The best forehand and backhand volleys in the world are not a full swing, but a firm block of the ball.
First of all, you need to wait for the ball to get to your side, otherwise you'll be chasing it forward, rather than blocking it firmly.
If you wait for the ball to get near you and then you'll hit it by locking your wrist and your arm, the trunk of the body connects to the impact, generating more power than a loose and swinging arm.
On the forehand side, make sure your elbow is tucked in to the front of your body.
A floating elbow will give you plenty of errors and more difficulty controlling the shot.
It is good to hit across the ball, this meaning that the butt of the racquet moves a couple of inches to your left, as if you were hitting the palm of your other hand with it.
Remember that the main factor for power is not swinging at the ball, but the weight you connect to the volley block.
The placement of your volley is totally dependent on the angle of your racquet, not on the direction of your stroke.
Volleying a hard passing shot, after finding the ball path with your racquet, the hand may go on a very short motion, tightening up when you meet the ball.
On a high and slow volley you would need more of a follow through, but always tightening the grip and arm muscles when you meet the ball.
Tennis Tips: The Volley, Part One
Tennis Tip by Brent Abel - The Tennis Volley 1st Reaction
The backhand is generally more difficult to learn than the forehand. There are three distinct strokes: the one-hand topspin stroke, the two-handed topspin stroke, and the slice which is best achieved as a one-handed stroke).The most popular shot now among advanced players is the topspin stroke. Many of today's top players have two-handed stroke. The advantages are obvious and so are the limitations.
For most players, this stroke is an intimidating shot. The fear is not necessary. The motion is not foreign; in some ways we do the same thing when we throw a Frisbee or deal cards. The keys to overcoming this anxiety are the mastery of footwork, shoulder turn, racket preparation, and follow through. After that, the rest is merely practice.
A few basics that apply to all tennis shots: watch the ball at all times; always take the ball with your momentum going forward, if possible; always take the ball on the rise. Practice looking the ball into the racket face by simply bouncing a ball off the face of it until you can do it 100s of times without missing.
The One-Handed Topspin Backhand Stroke
The most popular shot now among advanced players is the topspin backhand. Basic information about this stroke: the racket starts below the ball; the player brings the racket up and through the ball, closing the face of the racket on the follow through. The shot will take an overspin that will bring the ball down. The sweep of the racket from below to above will determine the trajectory.
1. Starting Position
Wait for the ball by standing on the center strip holding the racquet with both hands in front of your body as loose as possible. At this point, you are waiting for a shot so you can switch your grip easily for a forehand or a backhand grip. By letting the arms hang and the knees relax then let the torso bend forward the same degree as the upper legs to get balanced. When the body is balanced the arms can swing freely.
The majority of your weight must be on your toes toes- do not stand flat-footed. Your knees must be slightly bent.
2. Get the racket back
Once you see that the ball is going to your backhand, get the racquet back in anticipation of the shot with your backhand grip ready. For the average player, getting the racquet back is a must to enable him to hit the shot in position.
As soon as you get your backhand grip on the racquet you should bring the racquet and shoulders back so that you will be ready to strike the ball when it arrives. The fingertips of the non-dominant hand should remain on the throat of the racquet until you swing forward at the ball.
The shoulders should be turned a little more so that your upper body is facing slightly away from the ball. Your toes should be pointing perpendicular to the direction that the ball is traveling. The foot closest to the ball (right foot for righties) should be positioned slightly in front of the body with the other foot trailing behind the body. The knees should be bent moderately. The elbow on the dominant arm is kept near the body and bent comfortably. Keep your elbow close to your body until follow-through.
The racquet should be held slightly below the point of contact and follow a strictly low-to-high swing pattern. The face of the racquet should be perpendicular to the ground. If the racquet face is tilted up or down then you will likely hit the ball too high/long or into the net. Eyes should remain focused on the ball.
3. Position when hitting the ball
After you have your racquet back in the ready position it is now time to move yourself into the appropriate position to hit the ball. You can get yourself into better position if you have your racquet back before you move to the ball. Without having your racquet back, you don't have a good notion of where you need to be.
When moving into position, you should strive to be as smooth as possible. You want to glide into position while always maintaining your balance. Staying up on your toes will help you achieve this.
Ideally, you would like to position yourself so that when you bring your racquet straight around your body, you will contact the ball on the sweet spot of the racquet and about a foot in front of the body. For lower balls you should bend your knees to get your upper body down to the level of the ball. You do not want to "scoop up" low balls by bending over and using a non-horizontal swing.
4. The swing
The backhand swing should be powered by the body -- not the arm or wrist. The wrist must remain locked in position. The idea is to turn your upper body, making it pull the racquet around and through the ball (sometimes refered to as uncoiling). Your upper body should slingshot your arm forward.
When you contact the ball, the tennis racquet should be about a foot in front of the front edge of your body. At this point, the racquet must be square to the direction you wish to hit the ball. If your racquet is tilted up, down, left or right then the ball is going to go in that direction. Once again, keep your eyes on the ball.
Just prior to contact is when many players will look up to see where they want to hit the ball, especially when their opponent is at the net. Don't do this! This is probably the most common cause of mishits. You must watch the ball all the way into the strings of your racquet. In fact, many teaching pros will tell you to leave your eyes focused on the point of contact for a full second after you have hit the ball.
5. The followthrough
Just like baseball, golf, and many other sports, you will want to followthrough after you have struck the ball. You don't want to jolt the racquet to a sudden stop right after you contact the ball. Let the racquet go "through" the ball while traveling from low to high. To maintain balance, let the non-dominant arm swing behind the body while the dominant arm (and racquet) swing to the front.
Tennis Tips: One Handed Backhand
Tennis Tips: Two Handed Backhand
Tennis Tips: Crossover on the Backhand
Tennis Backhand Topspin Drive - Taking It On The Rise
FOREHAND TECHNIQUES (Listed in their order of importance)
Watch the ball all the way to the strings (watch impact)
Maintain a firm wrist through the entire stroke; backswing, hit, and follow-through (solid strokes)
Turn TM2 to the proper o'clock position (turn sideways)
Use full strokes; follow-through completely (complete strokes)
React quickly; get your racket back and wait (early preparation using a two-step stroke)
Hit the ball with an awareness of racket pitch at impact (open racket face at impact)
Use the wrist to point the racket low on the backswing
Recover quickly back to the ready position
Check your grip after each and every shot
Use low to high strokes (let the ball fall into your strings)
How to learn this?
1. Put the butt of the racquet on your right hip (if right-hander) and just rotate your body to see how the racquet moves forward and backward together with the body.
2. Have someone toss you a balland you try to bump it with the racquet (still on your hip!) by just rotating your body backward and forward.
3. Hold the racquet away from the body at the comfortable distance and again try to hit the ball just by rotating your body.
4. Combine this feel with your arm movement and try to use mostly body rotation for power.
I'm On Your Side Tennis w/ Dan Brown Modern Forehand Lesson
Federer forehand - slow motion
Novak Djokovic - Slow Motion Forehand
James Blake - Slow Motion Forehand Side View
Carlos Moya - Topspin Forehand
Andy Murray - Forehand Training in Slow Motion
Andy Roddick - Slow Motion Forehand Side View
Novak Djokovic - Slow Motion Forehand
Roger Federer - Air Forehands
Ivan Ljubičić - Slow Motion Forehand
How to get a natural forehand swing for great tennis!
Tennis Warm Up Drills on Mini Court Warm up your body and mind...
When you get on tennis court to start your practice it is recommended that you start with mini tennis. Playing in the short court warms up your joints (especially wrists), your muscles and your "brain". Yes, your brain must start working much faster than it works in ordinary daily activities.
Tracking the ball, coordinating your body, keeping balance, calculating the timing of the shot are only few of many operations that your brain needs to perform in a very short amount of time.
There are different purposes of each drill but they do have many things in common. You practice something challenging on a short court, you develop feel and touch and you are focused on the exercise. Your concentration is also »warming up« for the main part of the practice.
1. Serve & volley on mini court Serve under hand and approach the net. No hard hitting, only touch and placement. Change serve after each point, play to 7 or 11.
Main purpose:
Practice approaching the net, play controlled volleys and overheads, develop touch for passing shots and lobs…
2. No Volleys on Mini Court This is the opposite of the upper drill – you are not allowed to play a volley or an overhead. Serve starts with a drop from the net. Play to 7 or 11.
Main purpose:
Practice moving back and playing half volleys. Use lots of spin to attack in the short court. If you end up rallying from the service line test your patience…
3. Two Bounces on Mini Court Play in both service boxes. You always have to hit the ball down into your court first. No volleys! Play to 7 or 11.
Main purpose:
Excellent drill for practicing coordination, top spin and footwork.
4. Cross and Alternate
Play in the diagonal (opposite) service boxes. You always have to alternate your strokes – one forehand and one backhand. If you play two forehands (or backhands) in a row you lose the point. Play one game to 7 in one direction (for example from deuce side) and one to 7 from advantage side.
Main purpose:
Great for footwork, coordination, ball control and tactics!
5. Volley at Your Court Players must volley the ball into their court first. No bounce on the other side! Play to 7 or 11. Start with a feed down the middle.
Main purpose:
This tennis drill is excellent for improving your anticipation, reaction and touch when you have to play close to the net. It teaches you to quickly react to the ball and not let it fall down. Your reaction time at the net will thus improve.
6. Catch & Throw
One player plays with a racquet and the other has to catch the ball and throw it over. Two rules: ball MUST bounce once and wherever you catch the ball, from there you must throw. That means that you can't move closer to the net after you've caught the ball.
Main purpose:
This drill is very good for hand eye coordination which is the foundations of good tennis skills.
And it's fun too. ;) Play to 7 and switch.
7. Forehand Only (or Backhand...) Two players play crosscourt and can use only forehand. (on the deuce side for righthanders)
You also cannot come to the net, the ball must bounce once.
Main purpose:
This tennis drill is very good for footwork and precision play. Tactics also comes into play.
Play to 7 and then swith to backhand crosscourt.
Tennis training video – “Warm-up 1”
Tennis training video – “Warm-up 2”
Tennis training video – “Nadal Warm-up 1”
Tennis training video – “Maria Sharapova Warm-up”
Tennis training video – “Nadal - Forehands Warm-up”
