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Mastering the Tennis Forehand: Grip and Stance Tips
To hit a tennis forehand properly, with spin, power, control, it is important to understand what preparation is required before you actually get ready to swing. Our prior articles explain these and are listed below in sequential order. If you are struggling with power, spin, or control on your current forehand , refer to the sequential list below to ensure you are preparing properly.
- Forehand Grip: Semi Western Grip
- Ready Stance:
- Split Step
- Unit Turn
- Racquet in Power Position ( This article )
- Step forward ( Closed Stance )
- Step and twist ( Open Stance )
- Racquet head drop below the wrist
- Step forward and pull racquet with handle butt facing net
- Make Contact with ball in front of your front foot/body
- Follow thru with swing over shoulder, or across the chest around backside.
- Leg swing to return to ready position ( closed stance )
To find the forehand grip, the forehand grip is a semi-western grip in my example. The semi-western grip is powerful because it places the racquet pointing down, which ensures when you make contact with the ball, you will instantly have access to spin and control. To find the Semi -Western grip, place your racquet flat on the ground, and pick it up as you see in the picture. That is the semi-western grip! It might be easier to pick up the racquet than to find the bevel on the grip. To find the correct bevel for the right handed player, you want to place your index finger knuckle pad and heel pad on bevel #4. For a left handed player, you want to place your base index finger knuckle and heel pad on bevel #6.
The Ready Position, Split Step and Unit Turn
The Ready Position is exactly what it sounds like. You are preparing yourself, ready to strike;
- You are facing the net
- Feet shoulder length apart
- Knees slightly bent
- Racquet in forehand grip, head slightly above your wrists
- Eyes on your opponent
- After opponent strikes ball ( example on forehand side )
- Perform split step, a slight hop forward landing with both feet
- When landing, right foot should be pointing towards moving to forehand side ( right-handed player ). Opposite for left handed player. Left foot pointing towards forehand side.
- Perform the unit turn, left shoulder now pointing to the net. ( right-handed player ) Opposite for left-handed player, right shoulder pointing toward the net.
- Racquet rotates to power position.
Ready Position Pictured Below
Unit turn and Racquet in Power position pictured below.
The Forehand Swing
Racquet head drops below the wrist, racquet face is closed. Racquet butt end is facing net. Player is in closed stance. Ball strike takes place in front of front foot. Left arm extended as counterbalance.
Forehand follow through over the left shoulder to ensure completion of swing and plenty of spin and power. See below image.
Summary
You now have a roadmap to your tennis forehand. What’s next? Get out there on the courts and try this out. Be patient, it takes time to learn all of these steps, and then put it all together into one awesome forehand shot.
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Thank you.
Mastering Tennis Grips: Key Techniques for Success
Tennis is a complex sport, but when broken down into small bite sizes, it becomes easier to learn and memorize.
Why is the Grip so important?
If you don’t use the proper forehand and backhand grip, you will not be successful. Without the proper grip, your forehand, backhand, serve and suffer the following;
- Lack of Control
- Lack of Power
- Lack of Spin
- Lack of depth on shot
What are the two grips I should use
The two grips we are going to use are called the Semi Western for the Forehand Grip and the Continental for the Back Hand Grip. These are the only two grips you need for a well rounded tennis game. This is how I teach my students, and this makes it very easy to remember. I say easy to remember, but often hard to find the two grips at the right time.
What does the semi western forehand grip look like?
A really simple way to find the semi western forehand grip is to lay the racquet flat on the ground. Simply pick the racquet up off the ground, and you now have a semi western forehand grip! This is a very popular grip, and one used by a high percentage of professional tennis players today. It feels a little awkward to use on the forehand, but only for a short time. When you get the feel of this grip related to the forehand, it forces the racquet face to be closed and keeps it marginally closed at the contact point of the ball. This closed face contact is what creates the natural topspin with the semi western grip.
What does the backhand grip look like?
The backhand grip is referred to either the Continental Grip or the Hammer Grip. An easy way to find this grip is to hold the racquet in your left hand, and place your right hand face on the face of the strings. Simply let your hands slide down the strings, down the racquet and onto the grip. You are now holding the racquet grip in the continental grip. To get a feel for the continental grip, hold the racquet like a hammer, and strike the racquet like you are driving a nail through a wall, you will get the feel of the grip and why it is called the hammer grip.
What grip do I use for the serve and volley?
The backhand grip is also used for your serve, and when you volley at the net. The backhand grip is also used as a slice backhand grip.
How to practice finding these grips while you are playing
The best way to find these grips while you are playing is to teach yourself to always hold the grip in the forehand grip. If you always hold the grip in the forehand position, you only need to practice flipping the racquet from the forehand to the backhand grip. I instruct my students to do this while relaxing and watching tv. Hold the racquet in the forehand position and flip the racquet to the backhand grip. Continue going back and forth, and randomly look down and make sure you are holding the racquet correctly.
Repeat these steps, until you can switch from forehand to backhand naturally without looking down.
The Grip is critical to obtaining proper forehand, backhand, serve, volley, and slice backhand.
Spend some time on the court when practicing. Ensuring you have the proper grip for either the forehand or backhand shot. We will spend a lot more time on this grip when we look at the forehand, backhand, serve, and volley shots.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions or comments in regards to this article.
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Problem with the Forehand. 5 quick fixes
- Get a grip. Make sure you are using the correct grip for the forehand. If you are a right-handed player a solid grip is the eastern forehand grip which would be bevel number 2 for the right-hander view. Same bevel number 2 for the left-hander view. The eastern forehand grip will steady your forehand stroke because the contact point is relatively flat and with the proper swing, the ball can be easily brushed up against to cause the ball to spin in the court.
2. Take back on your backswing too long. If your forehand continues to give you problems after correcting your grip you may be taking your racket back too far on your backswing. With the eastern forehand grip, a large backswing is not required as the contact point is flat and a simple brush up on the ball is all that is required for.
3. You are letting the racket head drop too early on the back swing. The racket head needs to stay above the shoulders on the backswing. As you progress towards the hitting the ball, the racket needs to make a loop from the backswing to the contact point causing the racket to brush up on the ball creating top spin and providing net clearance and depth on your shot.
4. You are not following through on your swing, and stopping your swing after you make contact. This will cause the shot to lose power and spin. This is a very common problem for beginners and even some intermediates. All of the effort goes into the grip, backswing, keeping the racket head up, but there is no follow through on the shot, thus canceling out all of the previous steps.
5. You are not getting to the ball and preparing early enough. If you have successfully corrected the first 4 steps and still struggling with the forehand, you may not be getting to the ball with sufficient time to get the right grip, take your racket back, keep the racket head up, follow through on your swing. There are many reasons why you may not be getting to the ball on top, but court position is key. You should always try to position yourself at the center of the baseline and standing a foot behind the baseline. This will ensure you can move laterally either way and the ball will be in front of you so you don’t have to back pedal.
In summary, give yourself enough time to perform steps 1-4 as you move towards the ball. If you get to the ball in time with proper techniques as listed, the forehand will soon become the ultimate weapon in your tennis game arsenal.