

This type of play is a Serve plus 1–big serve, big forehand!
To execute this play you have to force the up ball with a well located and or powerful serve, and have to develop your stance on the forehand to access higher ball contact points. These skills are fundamentals to high performance players.