Poor Consistency Of Tennis Strokes? Don't 'FIRE' The Stroke!

I use the word "fire the stroke" when I see one of two ways players go through their follow-through:
- they either move very fast to the end of the follow-through or...
- they immediately relax after contact and have no control over the follow-through

In both cases the player doesn't really execute the follow-through in a controlled manner and that's what's causing the inconsistency of their forehands, backhands and even volleys.

Only high level players can really let go of the racket after contact and control the ball well. All beginner and intermediate players should learn to execute the stroke from start to finish in a controlled manner and visualize that the ball / contact is in the middle of the stroke and not at the end of the stroke.

0:00 Intro
0:56 Two Ways Of Firing The Stroke
2:05 Forehand Examples
7:00 Backhand Examples
8:03 Forehand & Backhand Backview
9:18 Forehand Volley
10:27 Backhand Volley
11:18 Forehand & Backhand Volley Backview
12:34 Serve and Smash Explanation

[vladimirlubavin]

Tomaz, this is the most important video of ALL times. I hope every tennis player see it - the struggle will end right there. Thanks again. Kroling, walking, running analogy is great

[vonbraun]

Years ago back when I was coaching in Germany, they had a slogan for what Tomaz is describing. They called it "shooting the ball" or "he shoots", etc. like a gun--bam (translated from German I don't remember what they called it in German). A player who at once explodes the racket into the ball out of nervousness or anxiousness or just simply trying to duplicate what they think the pros are doing. This is a great video dealing with concept that not often mentioned. Feel Tennis is best instruction out there.

[jeremywong]

Hi Tomaz. I'm from Singapore (Shaheed, your former pupil while you were working here, was a student in my class for a semester! He was quite a witty and sharp student in the classroom, and I imagine he was the same on the tennis court. The last update I had about him was that he followed in your footsteps and became a tennis coach too!)

I've followed your videos for many years, and they always reliably gave a fresh perspective on how to understand what issues I had in my game. This one however was extremely timely because my forehand has deserted me especially recently. And the problem I always felt but could never express, was what you have done so well in this video. That by trying to hit 'harder' I will instead lose any ability to consistently and efficiently transfer whatever power I was generating to the ball (it gets dumped into the net, falls short, is shanked, etc.). The more I play tennis, the more I become aware of the strange 'contradictions' involved in mastering it.

Something that you clearly understand and have managed to successfully convey through a honing of your own unique style and craft as a tennis instructor.

Thanks so much for your work and all the best!

[Aliens-Are-Our-Friends]

Awesome. Ya staying present through the whole stroke

[gogogo]

Thank you coach Thomas, now that's explained why my backhand is more consistent than my FH. because I can't whack with my BH. So many forehands errors when getting too excited.

[andyi]

I’ve been waiting for a stroke consistency video! Much thanks Thomaz!

[stevenyeong]

Great instruction. I've had beginner adults who would whack the ball. This idea of a controlled rhythm is something I've not considered which I should in my instruction and also in my game.

[nicholaslam]

Thanks a lot for your helpful, to the point and useful tips and teachings.

[namphan]

Thank you very much for your lesson, Tomaz. You are the best!

[Skama]

Very good material. Only in the last months i discovered the advantage to find your controlled rythm which excludes totally firing the stroke. As i play in amateur competitions most of the opponents don't hit constantly so it is up to me to settle in my own rythm.
Extremely useful the advice to finish slow, too!

[cesarfernandezlopez]

Thank you Thomas ❤️👍🏻🎾 super important tecnique lesson 👏🏻

[Whisper]

Contact being the end of the swing has to be one of the biggest limitations to players technical and playing outcome improvement I've experienced

It really manifests itself on serve practice the most

I attempt to make returning to a good ready position into a split step as the end of a swing/serve

It gets a much better result WRT players improvement

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It has occurred to me that this video has been created to address one of Tomaz's student who just flat out refused to listen or take heed of his instruction

This is a great conceptual video to teach people how to approach their tennis improvement

[marloweify]

thanks a lot Tomaz...like always..best coach

[fodaseodinheiro]

Thomaz you are the best. I am a kind 2…. Ive never understand what’s the deal with my termination before… 🙈🙏🙏👊✌️🙌

[looping]

Thanks a lot from France, its very usefull and very well explained, slowly :)

[laurentiuflorea]

Thanks a lot, again for another valuable lesson! :) !

[prashantgupta]

I have been trying to work on and off for a year now to control and slow down the strokes. Have the habit to whack the ball especially on the serve. As Tomaz says "it's a lottery".
Apply this along with his lesson of starting the stroke and preparation early and one can finish 80% of all tennis learnings right there.
Thanks Tomaz. A great lesson. Also liked your comment of people only watching the highlights and trying to replicate it. So true.

[marekmikosza]

Bardzo dobra podejście poprzez nawiązanie do mindsetu i wyobrażania jakie masz gracz w głowie. Mózg decyduje o wszystkim.

[mtyhb]

This video is fire!! Lol But seriously, this is so helpful, helped me figure out why my forehand is usually inconsistent. Thank you so much for this great video!!!

[matthewbnguyen]

Thank you for the video as I struggle with this! Not having complete control of your follow through is a surefire way to lose most matches you play ;)