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VOLUME 1: THE FOREHAND
Part 1: Contact Point & Grips
In these first few pages, I write about things like topspin and slice before
I've explained what they are. I am assuming three things:
one, that you have sufficient
natural ball sense to actually hit the ball and,
two, that most of you will
have at least a little knowledge of tennis technique. Even if you can't
yet hit with topspin and slice, you probably have some knowledge of these
ball spins from watching tennis on television, and
three, that your intelligence
and attention span hasn't been completely obliterated by text messaging
and twitter, and that you are still capable of reading a book, made up of
sentences that actually mean something. If not, I suggest you ****
off to the virtual land of the terminally stupid and play tiddly winks -
this game is too darn BIG for you!
Readers new to tennis will not have long to wait before slice and topspin
are explained. If something doesn't make sense at the first reading, I recommend
you return to the relevant section later.
The Cornerstone: Contact Point
There are numerous components that make up a working tennis forehand and
each separate ingredient is essential if you consistently want to dish up
a good stroke. Some of the various bits that form a smooth, fluid tennis
forehand, however, are more important than others, in both the making and
keeping of a good stroke.
‘What is the most important part of a forehand’?
If the question were different and I'd asked myself 'what is the most
important part of playing tennis?', my answer would probably be 'movement'.
Meaning, the ability to move to and from the ball and set up precisely for
each stroke, which is evident in all the top players.
Occasionally a weak stroke will surface in great players,
but great movement can be found in all of them, and the
likes of Graf, Sampras, Federer, Agassi, Nadal, Wilander, Navratilova and
Connors spring immediately to mind.
But the question was 'what's the most important aspect of a forehand?'
If forced to single out one aspect of building (and sustaining) a tennis
stroke, I'd say contact point is the single most important
part, because only a perfect contact allows a stroke to fully and properly
develop (and only precise movement delivers a perfect contact...but
I'm getting ahead of myself again).
If the ball is in the wrong place at contact, the stroke will not be the
genuine article, but at best an impostor. For example, if the said bad connect
zipped the ball down the line for a winning passing shot, the reason it
did so will not be your precise movement and well-timed technique, but rather
good luck or your ability to improvise (not surprisingly, improvisation
often develops best in those who continually make bad contacts!).
The best response to flukes is to recognize them for the impostors they
are, and never take credit for a winning stroke when good fortune was the
key player.
Be honest with yourself.
It was a lucky winner and you know it.
If, on the other hand, you make a good connect by setting yourself up properly
and you stick strings-to-ball at the right time-and-place, this will give
oxygen to all other parts of the stroke.
A perfect contact, therefore, is the cornerstone of every
tennis stroke. It is the foundation stone on which everything else is built
and it is the fertile soil in which timing and technique are encouraged
to grow to fruition. And if you plant in fertile ground or build a solid
stroke on perfect foundations, it will last for as long as you are able
to take it to the court.
Contrastingly, if you try to build on here-there-and-everywhere contacts,
you'll be building on crooked foundations and the shots you develop will
be unsound.
Better to get it right now then, eh?
Contact: Constants & Particulars (or Variables)
These are terms I shall use initially to describe the characteristics of
a perfect contact.
'Constants' are those aspects of a perfect tennis contact
shared by all world class players, along with good standard players everywhere.
They are the things that are constantly found in good forehands. For instance,
every player connects with the ball in front of the body, as we shall see
soon.
'Particulars' are those characteristics particular to the
contact point of each individual tennis player or shot-type. They are personal
variations on the constants, which work well for individuals and certain
player types.
For example, all players should constantly be making contact forward of
the body, but particular players may make contact further forward of the
body than others. The reasons 'why' are various, but this is one of many
particular questions that we shall deal with later, when we begin to unravel
some world class forehands from the past couple of decades.
The Constants
A perfect contact on a forehand drive is the fulfilment of a combination
of three guiding rules or precepts:
1, contact between the racket strings and the ball must
be made forward of the body, or at the very least forward of the
hitting shoulder,
2, at a comfortable height: not too low, not too high.
The majority of good contacts are made around waist or belly height,
3, and at a comfortable distance from the body. Far enough
away to be able to hit a full racket's length out to the side, allowing
the racket to be parallel to the ground at (or around) contact.
We'll look at the various reasons 'why' when we begin looking at player
strokes. But you will find these three constants in the forehand contacts
of every player in the world's top 1000.
That's why we're calling them 'constants'.
They constantly and unfailingly appear in accomplished
strokes.
The Particulars (or Variables)
Of the three above constants, there is most variation in
1, the height of the ball at contact and
2, the distance the ball is in front of the body.
'Particulars' are variations in the point of contact which are
'particular' to individual players. They are 'particular' to types of shot,
and also 'particular' to different player types.
But these 'particulars' only need to come into focus when we have grasped
the things that all good forehands share.
First of all we'll look at the contact point of a selection of top players
past and present, then we'll take a closer look at their forehand grips.
A first test: What are the three 'constants'?
And does Michael Chang fulfil them all in frame
1?
I'd say he fulfils all three, as Michael hits,
1, forward of his body,
2, at a relatively manageable height, just above the belly
and
3, a racket's length (and more) away from his body.
This contact isn't too far forward of the body. But most importantly, it's
forward of Mikey's hitting shoulder, which is a 'particular' aspect of Chang's
forward contact. We'll look at Michael's full stroke later.
Much the same thing in 2 as Goran Ivanisevic
connects forward of his hitting shoulder. Both balls in the first two images
have been hit deep, and Goran and Michael have been pinned back behind the
baseline. As more advanced readers will realize, Goran in particular is
whipping up topspin, which requires him to direct much of his efforts upwards.
For this reason he doesn't need to be hitting quite as far forward of the
body as, say, the aggressive Roddick does later.
In 3 Lleyton Hewitt's exceptional movement around the court
guarantees the perfect contact for his intentions almost every time. Contact
is made forward of the body at waist height, and a racket's length-plus
away from the body. Are you getting the message?
In 4 stylish stroke-maker Hana Mandlikova
gives a good demonstration of all aspects of a perfect forehand contact
point.
This is a clear side-view of how far away from the body the racket should
be.
To free up your potential stroke and allow you to either hit up for topspin,
or follow through long after contact for a powerful drive, you need the
racket to be parallel to the ground at contact. This can't happen if you
get on top of the ball.
In 5 Andy Roddick's contact is higher
than some of the others. Also, the forward connection suggests aggression.
It looks like the ball is stuck to Pete Sampras' racket
strings in 6. Note how the racket head is slightly ahead
of the hand at connect. Any idea what Pete hopes to achieve by contacting
the ball with the racket out in front of his hand?
In frame 7 Patricia Tarabini's
racket head is even further forward of the hitting hand at contact. The
reason should be obvious to more advanced players, but I'll let the rest
of you work on this question: what is Tarabini's intention in meeting the
ball so much further forward of her racket hand (and consequently her body)
?
Image 8 is an example of a higher contact, as Andre
Agassi rises aggressively to a chest high connect. Taking the
ball high and early is pretty advanced stuff, but you should understand
early in your tennis education that such shots do exist, because strokes
often develop along the lines of a player’s attitude, rather than
some text book path: if you're feisty by nature, an aggressive attitude
may soon fight it's way through to the surface and manifest itself in your
game. Good coaches will often recognize and nourish these natural inclinations,
but the term 'learn to walk before you can run' applies fully to tennis
technique.
We've seen Tarabini make contact with the ball almost too far forward, with
the racket head meeting the ball forward of the hitting hand. In frame
9, Lleyton Hewitt does the opposite of Tarabini,
as he purposefully connects with the ball with a slightly delayed racket
head. When his strings meet the ball, the racket head is behind Lleyton's
hand, rather than in front of it. It's not important at this stage, but
exercise your mental juices nevertheless and consider why?
In 10 Monica Seles' two handed
forehand was the ultimate push-me, pull-you of tennis strokes and one of
the top few power-forehands of all time in the women's game. However, there
are no exceptions to a perfect contact and this two-handed shot fulfills
the '3 constants' for a perfect forehand contact.
Forehand Grips: Variations
Connecting with the ball in the perfect place makes a stroke so
much easier. The perfect contact that good players strive for (and
achieve consistently through much practice) is the true friend of good technique;
it is the perfect platform from which you can deliver the right stuff to
the other side of the net.
In some situations, it is more difficult to hit a bad shot off a perfect
contact than a good one.
But the one thing that does a great job of messing up a perfect contact,
is a bad, ill-chosen grip.
Of course there's isn't just one perfect contact for a forehand, but rather
each contact should be perfect for the particular stroke being hit. For
example, heavy topspin is often easier to hit on a higher, chest high ball
than a low, knee high contact, and aggressive cocktails of power and topspin
are usually hit further forward of the body.
Add to these myriad advanced player-intentions, like hitting cross-court
or swerving the ball down the line (with sidespin and topspin), which require
a particular variables within the framework of those three, ever-present
constants.
Palm Power & Two Extremes
In an effort to keep things immediately relevant, the images are mostly
the same as those I used for contact point...only I've zoomed in a little
so we can take a look at the grips.
Before flicking through the full set of grips, look first at frame 14
(Mandlikova) and 15 (Roddick). These two forehand grips
represent two extremes of the forehand grip spectrum. First, let us touch
upon what gives forehand grips their primary source of strength.
I call it palm power or the palm principle.
Palm Power
Basically, the palm of your hitting hand is your primary source of strength
on the racket handle: where the palm of your hand is, there too will the
greater share of your strength be.
So, looking at Andy Roddick's grip in 15,
we see the palm of his hand under the racket grip (of a
racket that is edge-ways to the ground), which locates his strength predominantly
beneath the racket, enabling him primarily to hit upwards for topspin.
By contrast, in 14 Hana Mandlikova's palm is, at best,
behind the racket (perhaps even a touch on top), which puts her
palm power behind the racket grip (and maybe also a touch on top).
Hana's primary source of power is behind the racket grip, which means her
primary direction for hitting is through, for a flat, moderately
spun drive (or, as her palm is a little too close to the top of the racket
for topspin, she could also power down on the ball, from above, for slice).
I believe the ideal grip for beginners and intermediates, and also for general
forehand play, is somewhere in-between these two extremes.
It's worth mentioning when considering grips that the position of the racket
I'm talking about is always edge-ways to the ground. This is usually the
angle of the racket at contact, so an edge-on to the ground racket shall
be the one we use when considering grips.
In frame 11 Michael Chang's grip is in between the two
previously mentioned book ends, with the palm of his hitting hand both behind
the grip and also some way under it.
This is one version of the all-purpose topspin and power grip: it allows
the best of both worlds.
If you see the knuckle of a player's thumb on top of the racket grip, you
know that the palm of his hand will be somewhere towards the bottom of the
grip and in 12 Goran's palm/knuckle is placed similar to
Chang's.
This image, which was snapped a fraction after contact, hints at how players
use the palm under to whip the racket head up and through for aggressive
topspin.
Hana Mandlikova's grip would have been nowhere near as natural (or useful)
for powering up the racket head for topspin, especially on such a high ball.
In 13 Lleyton Hewitt is another
palm under merchant, with the knuckle of his thumb directly on top of the
racket grip (compare to Goran’s previously). Hewitt’s grip is
a close relation of Andy Roddick's.
Again, 14 is just about passable as a forehand grip, but
if the thumb were any further to the front it might better be classified
as a backhand grip. If there's one grip here I'm not fond of, it is this
one.
‘Why?’
Because the palm power is on top of the racket, where it’s
least needed; too much arm 'strength' on top and not enough underneath
the racket.
One world class clay-court player in particular has used a similar grip
to whip up much topspin over the years (any aidea who?), but more often
this is the grip that has kept world class net players from making serious
progress on European (particularly Edberg: see final forehand chapter).
With the odd exception, I would banish this grip to grass courts, the distant
past and the social Sunday tip tap.
It is not for the baseline play of talented youngsters.
We're back at Andy Roddick in 15. Having
viewed a few other grip variations, you should now know that this is about
as extreme a forehand 'palm under' grip as you can get, though Alberto
Berasategui and Thomas Muster's grips are perhaps
a touch more extreme and under with the palm.
Pete’s grip in 16 is a couple of centimeters further
round the racket grip than Mandlikova's and a fraction short of Michael
Chang's all-puspose grip. The Sampras grip is nevertheless a decent all-rounder
for both power and moderate topspin, though not quite enough underneath
for excessive topspin on clay courts.
In 17 the knuckles on Agassi's hand (as opposed to the
ones on his fingers) aren't as far to the fore of the (bottom of the) racket
grip as Roddick's, which tells us that this isn't quite as extreme a 'palm
under' grip as Roddick's. But the palm is further under than Sampras’
grip, which gives Andre a little more potential for topspin, and with it
the ability to mix it better on clay courts.
Great close up of Lleyton's palm under grip in 18, with
the knuckles of his hand beneath the grip and the knuckle of his thumb on
top. To confound any hard-and-fast theories on the perfect grip for the
whippy-topspin, clay court game, I should point out that Hewitt has used
this palm-under grip to greater effect on grass and hard courts than he
has on European clay, which is not his favourite surface.
Oh, by the way. The contact of the racket head with the ball, which occurs
behind the hand, is due to Lleyton hitting an inside out forehand. This
is the opposite of a cross court forehand, directed from the inside out,
to his right-handed opponents backhand corner.
In 19 we see Andy Murray’s forehand grip, which is
along the lines of the all-purpose topspin-cum-power grip and in 20
we see Rafa Nadal’s forehand grip, which is almost identical to Roddick’s
forehand grip in 15.
