Ben's Backhand Volleys - 23-06-12

Here is Ben's Backhand Volley. A couple of interesting things we can see with these videos. These were taken already a few months ago and Ben has already improved his Backhand Volleys.

For comparison here it is my backhand Volley. Notice the differences and similarities.

Corinna's Backhands - 01/07/12

Here we have your backhand videos:

After studying a bit your videos Corinna we can understand a bit better how you strike your backhands. Right from the start we can see how your arms move up and down but your shoulders remain almost unmoved especially until the bounce of the ball. Compare Richard's preparation on the bounce of the ball:

Have a look on the next three videos. Which one looks better? which one did you strike with topspin and why? what are the differences?

This next video is the better shot. This is the shot that you were able to hit with topspin. There is a few major differences compared to all other videos. The first difference is that although you were late to turn your shoulders as it was mentioned above, it was the shot that you've turned more your shoulders just before the forward swing. You can see the racquet clearly on the other side of the body.

Ian's Forehands - refining the cannon

Here we have another recording of Ian's great forehands. The first video is already an old one recorded 5 weeks ago on the 27/05/12. The last month we've been working on keeping the left hand longer on the racquet to increase the turn and to position the right elbow further back and away from the body. For a long time we've been aware that Ian's right hand goes forward before he initiates the upward movement of the hands and racquet head during the unit turn. We've been trying to change it, and until now hadn't occurred yet.

27/05/12

The next two videos are Ian's best forehands.

As pointed out earlier, Ian still brings his right hand forward before he initiates his unit turn but much less than on the previous shot.
Ian holds the left hand longer on the racquet keeping the racquet head less vertical during the unit turn. That keeps the elbow naturally further back away from the body. That is a major improvement compared to the last video.

01/07/12

 

Ian his striking his forehands with a semi open stance allowing him to create more power because it is easier to position the hips more perpendicular to the court. For a slower ball there there is an advantage to use a semi open stance when compared to a open stance. Watch how high in the air Ian is blasting that forehand on the next video. It looks great!

01/07/12 

Jeff's Backhands - 27-05-12

Jeff's Backhands - 26/02/2012

Jenny's Backhands - 26/02/12

Jenny's Forehands - 20/05/12

Jenny's Forehands - 26/02/12

Corinna's Backhands

26/02/12
26/02/12 26/02/12 25/03/2012 20/05/12

Corinna's Forehands - 20/05/12

Corinna's Forehands - 26-02-12

Jeff's Forehands - 27/05/12

Jeff's Forehands - 26/02/12

Jeff's Forehands - 09/10/2011

Simon's Forehands - 23/06/12 (New)

One month later:

Simon's Forehands 20/05/12 (Old)

The Evoulution of Ian's Forehand

I've started coaching Ian about three years ago. Ian was 15 years old and although he had played a little bit before he had never been coached before.

 One of the greatest things about using the video for coaching is that we can always look back and compare what we used to do in the past. Knowing that your technique is evolving increases one's confidence for future changes and accelerates the learning process.

 Throughout these three years with Ian I've abandoned very early a typical coaching style that focus primarily on technique. Instead, we have payed more attention to Ian's mental skills, footwork and fitness on court. We've mainly spend our weekly one hour lesson on developing Ian's rally abilities at an intensive level, where the focus is on keeping the ball in play but executing shots with ambitious speed and spin. Regularly I've recorded his shots (mainly the forehand) on high speed video. That way it was easier for Ian to know where to go when improving his technique and for me to explain it to him.
Although we had access to the best coaching tool (HS Video) we didn't really made a very conscious and painful effort to change and improve it. We pretty much let it happen by itself. As a coach it has been great to witness (some times almost passively) how Ian has been improving his skills.

 Ian hasn't really competed a lot and I think that has been an advantage for Ian's fast learning. When so many kids in their late teens quit the game at an alarming rate due to the pressure of competition, Ian is as motivated as ever and now he is tripling his weekly schedule. Not having the worries of competition allowed Ian to concentrate on his skills, while having no fear of changing and trying new things. Because he feels safe, he knows no boundaries. He is the one responsible for his skills. My job is to help him out to do that as much as I can.

 These were the first video recordings that I have made of Ian's forehands more than 3 years ago:

05/06/2009

On these videos we can see that Ian had already improved a few elements on his technique such as having the left hand on the racquet and a left arm stretch (or just) after the left hand release. However he used his forearm to drive the racquet backwards, keeping the elbow always very close to the body. On contact the elbow is bent and extremely close to the body and probably a bit late as well and there was no leg drive or any power coming from the lower body.

At this stage Ian had what its been lately named by Brian Gordon a Type 1 Forehand where the racquet head is positioned on a parallel position to the baseline before the forward swing and the right hand goes too far back and to the left side of the player.


Next videos were recorded a month after: 08/07/2009

Although video quality wasn't the best we can see that the shots just look a bit better. Ian is lower on court and he seems to be hitting the ball more in front. On these videos we can see that when the ball bounces Ian is extremely late and hasn't completed his preparation. We can easily see a lot of independent movement of the right arm especially the forearm. His unit turn wasn't still very sound.

Almost a year later I've recorded again his forehands:  03-06-10

Ian has his right elbow very close to his body. Now Ian is hitting the ball much more in front. He changed from a double bended elbow to a straight elbow at contact. I didn't advise him to do that. Actually when I looked at it for the first time on video I was quite surprised!. Ian changed it because it felt natural for him.

One month later and with a better racquet Ian started to tune up his forehand. The video quality isn't the best. The shot is recorded at 500 frames per second at night: 30/06/10

Ian's forehand is starting to look pretty good. The unit turn just looks so much better and notice as well now that when the ball bounces Ian is prepared and loaded. We can see how Ian is striking the ball with the arm fully extended. He is much lower and for the first time he is using his legs to produce power. Just notice the upward movement of the left leg from the bounce of the ball till contact!

 This next shot was recorded on 20/07/10 and interestingly Ian is changing from a type 1 Forehand to a type 2 forehand. Notice how the racquet on the forward swing is kept much more perpendicular to the net than before and the right hand is positioned more towards the right side. Ian is a bit late by the time the ball bounced on the court.

 


Another week later recorded from far away we can see how Ian started to get his elbow further away from his body:
 29/07/10

And then three weeks after we can see how Ian is maintaining the right elbow away from the body: 17/08/10

Another month and Ian's forehand is looking better: 22/09/12

Four months later and we have another video at 500 frames per second. This next shot looks terrific! I love the way how Ian maintains a low position and how he attacks the ball with both feet on the air. It seems that Ian is just hitting the ball a bit too far back, maybe because his right hand went too far to the left side:

17/03/11

After the last recording Ian had a break of roughly six months where he didn't play. later he started again in full power and here I got him on the camera again One year and three months later : 27/05/12

And this is where Ian's forehand is at the moment. He has a type 3 forehand now. Notice how now during the descending loop of the hands and racquet, the racquet head is positioned on the right side of the right hand. This last video was recorded when Ian was already a bit tired and so he wasn't using much his legs.
Where should Ian go from here? I think Ian starts his descending loop a little bit too early. I would say that Ian could have his hands higher by the time the ball is bouncing and then start the descending loop towards the contact.

This article shows how Ian has been developing his forehand in the past three years. As I said before the majority of the technical elements that Ian has been improving he has found them either by accident or trial and error. Occasionally he might have gone off track here and there and I might have send him in the right direction as I'm sure I've made a few mistakes as well on the way.
What really matters is that Ian is extremely motivated to continue improving his whole game and that is what's tennis is all about.
Thanks Ian for sharing your videos and keep rocking those forehands.

Boon's Backhands side view 27-05-12

Boon's Backhands front view 27-05-12

Boon's Forehands side view 27-05-12

Boon's Forehands front view 27-05-12

Ian's Forehands side view 27-05-12

Ian's Forehands front view 27-05-12

Ian's Backhands side view 27-05-12

Ian's Backhands front view 27-05-12

Sarah's Serves Side View 27-05-12

Sarah's Forehands Side View 27-05-12

Sarah's Forehands Front View 27-05-12

Sarah's Backhands 27-05-12

Richard's Serves Side View 27-05-12

Richard's Forehands side view 27-05-12

Richard's Forehands Front View 27-05-12

Richards Backhands Front View 27-05-12

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Connor Brown's Forehands - Side View

Connor Brown's Forehands - Front view

Boon's Forehand

Thanks Boon for sharing your shots with us.
Boon you have a very interesting forehand.
After watching all of the six videos of your forehand I can notice some aspects of your technique that can be improved.




The first thing I do before analyzing someone's technique is to compare the similarities between all the videos. Is there any of the six videos where your technique seems more sound?...

Yes there is! The second video from the front angle is in my opinion the better swing.

However the first thing that we cans easily see Boon is that you are not on your toes and you don't do your split steps. You might be loosing 20% or 30% of your reaction time. Your preparation might be seriously doomed because of the lack of split steps...




The previous video was better than on the other ones because you kept the left hand longer on the racquet. You released the left hand from the racquet when your shoulders were perpendicular and that is one aspect which is common to the pros.
What that means is that your unit turn on the second video was better and so there was less independent movement of the right arm and racquet on your preparation.
As a consequence of a longer hold of the left hand on the racquet, you were able to rotate the shoulders more than on any of the other forehands here recorded on video. The left hand was positioned across the body roughly parallel to the baseline:
(Picture taken at the bounce of the ball from the second video)


I can remember one player with a similar position of the hands and racquet head during the unit turn. Agassi has gone higher with the hands and racquet and his rotation was greater of course but there is still a similarity:



Boon maybe you can give it a go and raise the hands a bit more on your shoulder turn. Just like Agassi you can try keeping your left hand a bit more on the racquet to increase your turn.




Another important element to observe on your swing is what we as coaches say is the hitting arm position. This position occurs just before contact. It is very hard to observe it with the naked eye and normally we need assistance of HS video. In this position the butt of the racquet is in line with the ball and except on flat balls or higher contact balls the players have the butt of the racquet much more than perpendicular to the net.
My photo with a hitting arm position:


And here we have two pictures from your forehands. The first is from video number 2 and then video number 3:






Although I like the stance on picture 3, your hitting arm position is not as effective as on picture 2. On picture 2 the butt of the racquet was almost on perpendicular to the court which means that although is better than on picture 3 you still need to have to tilt your racquet head back and to your left side a bit more with your wrist on a laid back position to allow you to have more power.



Because your hitting arm position is not great, at contact your wrist doesn't seem to be laid back and therefore you swing across with your forearm just after contact and on your followthrough.



From this side view angle you can see how your left hand separates itself from the racquet in front of your body and didn't assist the rotation of your shoulders on your preparation. This is probably the most important aspect to improve on your game firstly. As you start turning more your shoulders due to the longer hold of your left hand (better unit turn) you will probably find easier to position the racquet on a more effective hitting arm position and therefore having your wrist laid back at contact.
I can't wait to see your improvements on your forehand. Good luck Boon and don't forget your split steps!

Valeria's Forehands

Thanks Valeria for sharing your videos with us.
By watching the videos we can clearly see a lot of different technical aspects that you can improve. However the good news is that when we improve a certain element of our technique, we tend to improve other elements as well.



Starting from the beginning, on your ready position, the left hand doesn't seem to be holding the racquet and is almost overlapping your right hand. Your left hand fingers are barely touching the racquet. It is an early sign that your left hand won't play an important part on the preparation of your forehand.

The forehand preparation should start with two hands on the racquet. How long should you hold the racquet with the left hand ? Roughly until your shoulders turn perpendicular to the net. Check Federer, his left hand is still on the racquet and his shoulders are perpendicular to the net.



Although some players who have a double handed backhand, position their left hand just next to the right hand on ready position, I normally advise players to shift their left hand closer to the throat of the racquet just like Agassi, Roddick and Safin used to do. I think having the left hand on the throat on ready position helps the turn of the shoulders on the forehand side, and more than compensates for the (minimum) time lost on the backhand because of the need to shift the left hand back down to the handle. On your case though, Valeria, you have a one handed backhand so try positioning the left hand on the throat of the racquet until your shoulders turn perpendicular. Just like Federer on the previous picture.
This is an easy fix and you should start noticing the results straight away. If you can keep your left hand on the racquet longer until or shoulders turn perpendicular or almost you will improve another part of your swing that is letting you down, THE UNIT TURN!



The next aspect of your technique you need to address is the unit turn. The word says it all you want your body turning as a unit with no independent movement of any parts, specially the right arm and racquet. Watching your video Valeria it is very clear to observe that on the first 10 or 15 seconds of the video (slow motion time) Your right arm racquet is moving independently from your shoulders. You are getting your racquet back early which is a common misunderstanding in club tennis. What the pros really do is they turn the shoulders, torso and feet and the right arm and racquet moves passively.



Despite the fact that your initial unit turn is not very sound since your racquet head is moving faster than the rotation of your shoulders, in the middle part of the turn your shoulders seem to catch up with your right arm and it moves at roughly the same speed until the ball bounces. Therefore you turn your shoulders perpendicular to the net on all shots.



If we keep and eye on the right hand and the racquet head throughout the shot and especially on the forward swing we can easily understand why you are not hitting your forehands with topspin. Instead you are slicing the forehands and sometimes with side spin.
When the ball bounces your racquet head is at the same height of your right hand which is fine. What is not so great is that when your hand starts moving forward your racquet head starts going up and it stays up until just before you hit the ball. If you freeze the video on the forward swing you can see it clearly.



Good luck!