On this page I would like to provide a few basic tennis forehand drills that can be applied to anybodies game!
The modern forehand is a popular topic among tennis players. Over the years the forehands of the top professional tennis players have changed a little bit. Nowadays pros use more rotation of the upper body and more open stances. The changes are not nearly as drastic though as most people believe.
The fundamentals necessary to develop a great forehand
have not changed over the years !
Click Here To Go Straight To The Drills!
Check out this incredible forehand video comparing Bjoern Borg and Roger Federer to see that things probably have not changed as much as many people think!
Unfortunately, the extreme look of some of the forehands hit today on tour can lead to a lot of confusion about how the forehand should be taught and what is really going on in the modern forehand!
Forehand Drills
Drill #1: Reverse forehand for more topspin!
The pros hit with plenty of topspin and it is essential for everybody to learn to hit with enough topspin. A great tennis drill to improve your topspin forehand and get a better feel for brushing up the back of the ball is to hit what is called reverse forehands.
Rafael Nadal is famous for his reverse forehand with tremendous topspin. In this drill you hit forehands where you finish on the same side of your body. So if you are right-handed you finish with your arm still on your right side up high.
Hit at least 30 or 40 balls like this and then try your normal forehand. You will find that it is now easier to hit with more spin.
Remember that spin alone is not the answer to all problems. Spin without enough speed is actually not a very good shot and i do not recommend that you start hitting reverse forehands like Nadal all the time. Use this simply as a drill to improve your topspin!
Drill #2: Inside-Out Forehands
The pros hit a lot of forehand shots inside-out. They run around their backhand and hit the forehand inside-out to the opponent’s backhand (for a right-handed opponent).
This shot is very effective at any level and should be practised. In order to practise this shot have your partner play backhands cross-court, ideally not too far cross-court but rather to the middle, while you hit inside-out forehands to his backhand. Keep rallying like this until you are comfortable hitting the inside-out forehand!
(Did you know that inside-out is the basic swing pattern for any good forehand ? Check out my upcoming technique video series for more information!)
Drill #3: Forehands Only
A great way to groove your forehand is to hit forehands only. I like to mark off about two-thirds off the court so that you have to cover a realistic amount of court and then you rally with your partner (or even better two players at the baseline on the other side) hitting only forehands.
This way you practise all kinds of forehands that you could realistically hit in a match!
For more detailed discussion of the modern tennis forehand and step by step instruction on how to improve your forehand check out my upcoming instructional video series!
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