Hitting a Running Forehand
Hitting a forehand on the run is a difficult shot for a lot of tennis player because mechanically speaking it’s a little bit different from a traditional forehand.
At 0:10 in the video above, we have a shot of me hitting a normal forehand. What you can see is that once I hit and then follow through, I continue to rotate my shoulders and at the end of my follow through you can see my back. I’ve rotated further around than facing the net, and I’ve gotten myself around so that again, you can see my back.
A running forehand is different because you aren’t able to rotate like this. You simply don’t have any time to really set up for the shot. Because you are running through the ball, the amount of body rotation you can get is very limited. At 0:50 in the video, we have a clip of me hitting a running forehand. You can see that I run out to the ball, and I make contact in a closed stance (my right foot has stepped across my left foot) with my upper body facing the net. Because of the way my lower body is oriented, it’s going to be very difficult for me to rotate my upper body any further around as I follow through. This is why the running forehand is so different from a traditional tennis forehand.
Mechanically speaking, this also means that you now need to swing up more on the tennis ball. You would normally swing more through the tennis ball on a traditional forehand, but swinging through the ball also means that you need to be able to continue rotating your body. Since you can’t do this on the run, your swing path needs to become much more low-to-high. Ultimately, this means that the racket will travel upwards during your follow through, causing you to have to finish with the racket around your head. This type of finish is called the “Reverse Forehand Finish” and it is very commonly used by Rafael Nadal. Rafa hits this type of forehand so often because his game is adapted for clay courts, where he is constantly sliding on the run into the tennis ball. If you watch Nadal carefully when he hits this type of forehand you can see that he never rotates his upper body further around than facing the net.
Years ago, Pete Sampras sometimes had a similar reverse finish, although his stroke mechanics leading up to his follow through were considerably different than those of Nadal.
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Hi FYB. I can’t watch this video. It’s only 20 sec long, and advertising video starts from there. Thks.
Excellent as usual! By the way, what grip are you using there? It seems to me that you are using a full-western. Should you use a full-western for this kind of shot? Because I hit my running forehands with a semi-western…
I actually use a pretty conservative grip… somewhere around a modified eastern (heel pad 3rd bevel index knuckle around 3.5 maybe closer to 4). And no, you shouldn’t change your normal grip for running forehands.
Thanks for the reply, Will. The site is awesome and you are great!
I kind of have trouble hitting the ball when I’m running towards it. The ball catches the frame three quarters of the time. Can you make a video about that or can someone just tell me what I should do.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this sort of shot should really be avoided if possible.
I have a teammate and I noticed he ends up hitting all of his corner forehands on the run with his left leg crossing his body. I ‘ve advised him to time his steps so that he ends up with the weight on the right foot, in more open position and use more torso rotation leading up to the contact. Am i correct?
Hey Will, it seemed that I can’t watch this video (it didnt appear actually) Can you please make a check about this? Tks!
Hi Will, this video really helped me out. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to hit a forehand/backhand while running to the net. Thank you
Hi Will, this video really helped me out. I was wondering if you have any tips on how to hit a forehand/backhand while running to the net. Thank you
Actually no Matt, it doesn't need to be avoided since it is not an incorrect or “bad” shot. Just different. The modern game now is fast and mostly a baseline game. A reverse forehand is actually a fairly easy shot to do and you will see most tour players using it now. The newer modern raquets allow for it. If your friend was hitting a reverse forehand and had his left leg complete across his body in a “closed” stance then he hopefully was attempting to hit a ball that he had trouble getting too. You can still utilize a great reverse forehand if you get to the ball just slightly late and you can hit open, facing the court but just take one small step right after ball contact to stop your body. Just watch Nadal and you will see exactly what I am talking about.
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