Forehand Progressions

The forehand progressions is a series of videos that will take you, step by step, from scratch to a fundamentally sound forehand. In the forehand fundamentals section, we showed you what every good player does when they hit a forehand — the fundamentals. However, simply knowing what good players do when they hit doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to hit the shot. So each video in this series will give you something to practice — via a series of steps — as opposed to simply showing you what good players do.

Contact and Follow Through
The first step of the forehand progressions is to play from contact. Understanding correct contact — the relationship between your body and the racket when you hit — is critically important to hitting a proper forehand.

Start with the Racket Back
The second step of the forehand progressions is to start with your racket back. To get to contact, you’ll rotate your body back toward the net.

Pivot and Take the Racket Back
The third step of the forehand progressions is to start from the ready position. When you pivot and turn your shoulders, the tennis racket comes straight back — there is no loop.

Start to Add a Loop
The fourth step of the forehand progressions is to add a loop. Most modern forehands have some sort of loop so we’ll work on adding a basic one in this step.

The Full Motion
The fifth step of the forehand progressions is to hit using the full motion. Start at the service line and then move back to the baseline once you become comfortable with the motion.

{ 17 comments }

johnba June 5, 2009 at 2:40 pm

My english is not a very good. I dont know, if I understand all … But this site is super!

pete July 1, 2009 at 10:33 am: well here you go improving your tennis as well as your language skills.

Ryan July 16, 2009 at 10:39 pm

These instructions are exactly the breakdown that I needed. I’ve seen a lot of other tennis-help videos and none of them are this clear or have such precise explanations. This site and Will’s teaching are an excellent asset for every tennis player, even for those who already know the basics but want to improve or perfect their form.

chen.federer July 29, 2009 at 4:23 am

It’s brilliant~ this is what i want!

Larry Buhrmanl November 9, 2009 at 7:53 pm

Will,
Your tennis instruction videos have been a great help to me in transitioning into
modern tennis, especially on the windshield wiper forehand. Thanks a million.
Larry

Will Hamilton November 9, 2009 at 10:20 pm: No problem Larry! Glad to help.

J Hoffman November 9, 2009 at 11:24 pm

Hi Will. I have been playing for nearly 8 months, and I am having trouble with high balls. Since many people in the modern game have a lot of topspin, i need to figure it out ASAP. I keep thinking to myself that it should be exactly the same stroke as anything else but they always land short or out and i seem to just flail at it at times. Any tips?
Thanks
P.S. Great site, you definetly motivate me to play better!!!!

Will Hamilton November 10, 2009 at 8:48 am: Hey — we’ve got a video on this under “advanced forehand.” In a nutshell, everything stays the same but you raise your swing plane.

maria mercedes November 21, 2009 at 8:53 am

Will!!
help in here!
i have HUGE problem.
one day i play extremely well, i dont get it out of the court
i dont leave it in the net. i play just great.
and another day i play like if it is the first time i grab a racquet
and i want to play in tournaments and all that stuff. and it pist me off!
what can i do ? im kind of desperate :s

Ken December 7, 2009 at 8:33 pm

I cannot view the videos. What do I need to do? Thanks.

Joc December 17, 2009 at 2:08 am

When you are swinging the racket to make contact with the ball. What is the wrist doing? Is it locked until contact or loose during contact?

nambaruani January 26, 2010 at 11:15 am

i really apreciate your work … great explanations and great videos.
can u give me a tip to atack short / midcourt balls and make a winner ?
i´ve checked the high balls video u have but that´s ok for me … it´s only when my oponnent leave me a short ball that it´s comming well to finish the point that most of the time my forehand goes to high.
please help me or direct me to a video
many tx for your answer

nambaruani January 26, 2010 at 5:15 pm

vilas77 April 21, 2010 at 6:22 pm

brilliant

tennis April 22, 2010 at 4:12 am

thank you

Alan July 5, 2010 at 6:27 pm

Visually people take in vastly more information than any other way. It feels like there's too much verbal instruction. Too much to listen to. Just watching the video with minimal talking would be more effective.

L_quibell July 21, 2010 at 3:35 am