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I had the pleasure of listening to John's forehand return presentation at the USPTA world Conference in Orlando on Thursday and here are some key take aways that I want to share.
Right off the top of my head, there are 6 main commonalities that these great pros share when it comes to returning a first serve with the forehand (there are more I'm sure, but these keys stick out).
The grip is milder: generally, it's better to use a more conservative grip on the forehand return...so if you have a semi western grip on the forehand groundstroke, consider moving the hand more toward an eastern which will allow you to hit the ball flatter with less mishits against faster incoming serves.
The first move is less pronounced: when you make your first move on the return, move your off hand across the body so that the hand points more towards the net post instead of going more parallel to the baseline. As the
off hand and arm move across the body, they should go below shoulder level so that the racquet head feels lower than a regular groundstroke.
The backswing is shorter: with a first move that creates less shoulder turn and a lower takeback with the racquet, the backswing will naturally be smaller. The racquet face will also be more closed during the first move and backswing.
The finish is high and conservative: to get through the ball with appropriate extension, it's also more effective to finish high and over the shoulder instead of across the body. This would be considered a more "old school" swing path
allowing for less things to go wrong throughout the swing.
The back to front footwork is often utilized: when you're pulled wide, it's important to pivot off the outside foot as you approach the incoming ball. Push
into the ground with the outside foot and as you make contact, the front foot will cross over the body in order to cut the angle the ball. After contact, the front foot hits the ground completing what I call the "back to front" pattern which is very similar to the footwork for the running forehand.
The body squares up AFTER contact: once the front foot comes down, the back leg needs to come through as well so that you can square up into a wide base. As a right hander in the deuce court, you might be in the alley or outside the alley at this point so it's critical to finish in a wide base in order to push off using a crossover step to recover back toward the middle of the court.
And what about how the forehand return differs from the forehand groundstroke besides using a more conservative grip. All the top players like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic hit their forehand returns off first serves much flatter than their
forehand groundstrokes. In fact, with high speed analysis, it has been determined that the average revolutions per minute on a forehand return by Federer is less than 1000 RPM, significantly less than the 2700 RPM's created by his forehand groundstroke.
...which means that the forehand return is hit with much less spin
than the forehand groundstroke.
Would be interested to hear what others have to say about the forehand return.
Jeff Salzenstein
Right off the top of my head, there are 6 main commonalities that these great pros share when it comes to returning a first serve with the forehand (there are more I'm sure, but these keys stick out).
The grip is milder: generally, it's better to use a more conservative grip on the forehand return...so if you have a semi western grip on the forehand groundstroke, consider moving the hand more toward an eastern which will allow you to hit the ball flatter with less mishits against faster incoming serves.
The first move is less pronounced: when you make your first move on the return, move your off hand across the body so that the hand points more towards the net post instead of going more parallel to the baseline. As the
off hand and arm move across the body, they should go below shoulder level so that the racquet head feels lower than a regular groundstroke.
The backswing is shorter: with a first move that creates less shoulder turn and a lower takeback with the racquet, the backswing will naturally be smaller. The racquet face will also be more closed during the first move and backswing.
The finish is high and conservative: to get through the ball with appropriate extension, it's also more effective to finish high and over the shoulder instead of across the body. This would be considered a more "old school" swing path
allowing for less things to go wrong throughout the swing.
The back to front footwork is often utilized: when you're pulled wide, it's important to pivot off the outside foot as you approach the incoming ball. Push
into the ground with the outside foot and as you make contact, the front foot will cross over the body in order to cut the angle the ball. After contact, the front foot hits the ground completing what I call the "back to front" pattern which is very similar to the footwork for the running forehand.
The body squares up AFTER contact: once the front foot comes down, the back leg needs to come through as well so that you can square up into a wide base. As a right hander in the deuce court, you might be in the alley or outside the alley at this point so it's critical to finish in a wide base in order to push off using a crossover step to recover back toward the middle of the court.
And what about how the forehand return differs from the forehand groundstroke besides using a more conservative grip. All the top players like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic hit their forehand returns off first serves much flatter than their
forehand groundstrokes. In fact, with high speed analysis, it has been determined that the average revolutions per minute on a forehand return by Federer is less than 1000 RPM, significantly less than the 2700 RPM's created by his forehand groundstroke.
...which means that the forehand return is hit with much less spin
than the forehand groundstroke.
Would be interested to hear what others have to say about the forehand return.
Jeff Salzenstein
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