The tennis forehand technique is a crucial tennis stroke to master in the modern game of tennis. What are the essentials of a tennis forehand? What are the key elements of tennis forehand technique? And which pro tennis players tennis forehand is a good model to replicate?
The game of tennis has evolved greatly since the early beginnings of the game. The tennis forehand has been a part of tennis for a long time, but great changes have been made to the tennis stroke itself. The tennis technique of the forehand is now comprised of a powerful, heavy and accurate tennis shot that must be mastered with the adequate attention and focus to the tennis technique.
A reason for the evolution of the tennis forehand technique is the equipment as well as the transition to a faster and higher paced world. Today, tennis rackets are built with oversized head sizes, with strings that allow a tennis player to hit the tennis ball harder than ever before with any kind of tennis technique. The tennis rackets are no longer made out of wood, making the tennis rackets much more capable of producing harder hit tennis forehands.
Today, we see professional tennis players like Roger Federer’s forehand, dish it out in a grueling five set matches with Rafael Nadal. The audience is shocked in awe as they watch the two pro players smack tennis balls with velocities never seen before, with heavy topspin that fly off the baseline and accuracy that stuns the entire stadium.
Tennis forehand technique has now become a critical component. The tennis technique on the forehand is one of the main areas in tennis that every player should focus on if her or she wishes to improve.
Tennis forehand technique follows the same criteria of tennis technique: Explosive, Efficient and Adaptable.
Explosive: Today, at the pro tour we see professional tennis players hit the tennis forehand harder than ever, with heavy topspin and deadly placements. The tennis forehand has evolved into powerful tennis stroke, a necessity that is required to play at a high level of tennis. Tennis forehand technique has become the hallmark of the groundstroke game.
Efficient: The best tennis forehands in the world consist of the most biomechanical efficient tennis strokes possible. A world class tennis forehand is not possible without efficient tennis technique. This means that the body must be synced together in unison, and the tennis forehand shot itself must be extremely fluid. The tennis forehand is a stroke that must perform the desired action with the least excessive hitches or additional movement. The cleaner the tennis forehand swing is, the better chance that it will hold up under tight match situations – under which the body and arm is usually tense and even small differences in contact and reaction time can result in different results.
Adaptable: On the tennis forehand, it’s vitally important to have adaptable tennis technique. This means that the forehand tennis technique must be able to make last minute adjustments without drastically altering the tennis technique. A windy day, a bad bounce or loose strings can be examples of less than ideal situations. Adaptable tennis technique means the tennis forehand must be capable of making slight changes and be able to maintain it’s integrity under pressure. A good tennis forehand technique should not go away on a whim, but instead it should be a dependable tennis stroke that will be solid even under duress.
The tennis forehand has changed with every new generation of players, and no two backswings look alike. A new tennis technique on the forehand is now being often by pros in the modern game. It’s role is to increase the rotation and angular momentum in the tennis forehand shot, allowing the players to crank up the power and spin more than ever.
A new Tennis forehand technique is called load and explode, which is initiated by what I called is “Set the power base” The power base is the foundation to which the forehand tennis technique is began, linking the kinetic chain of the body to produce maximum power, efficiency and accuracy.
In tennis forehand technique, setting the power base using the entire body is essential in the tennis technique. The tennis forehand is based on rotation.
The tennis forehand technique involves setting up the body in ideal balance in relation to the incoming tennis ball, and then imparting rotational forces to create the powerful tennis forehand we see on the touring pros. The ideal set up position is with the feet spread approximately a shoulder width and a half apart (or greater) and about 60 percent of the weight on the right leg. Too little weight on the right leg will make it difficult to initiate the rotation, and too much weight will cause balance problems.
Tennis forehand technique happens so fast, it is often missed by the human eye on TV. Pro players are using their entire body to hit the tennis ball in the modern game.
Justine Henin Hardenne demonstrates the tennis forehand technique, loading the power base and exploding into the court.
Justine Henin Hardenne’s Tennis Forehand Technique
Notice on Justine Henin Hardenne’s tennis forehand technique, she makes sure to take small adjustment steps to get into the perfect balance. Once Justine Henin’s tennis forehand is set and loaded, she then explodes forward and upwards into the court, creating a powerful and heavy tennis forehand. This tennis forehand technique is a new concept which top professional tennis players share on their tennis forehand technique. The tennis forehand technique is best executed with an open stance, which allows the tennis technique to fully rotate the lower and upper body with the angular momentum. It would be difficult to create the same explosion effect with a closed or neutral stance.
The tennis forehand technique has evolved over the years, but the basic principles of the tennis technique has not changed. Great champions who possess a good tennis forehand have the exact commonalities which allow them to produce the effortless and perfect results on every tennis forehand shot. Every tennis player should strive to ingrain the proper tennis forehand technique into their repertoire to help them increase the potential of their tennis technique to provide the results that they are striving to achieve on court.
Learn to Hit a Forehand Like Roger Federer
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Learn How to Hit a Forehand Like Federer, Nadal and Djokovic