by Ariana D’Avanzo
So now that you’ve selected the perfect racquet, learned the layout of the court and the nuances of the scoring system, you’re ready to finally start hitting a ball around, right? Not so fast. Let’s talk about the forehand.
First you need to determine if you are a righty or a lefty. For a majority of you, it will just be your dominant hand; though, some will notice that your other hand is more flexible and you can swing it with ease. Whichever you feel more comfortable with is the one you will use for your forehand.
In order to properly swing a forehand shot you need to know how to hold the racquet. There are three types of grips that you can use when swinging a forehand but we’ll focus only on the semi-western grip.
The handle of a tennis racquet is in the shape of an octagon and each side is called a bevel; so there is bevel one through eight, counted in clockwise motion. This knowledge is important as it tells where where to place your hand.
Your index knuckle and your heel pad (located diagonal from your index knuckle right before your wrist begins) will be on bevel four. An easy way to find this position is to lay your racquet face down on the ground and simply pick it up.
Now that you have the correct grip you are ready to swing a forehand, but it’s quite time to hit a ball yet. You need to get the motion of the swing down first before you attempt to accurately hit a ball.
When standing, your feet will be shoulder-width apart, knees barely bent with your body leaning slightly forward so your weight is shifted to the balls of your feet. At first this position will feel awkward but will become more natural once you master the swing. You can look at this as position one.
Once in this position, bring your arm and racquet out to your side a little below your waist and about a foot behind you. This can be seen as position two.
Next you will bring your arm and racquet up and to your opposite shoulder. This can be seen as position three. Follow through with the swing by bringing the racquet over your shoulder to position four.
Do this motion multiple times until you are able to do it smoothly and with force; just remember you do not want to rely on your elbow but the overall power of your arm. Once you have accomplished this you are ready to swing at a ball.
Striking the ball occurs in position three when you are bringing your arm up and across your chest and body; you will want to first make contact with the ball when your racquet is about a foot in front of you and your arm is still extended out to your side.
The ball should be hit in the center of the racquet where the sweet spot is located. Follow your shot through by extending your swing past your shoulder to help you exert more power and speed on the ball.
Getting the perfect swing down takes a lot of time and effort. The only way to get better and work towards a perfect swing is to constantly practice by either volleying with another player or by having a ball machine consistently feed you balls so you can repeat your swing over and over again.