What’s the secret to speed for the tennis forehand? Seriously…how do pros swing so dang fast?
You may be surprised to find out that it isn’t how fast, strong, or tall you are.
Instead, you can use physics to get tons of speed in your forehand.
It comes down to two principles:
1. Centripetal Force
2. Parametric Acceleration
I know what you’re thinking, “Ugh. This seems really complicated.”
But don’t worry, I will break it down in a super easy way that anyone can do.
Watch the video now to learn how to “snap the cap” and start ripping it past your partners today!
What's Covered: How to lag and release the racket to get max speed.
Tennis Pros Featured:
Instructors Featured: Clay Ballard
Video Duration: 14:21
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Video Transcription:
Hi guys, I’ve got a quick question for you today.
Do you feel like you tend to push the racket through contact? Do you feel like you’re not getting that explosive power with all the pros getting?
Well if that sounds like you, in today’s video I have an awesome drill for you that you’re probably not going to hear anywhere else.
That’s because most pros simply don’t understand how centripetal force works to release the racket.
Sounds complicated, it’s super easy, and we’re going to go over that in the “Snap the Cap” video so we can start ripping the ball.
Let’s go ahead and get started.
All right, so I recently got a question from a member of the website, and we were talking about how to use the bottom two fingers to create leverage in the stroke.
I go over this in our system, we really talk about how the lever happens from the bottom of the racket and that’s what allows the racket to snap on through.
The member had a question, said, “You know, I think you’re underplaying the role of the index finger.”
With the proper grip, we have our index finger kind of hooked out on the racket and the common idea there, because we have our fingers spread out is to think that as we’re going to get this racket to kick up through contact and get topspin on the ball, do the windshield wiper release, that we really need to use this index finger.
That’s actually going to slow down your potential speed.
If we use that index finger to turn the racket what we’re doing is we’re creating a lever, a shorter lever, up here on the handle instead of using the full distance of the lever at the boom of the racket.
Now in today’s video I’m going to talk about how you can really get this racket to snap through using this lever and why that makes sense.
So first let me explain to you how this should happen properly, and then we’re actually going to break that down from a science standpoint, and talk about how that actually creates more speed.
So first let’s go over the proper motion.
So let’s imagine I’m going to hit a forehand to the other side of the court here, and as I’m coming forward, as my body starts to rotate open, my racket is naturally going to lag behind, and I created an angle here with my wrist.
You can see the butt cap is facing forward, and I haven’t released this at all. So if you look at my wrist, you’ll see that there’s what’s called extension.
If I have my wrist flat, or neutral like this, if I bend my knuckles back toward my elbow, that would be extension, if I bend my palm toward my elbow, that would be what’s called flexion.
So when we’re loading the racket up, as we’re getting into the lag position, we’re basically in full extension and that racket is lagging back behind.
Now when we release this racket, two things are going to be happening. Number one, we’re going to be turning this butt cap back in towards center.
That’s actually going to allow the racket to release forward as we’re coming into the release.
So the racket will be fully releasing here after contact, but I’m actually taking this butt cap and my pinkie finger, and turning that racket in toward the center of my body and turning the racket down at the same time, to release the racket.
So those two things are happening. I’m turning the racket in and down, so where you’re going to see the pressure is, I went ahead and took my grip and I painted it a little black piece where my pinkie is going to be.
So I went ahead and took my forehand grip here, and you’ll see that my pinkie is going to be resting at the bottom where the racket tapers.
Now that taper is there for a reason, that gives your racket, or your pinkie a kind of a hook to leverage on as you’re releasing that racket, and that racket is now going to snap up and through as you release the racket.
That’s why you’ll see all the pros going from a lag position, wrist is fully loaded, to a release position, just after contact where the racket is completely neutral.
Now you’ll see my wrist is nice and flat, and the racket has kicked from a downward position to an upward position, as it releases to allow it to get topspin.
To kind of recap on this, as we’re getting into lag, I start to rotate my body forward, my racket is lagging behind, my wrist is extended back, my knuckles are extended back toward my elbow.
Then from there, my racket is going to kick up and forward as I come all the way through the release as I go past contact that’s where my racket’s going to be fully released, my wrist is flat, and you’ll see the butt cap of the racket is now turned back in to toward the center of my body.
So let’s go ahead and talk about why this matters, how this creates speed, and why every single pro that you see on the ATP tour is doing exactly this when they’re hitting the forehand.
All right, so from a scientific standpoint there’s two things that are going to happen here.
One of these is centripetal force, and the other one is what’s called parametric acceleration.
Now those are complicated terms, scientific terms, we really don’t need to know what those mean, I’m going to break this down very, very simple for you.
But you’ll see right away, you can even try these things out, you’ll see how this helps to create massive amounts of acceleration.
When we’re doing this, if you’re pushing through, I’m not talking about adding like five or six miles an hour to your forehand, I’m talking about adding 20 or 30 miles an hour to your forehand.
This is what really creates a lot of the speed in the stroke, and this is what allows that racket to pop through contact.
Again, like I said, you’re going to see every single pro on tour doing this when you break down their swing in slow motion.
We’ll go over that in our drills later on here in just a second.
So first let’s talk about centripetal force. Basically all that means is, we’re going to use this in an example of rotation.
I have a tennis ball stuck in an old sock here, and as I’m rotating this around, my hand’s going to be making a circle, and the ball, the tennis ball at the end of the sock, is going to be making a larger circle.
Now if I want to turn my hand back in towards center, so let’s imagine in this circle there’s a center of the circle that my hand’s rotating around, and that’s also the center of this bigger circle.
If I wanted to accelerate this, I could turn my hand back in towards center, toward the center of that circle, and that’s going to allow this to speed up.
So I’m going from a bigger circle with my hand, to a smaller circle and I’m going back in towards center.
So you’ll see my hand actually slows downs, it decelerates, and moves back in towards the center of that circle, that tightens everything up and that what’s called centripetal force.
So by my hand moving back in toward the center, it actually makes everything on the outside accelerate outward.
So when something turns in towards center, whatever it’s attached to it, it’s going to accelerate with centrifugal force, which means going away from it.
So really, really complicated, but basically just realize that if I’m making a circle here, if I tighten up my hand, and decelerate my hand, and make a smaller circle, this tennis ball is going to accelerate as I’m doing that.
So I’m going from a big circle with my hand, to a small tighter circle, because I’m moving toward center and that really creates a lot of whipping coming through here.
Now another example that may be even more intuitive, is let’s imagine that we’re driving a car.
As I’m driving my car, I have about a 20-foot rope behind me, and there’s a skateboarder that’s skating behind me.
So I’m driving about 60 miles an hour down the road, and making a big gentle turn.
At the same time that skateboarder is going to be trailing right behind me, also going 60 miles an hour.
Now imagine for a second, he’s already moving pretty fast, so I’d say he’s pretty nervous at this point, but if we took a really sharp turn, so let’s imagine the road made a really sharp turn to the left, and I kept going 60 miles an hour, and I just cranked the steering wheel.
Well two things are going to happen, well A, I’m going to be thrown to the side of the car because of all my momentum slinging me outwards.
Then that skateboarder that’s at the back, that’s at the end of that 20-foot rope, if I keep that 60 miles an hour up and I turn really, really hard, now he’s going to be sling-shot way out.
That’s what’s called parametric acceleration.
As I turn into a tighter curve, again, back towards center, imagine there’s a point there and I’m turning back toward it, that skateboarder is going to be flung way out, and he’s going to accelerate way more than 60 miles an hour, and really, really speed up.
Now the same thing happens in your tennis stroke.
I’m going to show you exactly how that works again, and we’ll go ahead and do some drills so that you can take advantage of that acceleration, and really get a lot of pop, really start ripping those forehands just like your favorite players.
All right, so now let’s actually put this to use, let’s speed up that forehand.
So we’re going to use that exact same example as the car, except now we’re going to use this in relationship to the tennis racket.
So I’m going to go ahead and take my forehand grip, and as I’m starting to swing forward, the racket, again as I mentioned in some lag videos, lag and snap videos in the training series, the system we have on the website, the TNT system.
As we start to rotate our body forward, the momentum of the racket is going to naturally lag behind. You can see here how my wrist is loaded again, just like we talked about.
Let’s imagine that the butt cap, the black piece of your racket here at the tip is now that car, and now at the very tip of my racket, that’s your skateboarder that was trailing behind your car.
As I’m starting to swing forward on this very gentle arc, that skateboarder’s going to be trailing right along behind me.
My racket’s moving 60 miles an hour, the butt cap’s moving 60 miles an hour, it’s actually going to be a lot slower than that, but the skateboarder’s also going to be moving 60 miles an hour.
Now as I’m getting ready to release this racket, and the release happens after contact, the release is starting through contact, and finishing after contact about right here.
This is when my wrist is going to be completely neutral. Notice what happens with the butt cap with all the top pros.
What they’re going to be doing is actually taking that pinkie, and that little black piece that I drew on the handle there, and they’re going to be turning it down toward the ground, so that’s going to get the upward motion, as I’m lagging the racket tip is going to be below the hand.
As I’m releasing it’s going to be above the handle, so the racket tip is actually kicking up this direction to get topspin, and that happens by me taking that butt cap and turning it down toward the ground.
At the same time I’m turning it back toward the center of my body to get a lot of snap through there.
So I can imagine that I’m taking this butt cap and just turning it down this way. If you took a grip on the end of this, and just pulled it back towards center, you can see how that would really accelerate the racket on through there.
Now if I’m just pushing the racket through, you won’t see any pros doing this, and just pushing the racket through like this, well I’m not really getting any lag, I’m not getting any snap, I’m just forcing the ball through there.
A lot of times when people have a really tight grip with their index finger and thumb, they’re just pushing that ball through, or the racket through.
You can see this doesn’t create a lot of speed, whereas if I get that racket butt cap to really snap back toward the center of my body, just like the car, just like the skateboarder.
That’s going to allow that to kick on out, that skateboarder shoots on out and your racket tip is now going to be accelerating way faster than you could ever move your hand.
So if we do this in full speed, you can see how that really whips it through there and that’s what you’re going to see with all your top players.
Now let’s break this down in some actual drills so that you can do this in a shot, you can practice this in your living room to really ingrain this motion.
All right, so the first thing we’re going to do here, as we load up I’m going to go ahead, you can use whichever type of stance you want here, I’m going to use open stance.
As we start forward, we have this lag position.
Again, knuckles back toward the elbow, tip of the racket below the handle of the racket, that’s my lag position.
As I’m doing this, my body is rotating open, remember that’s where it originally caused the racket to lag is my hand started to move forward.
Now as I’m getting ready to release this, I’m going to pair this position up full lag, with the position of full release.
So right after contact you’ll see from my elbow to my arm, to the tip of the racket is going to be almost a straight line.
That racket is releasing this way. You’re going to see this in all the top pros again as I mentioned.
Now the wrist is going to be flat, and my racket is going to be angled forward kind of up and to the right as I would up on the windshield wiper motion.
So if we can imagine here’s the bottom of the windshield, I’m kind of up toward the driver’s side of the windshield if I’m looking into a car right here.
My racket is going to be angled kind of toward the back right corner of the court, but the main thing there is to realize that I’ve gotten rid of all that angle by turning the butt cap from here back in toward the center of my body.
As I come to a complete full finish, now I’m going to allow the racket, let’s go this way, I’m going to allow the racket to come all the way around.
It’s going to be by my, my hand’s going to be by my left shoulder, just below my left shoulder.
The strings are going to be slightly down towards the ground, and you’ll see how my wrist is nice and flat.
Now I think a lot of times when I mention this turning back in, people mistake that with pushing back in.
So when I push the racket back in, that’s taking my index finger and thumb again, and trying to push this forward.
We never push the racket forward like this, that’s me pushing on this part of the racket, and you’ll see that my wrist starts to bow like that, and I get flexion.
I don’t want to get flexion, that’s a flipping of the racket, that’s not really very fast and that’s changing the angle of racket face very, very drastically.
So that can really lead to some errant shots, and I think a lot of times when I talk about snapping the racket, that’s what people visualize and immediately they think, well that’s going to be inconsistent.
But when we turn the butt cap back in towards center, notice what the racket strings do.
As I start to lag, and I come through contact, my strings are facing in the general direction of where I want to hit.
As this racket turns on through, the strings are always facing in that direction all the way across and into my finish.
So you see here, they’re still facing in the general direction of where I’m going to go.
If I turn perpendicular to the camera, notice how that creates a straight motion like that, just as if I was doing, if I was sitting in another video that we did in the system.
I’m sitting in the bay of a car, here’s the windshield in front of me, and I would be coming up and tracing that entire windshield so the racket face is actually very, very consistent.
So practice these three positions, lag, full release, on around to the finish.
Do that about 100 repetitions and pause and make sure you have these correct.
Once you’ve done that correct, then I want to go ahead and do the full motion, I want you to focus on really turning that butt cap in toward the center of your body, and you can see how that’s going to snap the racket on through there.
Once you’ve done 100 of those, now take it to the court.
Start out really slow, have all your focus on this taper at the bottom of the racket, and turning that down in the end as you’re coming through contact.
Your speed, your spin is going to go off the charts.
You’re going to start ripping some shots, getting a lot of pace on them, and they’re going to be diving down in the court because that racket is going to be kicking up and forward so much harder than what you guys are used to if you’ve been trying to push the racket through.
So work on those drills, keep up the hard work, good luck to you guys, and I’ll see you all soon.
Awesome video, I have been trying to develop the correct kickpoint on my forehand and this did the trick. I’m stoked! Just in time for my 72nd birthday.
Awesome Mike!! Happy Birthday!
Let me know how it goes for you in practice this week.
Clay
Hi Clay
Wow! This latest video is “off the charts”!
When I first came across your videos and listened to your in-depth explanations and the science behind each stroke, I knew I was on to a real teacher and immediately became a Founding Member; as I continue to watch and learn you continue to validate both of us – you as a great instructor and me as someone who recognized “truth” when I saw it.
It’s one of my goals in life to become a good player and to develop sound strokes. I’ve practiced Ta-Chi daily for 30 years (and Japanese karate before that). It’s such an aesthetic high to “flow” in movement, be it Tai-Chi or tennis, and your instructional videos are helping me to achieve that goal. Thank you, Sensei ……
Michael
That is awesome Michael! Thanks for the compliments.
I have never tried Tai-Chi, but I would imagine it is very similar to working on tennis stroke technique. At first you have to be very cognizant of how each piece of the body is moving and how to perform the motions. After you get them down, you can really get into a flow that is completely free of thought!
That’s how I see it at least.
Good luck! I will talk with you later!
Clay
Do you care if we put your comment on our testimonial page? Thanks again.
Clay
Please do; part of my personal philosophy is to actively support “good people who do good things” ……..
Cheers,
Michael
Thanks a lot, that would be great!
Let me know if I can ever do anything for you. I would be happy to help!
Clay
I like this video alot. Cannot wait to try this out. Alot of my past swing was pushing. Can you do a video on the one handed backhand with the same detail, because my contact point always seems to be late, and I mostly feel that I am puvshing.
Will do Gary! The one handed backhand, snap the cap video is on the list to make.
Here is another video I did that helps to explain it in a similar way: https://topspeedtennis.com/topic/3-2-hammer-tennis-backhand/
Play well!
Clay
Lowering the racquet head is the area that I have problem with on the forward swing. Sometimes I roll my forearm down towards the ground to get more kick upwards, but this causes me to loose power and leverage.
The last reply is in regards to the backhand.
Very common Gary. The key is to make sure that you not only drop the racket straight down, but down and back. That allows the racket to kick both up and forward. If you just drop it straight down, it won’t be able to kick forward in the release.
Once you have a chance to try it out, let me know how you do.
Clay
Wow! Unbelievably helpful video, thanks Clay! I second Gary’s request, but for the 2 handed backhand if I’m correct in assuming that theres a similar sort of centripetal force effect for the backhand.
The motion won’t be exactly the same for the 2HBH. Since both hands are on the racket, you can’t get the same snap. This is one of the reasons you can hit a one hand backhand harder than a two hand backhand.
I will try to do a video on it soon also.
Thanks,
Clay
Brilliant video Clay, your attention to detail and delivery of coaching is excellent for understanding.
I agree with Ben G in regards to this kind of application to 2 handed backhand, is there an explanation on how quiet or active the right hand is with left through impact, I struggle for consistency as I have always been right hand dominant so its a battle to coordinate the actions of both hands through strokes, sometimes I hit it like a home run, no spin, next the ball bounces before the net.
Keep up the awesome work
Steve
Thanks Steve. I will definitely put that on my list of videos to make in the near future. If you are getting a lot of inconsistency in the height of the shot, I wouldn’t work on the snap quite yet. Work on the path of the hands and getting the ball to land consistently in the court. Then you can ramp up the speed and snap afterward.
I will talk with you guys later! Good luck with the backhand.
Clay
Hi Clay,
Once again you have produced a clear, science-based lesson. My academic background is physics, which lets me appreciate the science you bring into your explanations, but you do it in a manner that is accessible to a wide audience. I’ve been trolling the internet tennis teaching sites and none of them come anywhere close to the clarity of instruction you present. I have recommended you to all my tennis buddies, even if it means giving up the advantage that you give me. Keep up the great work!
Ron J.
Hi Ron! Thanks a lot. That means a ton coming from you, since you are a real physics guy. I just know the basics and try to apply them to what needs to happen in the tennis stroke.
I would love to hear some of your ideas about how to incorporate more physics in my teaching. If you are ever watching one of the videos and have something you would like to share with me and the other students on the site, that would be fantastic!
I will talk with you soon!
Clay
Hi Clay
Its a great lesson!! I am having some challenges executing the lag and release. I am getting most of the ‘whoosh’ sound after I hit the ball during the windscreen wiper follow through. When I try to increase the speed of the racquet before it hits the ball (which I am assuming is the important part), my shots get inaccurate.
Your thoughts?
Thanks
Raj
Good question. Most of the whoosh will be slightly after contact. This is when the racket is releasing the fastest. It will max out when it makes a straight line with the arm after contact.
Let me know how you do with more practice!
Clay
Thanks Clay
I will keep practicing.
Raj
Good luck!
Clay
Clay,
First off, your forehand is looking great.
Regarding the video, can you talk in a little more detail about how the buttcap turns down and toward center? For example, by:
– allowing the racket’s inertia on its own to turn the head and buttcap, the racket pivoting where the bottom two fingers grip.
– using your shoulder, for example by raising your elbow
– applying force/pressure with the two bottom fingers
– pronating the forearm
– none of the above
Thanks.
Clay,
Probably could have been a little clearer in my question. I know the product of the “snap” is radial deviation, but wondering whether it is a byproduct of something else you are doing intentionally, intentional and fast radial deviation on its own, or perhaps some combination.
C.
Thanks Christopher!
It willbe a combination of several of those things. Your body will naturally start to sync those motions up, once you get a feel for the individual pieces.
1. The arm will slow down a bit through contact. This will allow the momentum built up in the racket to start to release. Like when you slow down in your car, when you hit the brakes, your body wants to keep moving forward into the seatbelt.
2. You shoulder will rotate to allow the racket to turn over. Your elbow is pointed roughly to the ground before contact and to the right after contact. This happens from the shoulder socket.
3. You don’t have to apply a lot of pressure since the racket momentum is moving forward. It is the same thing someone does when they spin the racket on their finger. They loop their finger back in toward center. Since the racket already has momentum moving it in a circle, it accelerates very easily with little force. Here is an example, watch at around the 15 second mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB9FE-c-NmA
4. Yes, the wrist/ forearm will also pronate. This adds to the pronation that is happening from the shoulders.
This all sounds pretty complicated when you break it down. But you have to remember that your body is an incredibly good athlete. It will start to pair these things up and synchronize them. Don’t get in the way of your natural ability to create rhythm. Practice the motions slow and then let your bodies ability tie it all together.
Good luck. Play well!!
Clay
Tremendous video Clay. Extremely concise and clear in discussing a very important concept that many instructors cannot elucidate nearly as well. Thanks very much
Thanks a lot! Happy you liked the video. ~Clay
Thanks for a very helpful video on such a fundamental concept. I can’t believe that I’ve been hitting for so many years without this concept. I’ve been using my arm instead of taking advantage of this principle and it’s a miracle that I haven’t had shoulder or arm injuries as a consequence. Old habits die hard and it’ll take me a long time before I stop using my index and middle fingers. Thanks for introducing me to a totally foreign concept!
Thats great Randall, glad you liked it. Be sure to stay loose and relaxed and try not to force it. Good luck, and let me know how you do!!
Clay
Considering that this way of hitting is more efficient and effective, are you aware of any past tennis greats who appear to have used this way of hitting before their time, perhaps giving them an advantage over their opponents?
Great question. All pros have used these same movements for a certain degree. If you watch Federer, his motions are about as close to perfect as you will find. There is virtually no wasted movement. He has a huge advantage for this reason in my opinion. He could play a few more years still. Lets hope he decides to.
Opps; sorry I wasn’t clear. What I meant was, are you aware of any tennis greats in the distant past like Rod Laver who used “your” style of hitting before it became so widespread among the pros? If so, perhaps it would explain to some degree why they were so successful….
Ok, I see what you meant now. Yes, many pros used the same technique to a smaller degree in the past. The main reason the stroke changes wasn’t because the players became smarter, or better trained, but because the equipment changed. In the past with wooden rackets and small head, you couldn’t swing the racket with the kind of speed that pros use today. It would just be too difficult to make solid contact.
Now that the heads are much lighter they can make the rackets larger and you can swing them easier. The heads are now much stiffer too, which means you can string the rackets tighter with the larger heads and still get consistency. In the past if you missed the sweet spot by 3 inches, it would have bounced sideways off the frame, now it would be a decent shot and still in play.
The equipment dictates what’s possible more than anything. Same in golf. With new balls and larger headed drivers, a 300 yard drive is the norm. Someone will drive the ball 350 every round on the PGA. If you swung the same way with a wooden shaft and small wooden head, the club would break, or at best be very inconsistent.
Long story short. If you went back to the 1920’s and gave them new technology, by the 1930’s the top pros strokes would look a lot like todays players.
Clay
I see; that makes sense. Thanks for an enlightening answer!
No problem, anytime.
Clay
I read a book by Bill Tilden, “Spin of the Game” and he certainly understood spin. However, I would love to know what he meant by “moving like you don’t want to have to press your pants”. I assume it means you do not want to bend at the hips much. Not really a book on technique though.
I am not sure what he meant there! I have never read the book. I would have to read it in context. I will also say that a lot of times people feel something that they are not doing.
Hi, Clay,
Best tennis video that shed light on the practical application of Newton’s second law of rotation that I can relate to. Great job.
Yiu
Great, thanks!! Glad you liked the video!
Clay
Great lesson, Clay. One question: if all the pros are doing the forehand the same way, with the same technique, what makes some better others? Like Fed for example, he is not bigger or stronger than everyone else, so what is the difference between his or other great forehands and lesser pro forehands?
Thanks, Kevin F.
Perhaps I should have added: I assume all good pros have played and practiced very hard for at least ten years, and, therefore, I would expect their techniques to all be nearly perfect, so there must be some other differences/factors to account for better and lesser forehands, no?
Thx, KF
I love this question! The reason is that no one knows for sure. We know most of the puzzle, but we don’t know everything, and I doubt we ever will.
First, I would like to make the point that, not all pros have the same technique. With the things I teach on the site. I try to focus on the most important pieces we all need to be successful, which most all of the pros have in common. For example, all pros will make a good shoulder turn going back.
Some pros have far superior technique than others. For example, Roger Federers forehand is nearly perfect (in my opinion). It is powerful, with no wasted motion. He creates great topspin, speed and placement, all while putting out far less energy than other players. If you compare his forehand to the forehand of say Gasquet, who has a lot of wasted motion.
For me, the study of biomechanics, is all about doing everything that you need to do to be successful, and getting rid of everything else. The least amount of movement to create the desired shot. This is what Federer does so well.
I hope that makes sense, and that you are playing great. I will talk with you soon! ~Clay
Thanks. Yes, I guess the pros may all be trying to do the same technique or biochemicals, but there are undoubtedly subtle variations in their execution of it and/or their consistency in executing it perfectly.
Also, I suppose separating the very best from the rest is a result of other factors, such as the ability to see the ball well consistently, concentration/focus, quickness of movement on the court, balance, reaction time, eye-hand coordination, flexibility, level of effort/practice, getting good coaching/feedback on his or her technique, and no doubt others I don’t even know about. These things are all separate from pure technique, and some are no doubt natural “gifts” that can’t be learned or trained, or at least not as well as those with natural abilities.
That reminds me of something I heard once about Djokovic. A sports announcer said his childhood coach in Serbia said she knew the first time she saw him play at about age 8 or 10 that he was a very special talent that was destined for greatness. What could she have seen in such a young boy that would have indicated greatness? His technique was undoubtedly not perfect yet, speed on the court would not be unique enough, so what could it have been that separated him from other boys who were all still developing their technical skills? I really wonder…
Hi Kevin. No doubt. There will be a huge difference in the motions of the pros. I try to teach some of the main aspects that all of the pros will be doing. The reason for this is that, we have to do these core pieces to be able to hit withe power and consistency. For example, every pro will make a good shoulder turn going back. They will all get to at least 90 degrees on a good shot. So this will be a key piece to learn. That is why the “Power Chest Rotation” video is one of the first ones in the forehand system.
You are dead on about that for sure. There is SO much that goes into playing at the highest level. Some pros don’t have good enough technique to be #1 in the world. But a lot of the do. It is the other factors that hold them back. That is one of the things that makes it so interesting to think about I guess. No one knows what the X factor is.
Luckily, most of us won’t have to make a living playing at the highest level. In the case of getting better at the local level, it is much simpler. I try to get people to learn good technique first. Then work hard to learn how to use this good technique in their play. They have the rest of their career to work on fitness, hand eye coordination, focus, etc. If we do this, we can accelerate very quickly. The player in this video is a relatively new player, who hasn’t been playing for all that long. Now that he has solid technique, he will progress very quickly to higher levels. No doubt, there is still plenty to work on.
Its kind of like going out and buying the best quality rifle and scope you can buy. Then you can spend the rest of your life learning how to shoot it at its best.
I hope that makes sense. That’s my take on it!
Play well!!!
Clay
Best video ever! Thank you. Vern
Awesome! Thanks Vern!!
Clay
The technique is excellent. I have applied it the past four weeks and it has significantly improved my forehand stroke, i.e. more spin, power and deeper in the shot. This is the highlight of your lesson on forehand stroke. Thanks for such an excellent video. Kudos to your succinct teaching style.
Thanks a lot!! I appreciate all the compliments on the video! I hope you play great this week!
Clay
The best lesson, I can watch this hundreds times!
Thanks Bing!
Clay
Hi Clay,
Very interesting and helpfull video!
I would like to talk about how some pro tennis players follow through differently on their two handed backhand than others, because an online trainer claimed that a certain follow throughs is not recommendable.
Link of video wherein the trainer talks about this topic from 1:38 up and to including 1:46.
On the one hand I see Djokovich and Berdych ‘using’ the follow through the online trainer describes(recommend) as the CORRECT follow through( he describes as if you were to shake hand with a giant)
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAPYAW1m3fk (djoko)
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf3y6-sjvTs (berdych)
On the other hand I see Murray, Nishikori and Nadal (monfils does it also) ‘using’ a follow through the online trainer describes(doesn’t recommend) as the INCORRECT follow through(the racket strings point MORE towards the ground), because of the flipping(or slapping) of the wrist. Maybe he just prefers one above the other, because this incorrect flipping of the wrist COULD lead to inconsistency. I learned that INCORRECT Slapping/flipping/snapping of the wrist could indeed lead to inconsistency, UNLESS you snap the wrist( or cap) correctly through contact like you teached us and like the pro tennisplayers below do.
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C21Q9szWhLM (Nishikori)
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjvBmtHN33c (Murray)
-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIj7ipqibXQ( Nadal)
Note: I noticed that the incorrect slapping at the ball(creates follow through 1) and the correct snapping of the cap(creates follow through 2)both lead to racket strings that point towards the ground during the follow through. In additon, preventing the wrist from going anywhere but in the same position as the wrist was at contact creates a follow through(creates follow through 3) very similar to Berdych and Djokovich(which the online trainer recommend)
My theory:
I think that Nadal, Nishikori and Berdych just use the exact same technique you teached us in (this) level 7.1 Tennis Forehand: “Snap the Cap” for Lightning Speed only they applied it to their two handed backhand as well. They don’t flex the wrist through contact(which I THINK the online trainer of the video refers to), but instead turn the buttcap back in towards center, just like you recommend. As a result of turning the buttcap back in torwards center, their racket strings face more towards the ground during their follow through( just like the incorrect follow through 1 the online trainer refers to). For me personally it feels more naturally to SNAP THE CAP like these guys and turn the left wrist over the right wrist after contact which is a consequence of the turning the butcapp back in towards center. Moreover, snapping the cap like this is the most efficient way to get racket head speed.
Question 1: Could you explain why Djokovich and Berdych don’t take advantage of the SNAP THE CAP technique you teach in (this) level 7.1 Tennis Forehand FOR THEIR BACKHANDS
Is it maybe because Djokovich(for example) used to play with a one handed backhand(when he was young) and therefore doesn’t really use the same biomechanics for the backhand as someone who hits it(the two handed backhand) with more of left-handed forehand kind of two handed backhand?
Kind regards,
Chris
Good questions Chris. Unfortunatley, you won’t be able to “snap the cap” much in a 2HBH. This is because there are two hands on the racket and you won’t be able to release the angle as quickly as with a serve or 1HBH. I still use a 2HBH because I think it is much easier to hit. I used to use a 1HBH since you could hit with more power, but my consistency could never get where I wanted.
I would say all of these guys use the general technique I would recommend. I like the wrist action of Neishikori and Nadal through contact. This is what I call the “turn the steering wheel” in the backhand video. But also like the high finish of Djokovic. The main difference is the type of shot they are hitting. Djokovic is high on consistency. He uses less wrist movement and goes for placement over speed or spin. Nadal hits way harder and has more spin. So his wrist adtion is different.
The only one that I would say is “bad” is Murray. The videos of those shots are all clunkers. He was late on all of those shots, no topspin, and the finish is too low. He usually hits good clean backhands, but these few shots in particular were poor. I am sure he hit 20 good ones in a row before this and these were just the ones that got caught on camera.
Hope that helps.
Clay
Clay,
This is a terrific explanation of how to release the forehand stroke, I could never figure why I was decelerating on my forehand, however after I saw this I realized that it was because I was using my index finger to snap through… I know you are focused on tennis now, but I’ve also learned a lot from your golf instruction and I think this could also fix my golf swing/ release by allowing my left hand pinky (RH golfer) to do the same type of motion?
Thanks Robert, glad you liked it! Yes, you will do the same thing in golf. We are actually about to launch our new golf instruction site. If should be out any day. You will get an email when it is ready. I have several videos focusing on exactly this motion.
I will talk to you later,
Clay
Wow! That’s fantastic I was hoping you would do something on the golf side as well…
Thanks Robert. We are excited to launch the golf site! It will be a lot of fun!
Clay
Hi Clay,
Thanks for letting me know better way of hitting a forehand.
However I feel this motion explains perfectly for the ball that are between below the waist line and above the knees.
Can you please shed some light as how and what different adjustment we need to make for balls that are around or above sholders hight
and those that are below the knee.
Getting better slowly and thanks for that.
Thanks Vijay, I will do some video on how to handle high balls soon. You don’t want to swing as hard on most high shots. Focus on hitting the ball deep and high bouncing to your opponent. focus less on pace and more on placement for most high balls.
Clay
Hi Clay, how do you apply the snap-the-cap on low fast flat balls in no mans land?,i ask because i’ve just lost a match 6-1 6-1. These balls drive me nuts,i just don’t know what to do with them.
Thanks
Hi Sally, I know exactly what you mean. The most important thing is to make sure you you do is to bend the legs and get down to the shot. Those are very tough shots to hit, so you don’t want to kill the ball. The main goal should be to get the ball to clear the net on your return and get it back deep in the court.
I hope that helps. Let me know how it goes.
Clay
This one really cleared up a bunch of questions for me Clay. Thank you! One question: When do you begin the release? At contact or through contact? You say both in the transcript. Seems like you should be accelerating through the point of contact to maximize acceleration on the ball, but I wanted to be certain that I understood this point.
Thanks Again,
Ted
Glad to help Ted! You will start releasing when the tip is a couple feet before contact and it will be fully released a few feet after contact. As you mentioned, this will allow the racket to be accelerating through the ball.
I hope this helps to clarify. Good luck!
Clay
Hi Clay. Heath Waters over on Tennisone has a vid that talks about how the pros optimize topspin on their forehand by getting the string bed and their palm to face down, parallel to the court, before firing the forehand with the lag and snap. It’s an interesting observation I haven’t seen before. I wasn’t getting my racket face parallel before this video. I think it may force you to relax your arm to get it in this position and that may be why it’s useful. I was wondering your thoughts on this method. Thanks–Tom
Hi Thomas. I agree. I teach the same thing and call it the “table top,” since it is like you are letting your racket drop on to a table top that is sitting beside you. You drop the strings flush with the table. Here is a video I mention it in. https://topspeedtennis.com/vault/forehand-mechanics-student-review-learn-a-federer-like-forehand/
Hope the visual helps. Sounds like you are already dead on!
Clay
This is fantastic!!!
Thanks!! Hope your doing great!
Clay
Hi Clay. Just finished watching your new forehand snap, awesome move. I found one thing I want to pass along. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but when you snap through correctly you get a swishing sound very similar to the golf drive when you lag and release the wrists properly allowing the club head speed to build. I noticed this doing shadow swings. If I don’t hear the swish, I didn’t release it correctly. I’m a 77 yr old male and after 40 yrs of playing competitively I’m still learning. Love your site keep up the good work. Jean
Questions – I am having a problem with some wrist soreness any exercises or stretches?
When I use the bottom 2 fingers and “spread” them out, I loose control I must be doing something wrong.
You may be overdoing the wrist action. You should feel pretty relaxed. I would rest it for a couple of days and try to tone it down for a while after that. You don’t want to feel forced. Play well!
You are correct, I was trying to “cook” the shot by forcing it so I was actually fighting centrifical force, so that was actually counter productive to the racquet head speed. The core issue was high grip pressure and “controlling” rather than releasing the racquet. I took a few days off, and focused on keeping a loose grip and its a lot better.
Nice! Glad that helped. Looser is usually a lot better for speed. Play well!
where can I purchase topspin pro trainer Don Grim
It is currently out of stock world wide. We should have some available in the US in the next couple weeks. I will send out an email, the day they are ready. Play well!
Hey Clay,
I’m a fairly new subscriber, but I’ve played tennis a long time. Your lessons are AWESOME! Finally I understand why the pros do what they do! I bought the Topspin Pro, which is a great training device for topspin. Today I tried Snapping the Cap, and I hit the best forehands that I can remember. One of the players in my clinic today said that she could hear the topspin I was making. I’ve never had anyone say that before. Thanks so much! You are a great teacher!
Thanks a lot Robert! Awesome work with the forehand. You made a good purchase with the TSP! Keep up the great work, and have some fun out there!
Clay
Hi Clay,
A quick question about how firm your wrist and grip should be at contact. I was having problems with consistency not because of flexion but because my raquet wobbled at the point of contact when my wrist and grip were loose. (I think you are suggesting a loose wrist at contact in your video.)
To correct the wobble I’ve tried keeping very loose from the “Power L” through acceleration but firming up my grip just before contact. This seems to improve my consistency although it reduces the whip created speed and topspin somewhat. I imagine that there is a compromise that has to be made between power and control and would value your suggestions.
Many Thanks,
Ted K.
Hi Clay,
A non-technical follow up to my earlier observation. It took me over a year to integrate the snap the cap into my swing. The principles you lay out are sound, but the one missing piece for me arose from the three stage practice you prescribe. By stopping at the release point just after contact, the feeling of “flow” that comes from a proper swing and hit is lost. I kept trying to be too “wristy” in generating the topspin, and eventually I hurt my wrist (it still hurts). It was while trying to minimize the pain that I discovered the proper wrist action, which removes all of the stress from the wrist. I find that the power of the snap arises from what others call a “limp noodle wrist” – the first time I did it correctly it felt wildly out of control, but with practice becomes the deadly weapon you describe. The best description I can give is that the wrist plays no active role in the swing – it is merely the hinge connecting the racket to your arm, and the acceleration that your arm imparts to the racket when you start the swing translates into the angular momentum that the racket acquires as it pivots around your wrist. Forearm pronation provides the rotational impetus to the racket head, and wrist pronation is a passive consequence of the total motion, tracking and accommodating the natural path on which the racket is constrained to move by your arm. The best way to approximate the feeling is to let your hands go limp then flap them around – the wrist is completely loose and uninvolved in generating the motion, but you can feel it moving as a passive conduit of the force from your arm to your hand. Another way to describe the motion is that the racket feels like a bullwhip, and you are using the fluid motion that generates the crack of the whip. The basic concept is “flow”, a Zenlike(?) state for the wrist. I hope this makes sense.
BTW, I am starting to feel something like the same wrist motion in well hit serves, but I have a ways to go. Any comment?
Best regards,
Ron J.
This is great, but I always thought it was the opposite, the ripping action of the swing “tamed” the ridiculous speed of the internal rotation that you get if you throw your arm out like a bag of bones by rounding out the snap a little. Nevertheless, I am excited because I know this works.
Glad to help Donald! Rip those forehands!
Hi, Clay.
When the racket contact the ball, your wrist is extension or flexion.
It’s very important to me.
Thank you.
Hi Phu. It will be in slight extension. Hope that helps!
I practiced “snapping the cap” and I’ve been seeing more speed and a lot more topspin on my forehand recently as a result. But I’m also getting a lot more mishits and framing the ball more. This seems to be especially true when the ball is coming in with relatively little pace.
My sense is that my racket is moving quick enough vertically that it’s harder to hit the ball in the sweet spot, though I’m not sure if that’s the right explanation.
In any case, I’m becoming more tentative about how much I “snap the cap”, in an effort to frame fewer shots.
Do you have any guidance for continuing to hit in the center of the racket when snapping the cap (especially on slow balls)?
Thanks
Hi Daniel. It sounds like you are on the right track. You may just be trying to get too much out of it. If you get a slow ball, sometimes you just have to get it back into play and not go for a lot of power.
As for the rest of the shots. It will take a little time to get the rhythm. There is nothing wrong with framing a few here and there. It just shows you are pushing your limits. Best of luck!!
hello there, great analysis in all your videos. Based on the footage on 14.13 I would say that the angle of the racquet and the direction of the ball during contact is about 30°… do you agree? is this the best possible angle for maximum ball speed? should this angle change for better stability or spin?
There are several variable (mostly how the ball is being hit to you, the angle it is coming in, the speed, etc) that would effect this. That is a good rule of thumb though. I would agree with what you are seeing.