How to Hit a Forehand | Tennis Technique

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Find out how to hit a forehand? The technical elements in this forehand video apply to all forehands. Whether it's a classic forehand like John McEnroe or Jimmy Connors, or the modern forehand like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, or even a WTA forehand like Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova. These fundamental forehand principles apply to a wide spectrum of forehand styles.

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[IntuitiveTennis]

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[LazerHs]

“You do not have to worry about your back swing”

Thank you. I was looking for this answer my whole life.

[pier]

One of my favourite forehand tutorial. Few key points, easy to remember and zero hyper complicated informations that are useless for a beginner. I keep coming on this video to refresh fundamentals. Thanks for the excellent work coach.

[MrGhirbo]

00:37 1) First thing u do after u notice where the ball is going is TURN SHOULDERS ALL THE WAY (both shoulders, non dominant hand )
01:27 2) SET UP YOUR BODY PERFECTLY:
-open stance facing the net (or even semi-open stance with right foot a little bit behind of the left foot)
-racket head up (tip can be even higher than ur head, angle is a bit vertical with the head tipped towards the side fence)
-non dominant hand is supporting the racket on the racket's triangle with it's elbow up & away from body. Non dominant shoulder should feel stretched.
-elbow of the dominant hand should be away from the body, a bit elevated like ur nudging someone,
-forearm roughly parallel to the ground
-elbow pointing straight back to the back fence

3) SWING
02:15 -separate non dominant hand from the racket for eg. when the ball is about to bounce (the goal here is u want to separate LATE bc if u separate too soon, the swing will not be fluid & u can not focus on what matters - contact point with the ball)
TIP: invert ur non dominant hand so that the palm is facing away from body. This allows us to use the weight of nondominant hand by keeping elbow up & rotating with the swing, generating more unwind power
03:11 -backswing (aka elbow extension with palm facing down like Federer) - every player does this completely intuitively ... u dont have to worry about ur backswing! WOW !!!!
05:52 -it is absolutely necessarily to focus so that the contact point is in front of the body.
contact point on every type of modern forehand is with the dominant shoulder in front! the modern forehand has a lot of upper body rotation. compared to the classic forehand!
-what u do have to worry is that ur wrist is loose. Being loose, it automatically gets into a locked position=fully extended wrist. This is a very stable position, yet wrist is loose.
you do not want to intentionally lay back the wrist before the swing.... it gets automatically into extension when u swing ... because it is loose it flips into the locked position.
at contact point u want the stable wrist! Note for me: for me personally, not having the fully relaxed & fully extended wrist causes the face of the racket to open up (ball goes up&out)
06:19 -after contact, dont hit in front trough the ball (bc u dont want to disconect the ball from the body's core rotation)
07:15 -the swing should be across ... when the elbow passes ur trunk, start to USE that forearm muscle and make it big&fat like federer's (if ur weak muscle then move ur grip uper on handle)
we keep the ball longer on our strings resulting more "feel" (we control and feel the tip of the racket)
we keep strings positioned towards the target for as long as possible resulting more "control"
we keep the racket connected to our core rotation & rotate forearm (use forearm muscle, NOT WRIST) resulting more "top spin & power added after contact"
TIP: place ur grip with index finger a bit spread ... so u can use the forearm muscle more intensely!

Next is a quote from your video entitled "Hit Through The Ball? - Part 1 - The Forehand"
The confusion is that there are some players who have extension throughout the entirety of their stroke. Players such as Federer Nadal etc will extend the arm upon the racquet drop and now the arm will be straight at contact and then will remain straight.
However, the majority of players worldwide play the forehand with a bent arm in the preparation phase, at contact and on the finish. In other words you will never see somebody like a Djokovic make contact with the bent arm and then continue to extend forward, it simply will not happen. He's gonna start bent, he's gonna remain bent through the entirety of the shot.

[sfbusinessfinancing]

Helpful and easy to follow basic tennis instructional video by a professional. Slow motion to emphasize proper technique is useful. Seen other videos and this is by far my preferred instructor - it is simply an excellent tennis class and not a "show" to attract viewers. Thank you.

[gcs]

After separation and you rotate your core, the racquet lags behind and drops on it own assuming that you’re relaxed during that phase.

What no other online coach I’ve seen talks about us the dominant shoulder being slightly in front of the non-dominant one at contact. Contact therefore has to be made out in front unless you’re late and in that case it would feel unnatural and probably not feel too great.

I found that tip about the shoulder alignment to be of great help - thanks !

[lordbyron]

Thanks to you Niko, I’m finding that I’ve been doing everything wrong in the last 30 years. But it’s a good thing. As I’m watching you and listening to you, I’m watching myself go through the motion mentally and spot where my mistakes are. For me, it’s a great way to re-learn everything correctly! 👏. You’re knowledge and explanations make so much sense. Thank you!!🙏🙏

[TheSmartodd]

REALLY well done - I hope I can translate this into a solid forehand this summer!!

[jovancelebic]

Definitely one of the best forehand explanation ever well done from start to the end, well done

[Christfollower]

good stuff, I like hitting flat forehands hard, your video on that was excellent too, when I did try this form I got a sore wrist as it does look like the windshield wiper form at contact, I did make good shots using this form when I executed properly but 55 years old, playing a lot in Florida puts a lot of stress on wrists, but I will use your advice on the flat forehand as at times I swing forward too much, my wrists also get sore on the tap the dog backswing too swinging with a semi closed racket face, so my execution needs to be spot on with my eastern grip forehand

[tulioarauj]

One year ago I started play tennis and watch all of your beginner videos and the shape of my FH is what it is because of you and your progression drills. Thank you very much from Brazil!

[ReidVV]

Nick, where you really hit the nail on the head is hitting hitting across the ball, not through it. That's a unique and useful teaching tip. Also, the separate timing of the initial turn while moving to the ball, from the complete unit turn to initiate the proper timing and flow of the swing.

I think two problems with the typical recreational forehand is the lack of elbow separation from the body and the lack of arm and elbow extension on the backswing. If you examine all the best pro forehands, the players move the racquet upward on the backswing, separating the elbow from the body, then extend the arm, straightening the elbow (not locking it straight out), as they drop the racquet slightly below the ball and swinging slightly upward and across the ball, not through the ball, as you so correctly describe. The elbow separation from the body and elbow extension prevents short-arming the ball. With the elbow in toward the body and the arm too much bent, there is no leverage into the shot and this kills power. Also, a low backswing can cause players to swing too much upward on the ball and too often to hit it long. The elbow separation and arm extension creates a natural leverage through the shoulder, down the arm, and to the racquet, giving power. The arm extension also creates a natural lag of the wrist as the arm moves forward, adding to the whipping forward motion for more power. Watch slo-mo videos of pro forehands and you'll see what I mean. High backswing with elbow separation, arm/elbow extension, forward motion causing leverage through the shoulder, wrist lag and whip across the ball.

[robinhoodwink]

Thank you for the way the footwork is to start. I heard all top player hit contact at 45 angle to the net. This way you have shoulder quickly to hit both shot cross court or down the line

[omarsultanov]

Backswing part of this coverage is exceptional, Nik 👍😊

[leon-ma]

Great video, Nik.
A few questions about forehand.
1. What part of the body does initiate backswing rotation? Looks like non-dominant hand, correct?
2. What part of the body does initiate forward rotation: knee, core, or non-dominant hand?
3. I see from videos of most pro players when they separate hands they spread fingers of non-dominant hand keeping tension in non-dominant hand. Why they do so?

[Armando_Lara]

Thanks man! I've been watching your videos lately and their top quality. I love you are a geek of the technique.

[feed]

Hi Niko. My coach taught me to follow through the ball and continue the swing forward. And when I see the pros, that's what they do. Lok at Federer, his arm continues forward with the natural momentum of the movement.
This is an old video. Do you still teach it this way? I searched for your forehand lesson because your on-handed backhand lesson was perfect!
Thank you!

[tsalomon]

Great video. Sounds like Oscar Wegner's Modern Tennis Methodology

[vivy_xo]

Nick, thank you so much for this video!! I have being struggling with my forehead lately. This is my to go forehand sequence!!

[alfonsoperez]

Amazing video - this video has improved my forehand a lot. I am more aware of my shoulders and rotation and realized how this is key for a consistent and powerful forehand.
Take care!

advice on minute 7:20is was mind-blowing to me! A new whole world has opened up!
!