The forehand shot is probably the most frequently used shot in tennis and therefore any tennis player should be proficient at playing it. No doubt as a budding player you have spent hours with your tennis coach building your technique.
In this blog we show you some excellent drills that you can practice in your own time and with your partner. These drills are easy and fun and will strengthen your forehand technique.
The modern forehand has been developed over the years and modern pros use more rotation of the upper body and more open stances.
The forehand is a stroke in which the inner side of the palm of the dominant hand that is holding the racket faces forward. Essentially, the forehand is made by swinging the racket across the body in the direction where you want the ball to land.
The head plays a major part in any shot and the forehand is no exception. The eyes must follow the ball continuously and this way you will be able to judge the ball’s flight, speed, angle of approach. With this information the brain can take the best actions to allow you to return the ball. This may be stepping forwards towards the ball if it appears to be landing short, or for that matter backwards if it seems to be long.
Reverse Forehand For More Topspin
The top professionals hit their forehands with plenty of spin and players must learn to develop their topspin. To do this you need to get a better feel for brushing up the back of the ball, reverse forehands can help.
Hit at least 30 or 40 balls where you finish on the same side of your body, then try how you normally hit a forehand and you will find that it is now easier to hit with more spin. Spin without speed is actually not a very good shot.
Inside-Out Forearms
The pro’s also hit a great deal of forehands inside-out. They run around their backhand and hit their forehand inside-out to the opponent’s backhand, if they are a right hander.
For this shot to be effective it should be practiced and in order to do this you need your partner to play backhands cross-court, concentrating more on the middle. Your forehand returns should be hit inside-out to his backhand.
Inside-out is actually the basic swing pattern for all good forehands.
Forehands Only
A good way of developing your forehand is play a game where you hit forehands only. Rally with your opponent or it is actually better with two opponents on the baseline hitting forehands back at you.
You do not have an alternative but hit a forehand shot, unlike slices and topspins that are discretionary, a forehand is the stock shot of every player so make sure yours is up to scratch.
