Tennis: Mental Drills to Hone Proper Impact - Forehand Topspin

For high forehand balls around shoulder height, swing from shoulder with a "rainbow path" and draw/swing right leg back to keep ball in court

attempt to hit volleys with upper beam (frame) if the ball has dipping topspin and/or if it's a rapidly descending high ball ... tricks brain into hitting on sweet spot

a nano sec before impact, right shoulder stops and flings arm into impact ... and fully extends arm towards target

Unit turn - coil from shoulders to hips, .... legs stay squared to opposite court

"live arm" and sweep ball (like a broom sweeping leaves) ... don't hit at ball ...sweep it !! ... (live arm = racket goes back when hand/wrist go fwd)

wrist goes into extension AND ulnar deviation at start of fwd swing ...this is key for effective topspin

Takeback: Lift elbow ...palm down ...strings down ... hands at shoulder height ...keep racket in front (do not loop behind back)

Fwd Swing: Accelerate gradually so that your muscles do not "contract" (flinch) and cause you to lose spacial awareness of sweet spot ... and thus mis-hit

Do NOT stop swing at impact in some insane attempt to better control the ball ... or keep it in-bounds ... racket must go thru the ball and arc over left shoulder

Takeback: bend knees, lower torso ... and rise up (like getting out of chair) thru impact

Feel Tennis: Add a small pop with wrist (like a trampoline effect) at moment of impact ... but this is absorbed into the full swing and is imperceptible to the naked eye

Amount of topspin is determined by the path of elbow in fwd swing ... loop elbow down-up-down for rally ball and envisage elbow moving straight across a table for a flat ball

Swing arm ... not racket ... and hit with a slapping motion ... not a hitting/punching motion

as ball approaches, keep Left Arm extended and used as a measuring tool that "measures" the distance the ball must be from your body for optimal contact with racket at impact ...do not let ball get closer than an arm's length

Memorize these 8 points and during knock-ups / warm-ups, repeat 1 or 2 with each stroke ... it will develop an instinctual reaction and an auto reactive behavior useful in fast paced match rallies when time is short

Follow thru: Pronate from shoulder and extend arm ...try to rotate pit of elbow ... not wrist ... keep wrist slightly cocked post-impact

additional points: 1. keep head steady thru impact ...do not lookup 2. Curl RIGHT foot toward opposite court to create more coil on backswing 3. Watch the ball bounce up from the ground and onto your strings 4. Take back racket with left hand on throat (to coil shoulders)

swing "in to out" .... and if you are impacting ball in front (as shown), your racket will square up to target

Throw the arm ... do not throw the racket head ... if you throw arm, racket head will trail and you'll get max power with less effort

Follow thru: Maintain spine angle at impact ..do not pull up erect with lower back muscles ...instead rotate around spine with these muscles esp the left side lower back muscle

envisage a clock parallel to body (90° to net) ... impact happens in front at 7:30-8:00

thru impact ... wrist goes from extension to straight ... never to flexion

Hit ball with extended arm ... increases radius of swing for more leverage (power)

Serve rhythm goes ...relax (wrist) - loose (shoulders) - heels up (trophy pose) and pow ...say it in a conversational cadence

Hit inside - out ...this technique in tandem with hitting in front will square the strings to the ball

Follow thru: As you point the racket to the opposite court, momentarily frame the target area inside the oval shape of the racket head as it travels over to your left shoulder .. this will ensure your wrist stays laid back thru impact and gives a flatter trajectory ... altho it tends to pull shot to the left

at start of fwd swing ... precisely at 'pat the dog' ... point your fist at the back fence and swing ... this ensures wrist is in extension at impact

Takeback: Hands must be at eye level or higher ... the "drop" from this height and into the slot increases racket speed

at start of the fwd swing, strings face the ground (i.e. horizontal)... as you swing fwd from low to high (and make contact in front) the strings will automatically be vertical at impact ... finish the swing over the shoulder to "lift" ball and impart topspin

take back racket MINIMUM at eye level ... and drop into slot (below oncoming ball) to use gravity assist (increase racket speed)

having good success with impacting ball at lower inside left quadrant Jan 13, 2023

Hitting ball "in front" essentially means right arm is on a 45° vector off shoulder line

Post Impact pronate entire arm (from shoulder to hand) pointing tip of racket up and toward opposite side

at impact, left hand is higher than right

at the very start of (and thru-out) the FH swing, envision a high finish (over shoulder) and the swing will take care of itself ... Jeff Salzenstein

unit turn from hips to shoulders only ...keep legs facing opposite court ... ball stays low, doesn't fly and more spin