Modern Forehand Tips And Technique Explained | Tennis Forehand Lesson

In modern tennis, we see so many variations of the forehand unit turn. From Carlos Alcaraz to Holger Rune to Jannik Sinner. What can we learn from these forehands and how can we adapt this into our play?

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#PerformancePlusTennis #PPT #John Craig

[mauricecatayan]

It's interesting comparing Fed's early FH to his late FH.

Early on, his back swing was high and he swung with a more bent arm more often and the wiper part of his swing was obvious and very long. Very spinny.

It then evolved into a straight arm most of the time, and his wrist laid back way earlier in his backswing and stayed laid back for a lot longer, giving the impression of a much longer swing and him "pulling" the racquet for a lot longer before it rotates forward to face the net. During this time, especially at Wimbledon, he relished in driving the ball hard.

Finally, it evolved into the version he retired with: much lower and shorter take back. He traded in length of the forward swing for more prestretch. His wrist laid back a lot later and stayed laid back shorter. The forward pivot of the racquet happens more quickly and abruptly.

[p.bangma]

great analysis my compliments John
CHAPEAU older competition player Peter

[roberthuskey]

interesting and valuable look at the modern forehand. The points you made at the end about the commonalities in all good forehands are really the most important aspects of the forehand. Without those, none of the other wrist and shoulder variations you examine can make a difference. That said, what Sinner does with his forehand is above and beyond. What he is actually doing is adding long axis shoulder pronation to his swing. The backswing position lets him load the rotation as he starts forward with his swing. He rotates his elbow (shoulder) nearly 180 degrees from his backswing to just before striking the ball. That rotation helps generate the tremendous lag and subsequent racquet head speed he gets with the addition of long axis shoulder pronation. The first 180 degree rotation is the loading phase and then through the strike and follow through he is adding the long axis pronation. It is the same rotation that top servers have in their serves but applied horizontally.
I have been working to adopt it and find that the key is to really feel the rotation in the shoulder manifesting as elbow position. You can see that the Roddick backswing does a similar thing. The Racquet face is or would be facing backwards. The racquet head pointing forward disguises what is happening but on close analysis it is similar to Sinner's. I found that Sinners approach of having the racquet head pointing more back while the shoulder rotates engages the loading action more reliably. As you point out, it feels very different and is very difficult to do off the cuff. I have been doing a huge number of shadow swings to get the engram of that loading rotation, pronation, lag and follow through. After a while you can really start feeling it as a natural thing. At that point you can start applying it to striking a ball. The effect is pretty amazing. Another dimension of power and spin with no more effort. Incorporating it into match play obviously takes a Lot of repetition and practice, just like any other substantial stroke change does. Still working on that, but it's starting to come on line. Very fun!

[gregoryphillips]

Very good thoughtfully done a great guide for anyone.

What l have found helpful is that l keep my non racquet hand attached long enough to help me start the forward swing. This helps me hit the ball out in front. Have not been late on a ball since l started doing this.

[lujzegk]

Great explanation. Thank you. I am just working on my forehand.

[RSH]

John, wow, I really appreciate your instruction approach. Thank you.

[marktace]

We older players square up the racquet face in the backswing and then swing forward with the racquet face squared up. Essentially, no matter which technique you tried you ended up doing that. The modern swing sets the racquet in the slot position and as the swing comes around the body the racquet face “squares” up through the hitting zone (actually a bit closed in most cases). They get a ton of racquet head speed and spin that way. We older players with our squared up racquet faces have to swing more low to high to get the spin. It worked pretty well for Steffi Graf.

[paoloantunes]

Nice one John.
I think there’s an important connection between diverse body types and finding the best style of stroke in accordance.
If Socrates had switched from being a philosopher to a tennis coach he’d probably say: Know your body type :)

[peterfriedmann]

As I recall Lendl’s forehand pointed forward on his takeback…

[billfitzgibbon]

Thank you. Well presented and easy to follow.

[lordbyron]

Never copy anyone !! Come up with your own method of hitting a forehand, , a backhand, , serve etc.
Copying someone is simply an exercise in futility and you’ll never fully understand what it is you’re doing . Be your own master !!

[glenberberet]

I think everybody needs to find what works for them and try not to copy pro players because they are just on a different.
Level

[uvrays]

Unfortunately Roddick abandoned that forehand early in his career and he was never much of a threat to Federer after that. You are dead right on avoiding snapping the wrist.