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Tennis Lessons / Forehand / Step 2
Racket Back / Other Arm Across Body
How To :
1. Let go of the racket with your other (non-hitting) hand.
2. Continue / complete your shoulder turn. You want to be turned slightly further than sideways to the net.
3. Take the racket back with your hitting arm.
4. Extend your other arm across your body, approximately shoulder height and in line (parallel) with the baseline.
Figure 1: Frank taking the racket back and extending his other arm
When Frank lets go of the tennis racket with his other hand he uses his hitting arm, as well as his continued shoulder turn, to get the racket all the way back. At the completion of his shoulder turn, his shoulders are slightly further around than sideways to the net. Finally, when Frank lets go of the racket with his other hand, he extends that arm across his body, about shoulder height and in line with the baseline.
You can see that it is only after Frank lets go of the racket with his other hand that his hitting arm really starts to take the racket back independently of his shoulder turn. It is worth mentioning that exactly how you take the racket back is not critical. Different players take their rackets back in a variety of ways – there’s a lot of flexibility here. Some players have a big loop, others a medium loop, or no loop, etc. The wide range of backswings used on the pro tour is proof of this point. What’s more important is that you chose a backswing you feel comfortable with. However, you are not free to do whatever you please during your backswing. You want to avoid doing anything that prevents you from swinging forward correctly later in the forehand. Groundbreaking insight, I know. I’ve mentioned a couple of the most common backswing mistakes below.
Finally, extending the other arm across your body and in line with the baseline accomplishes several things. First, it helps you stay balanced. Second, it helps you judge the oncoming tennis ball. Third, it keeps your shoulders sideways.
It is very important that you develop a backswing that is consistent. This means that you always take the racket back in the same way. But it also means that the amount of time it takes you to get the racket back should be the same. For example, let’s say you take your racket back with a big loop. You want that big loop to take X amount of time for every forehand. Not X amount, then Y amount, then Z amount. The reason you want your backswing to be consistent, both in terms of how you take the racket back and how long it takes you, is that it allows you to develop rhythm and timing, two things necessary to hit a good forehand.
Common Errors:
Extending your other arm into the court, as opposed to in line / parallel with the baseline.
You want your shoulders to be turned a little bit further around than sideways to the net. If you extend your other arm into the court it can pull your shoulders back around.
Taking your racket back "too far."
This means taking the racket behind your back. An easy way to avoid this is to keep your hitting hand to the right of the plane of your shoulders (it’s the opposite for left-handed players).
Imagine that, once you’ve turned your body sideways, there is an imaginary plane that divides your body in half. Your hand should never go behind this plane. See the picture below.
Figure 2: My hitting hand will never cross the line
Not taking the racket back far enough.
There is a lot to be said for a compact backswing. Look at Andre Agassi. What you want to avoid is abbreviating your backswing so much that in prevents you from swinging forward properly later in the shot. If you make sure your hitting hand goes past your right shoulder (again, opposite for lefties) you will be fine.
Probably a mistake: copying your favorite pro's backswing.
Your favorite pro has a backswing he is comfortable with, and you should develop one that you are comfortable with and that fits your game. Forcing yourself to take the racket back a certain (and perhaps uncomfortable) way is a great way to develop bad habits. I again point to the fact that Federer, Roddick, Agassi and Nadal all have great forehands, but their backswings are stylistically different. You don’t need to (and should not) copy any one pro’s backswing in an attempt to improve your forehand.
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