Forehand Looped Backswing

[sonnysin]

Hi John. I know you prefer teaching the straight-back backswing on the forehand side, and I can understand why. I've developed a good hitting arm position and a "pure", well-defined swing path because I listened to my tennis mentor and have been playing with a straight-back backswing. However, I can't help but wonder if that backswing can also limit my stroke development, especially if I can't "graduate" from it. After all, don't all advanced players have a looped backswing? See, to me, hitting a forehand from the straight-back position is like abbreviating the service motion and starting with the racquet in the "back scratch" position. There is a loss of leverage in both cases. I feel this loss when exchanging forehands with someone who hits with considerble pace and I can't seem to "win the collision" with my abbreviated swing. It's like I can't swing hard enough to reverse the direction of the ball. And mind you, though I'm not hitting the ball right in the middle of the sweet spot, I'm not mishitting it.
I have tried to develop a looped backswing without success because I just can't find the right motion that smoothly transitions my racquet from the downswing into the proper hitting arm position. I think it has to do with the fact that I don't understand how the looped backswing works. The way I see it, the racquet is constantly accelerating as it moves through the loop because its velocity is changing and the direction in which it moves is changing. However, all this acceleration seems to be going in the wrong direction, a combination of up, down, and back. Why should you exert a force moving the racquet back and down through the loop when you should be channeling your force into the the hitting motion which is forward and up? I have to do extra work in reversing the motion of my racquet and can't really control it coming out of the downswing and into the forward swing. My double bend position breaks down. Please give me some guidance. Thank you.


Sonny

[johnyandell]

There is only one solution to the issues you are discussing and that's to send in the video of your forehand. Here's how to do it:

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...end_video.html

These discussions just aren't productive otherwise--a waste of energy talking about things that may or may not be true. As I've written before--there is virtually a 100% track record of video not matching what the player "thinks" is happening.

Having said that, this will be my best (last) guess. It's great to have a feel for the double bend. But you are stressing out about issues that are basically irrelevant--how fast the racket is accelerating on the loop, etc. Also just because someone else can hit harder than you in exchange it doesn't mean you can reverse that with technical changes. Or that a loop gives racket head speed. You can chose to believe that if you wish, but it's not true in any meaningful sense. God will determine how hard he wants you to hit the ball. It's not your compact backswing. Federer has the most compact backswing of any top player.

My only suggestion is to do the unit turn, continue with the full turn, and as you do take your hands up a little and keep your elbow somewhat in. Let the arm fall into the double bend. My own experience is that this happens naturally if the positions are correct--turn, double bend, contact, finish. The body feels the rhythm. You can paralyze yourself with verbal analysis. And if your crosscourt forehand can't push the guy around--find some other pattern! Allen Fox and Craig Cignarelli will help you here.

There is a siginficant possibility that when we look at the video we'll see some underlying issues that you may not be aware of and they could magically resolve the backswing issue as well. So send it in!!