13 yr old Daughter’s Forehand

[postpre]

The first couple hits, she’s doing a corrective drill, with her off hand holding her hitting elbow. Like many on the WTA she tends to pre set forearm supination/external shoulder rotation before the initiation of the forward swing. It’s been very difficult for her to change this, so I’m hoping this drill can help. She hits with eastern, and tends to get crazy separation of the shoulders from the hip (loves the open stance). Her swing reminds me of Soderling, with her rotation. Any thoughts for improvement? She is a good junior. 5 star recruit, but fell a bit the last 6 months with injury and a few tough losses.

https://vimeo.com/359311354?utm_source=email&utm_medium=vimeo-cliptranscode-201504&utm_campaign=28749

[johnyandell]

The first thing I see is that her left arm stretch isn't strong enough.

[don_budge]

Any thoughts for improvement?

One question...why does she never step to the ball?

[postpre]

I agree about the left arm, and I try to work on it with her Though with the WTA type 2 & 3 forehand, it is rather common. Delpo could also improve in that area. Her massive shoulder turn may make the stretch of the arm feel awkward, I don’t know.

She loves the open stance, and generating angular momentum. She is a top notch athlete. Very, very strong for a female, and great balance and movement. I agree that she needs to hit more neutral stance forehands. She gets caught too much in open stance. Trying to get her out of that habit.

[arturohernandez]

I am not sure the open stance is fundamentally a problem. To me she seems to have a phase right between when the racket is up and it comes into the tap the dog phase. She kind of flips her racket around to get to the tap the dog phase.

You can see in the picture below that her racket is facing the back fence.

To me she slows down just a bit there and then she has to keep slowing down to meet the ball rather than accelerating.

You could try having her use the left hand to grab just below the wrist rather than below the elbow. This might get her to not take the racket back as much as she is now. By grabbing with the off hand just below the wrist she is almost forced to keep the racket on her right side.

Also, you could try Macci's idea of starting with racket at the pat the dog point and then having her accelerate forward.

You might have seen this video but I am pasting the link just in case.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members..._atp_forehand/

Otherforehand.png

[stotty]

Thanks for posting. You must be so proud of her.

I like her. She has a strong and athletic physique and looks like tennis player through and through. I like what I see so far but need to see more. Let's see her in a rally under moderate pressure. Let's see if she then loads better and how the shot's form holds up.

[don_budge]

The first couple hits, she’s doing a corrective drill, with her off hand holding her hitting elbow.
https://vimeo.com/359311354?utm_sour...campaign=28749

Thought for improvement. The two handed forehand. For students that have a difficult time grasping the concept of how to hit a sound, fundamentally correct (FC) forehand I love the Pancho Segura two handed forehand. Ideal for getting the off handed side of the body engaged in the swing. It is a two handed game...no mistake about it.

The two handed forehand for dysfunctional forehands. Have the student grip the racquet with the left hand index finger and thumb on the bottom of the handle. Right hand goes right on top. A couple of wonderful effects are in limiting the radius of the backswing to get that less backswing, more rotation. The left hand on the racquet will stencil the correct shape of the backswing when she is back to using one hand. Do you copy? Understand? Step to the ball. Real specific about foot placement. Very critical. Back foot toe in line with the instep of the front foot.

A thought...and a very good one. Excessive backswing with the right hand disengages the natural engagement of the left side of the body. No wonder she prefers open stance. Helps to artificially engage the left side with what you call "angular momentum".

[postpre]

Thanks for posting. You must be so proud of her.

I like her. She has a strong and athletic physique and looks like tennis player through and through. I like what I see so far but need to see more. Let's see her in a rally under moderate pressure. Let's see if she then loads better and how the shot's form holds up.

Thanks stotty, I am super proud. My two oldest kids have taken to the sport I fell in love with as an adult (though I was intrigued by the game even as a kid, but my dad coached basketball so that's where I fell). Coaching them through their junior development has been a joy, but's it's a ton of work and there's nothing quite like junior tournaments. All I got right now is short rally: https://vimeo.com/manage/359647953/general

Will add some more later.

[postpre]

Thought for improvement. The two handed forehand. For students that have a difficult time grasping the concept of how to hit a sound, fundamentally correct (FC) forehand I love the Pancho Segura two handed forehand. Ideal for getting the off handed side of the body engaged in the swing. It is a two handed game...no mistake about it.

The two handed forehand for dysfunctional forehands. Have the student grip the racquet with the left hand index finger and thumb on the bottom of the handle. Right hand goes right on top. A couple of wonderful effects are in limiting the radius of the backswing to get that less backswing, more rotation. The left hand on the racquet will stencil the correct shape of the backswing when she is back to using one hand. Do you copy? Understand? Step to the ball. Real specific about foot placement. Very critical. Back foot toe in line with the instep of the front foot.

A thought...and a very good one. Excessive backswing with the right hand disengages the natural engagement of the left side of the body. No wonder she prefers open stance. Helps to artificially engage the left side with what you call "angular momentum".

I like the drill. We tried it today at practice. I think she can engage her off handed side better with correctional/kinesthetic drills like this one.

[stotty]

Thanks stotty, I am super proud. My two oldest kids have taken to the sport I fell in love with as an adult (though I was intrigued by the game even as a kid, but my dad coached basketball so that's where I fell). Coaching them through their junior development has been a joy, but's it's a ton of work and there's nothing quite like junior tournaments. All I got right now is short rally: https://vimeo.com/manage/359647953/general

Will add some more later.

I couldn't access the video. Maybe you didn't tag it as public?

I've been there...junior tournaments that is. One of my children was a decent junior. The cheating, the crying, the nutty parents...it's the same all over the world. The main thing to remember is tennis doesn't build character, at least not by itself. In fact, tennis can ruin a child's character without good parenting to keep everything in check. Good parenting builds character. Tennis combined good parenting can build excellent character.

Be harder on your child's behaviour on a tennis court than you would be in normal day to day life and you'll be amazed what an outstanding individual your wonderful daughter will turn out to be, which is actually way more important than the tennis.

You've already had some terrific advice from don_budge and John Yandell. Post more clips and you're bound to get further technical help and advice. Nobody cares more than us on the forum. We live and breath tennis like no other coaches on earth.

[postpre]

I couldn't access the video. Maybe you didn't tag it as public?

I've been there...junior tournaments that is. One of my children was a decent junior. The cheating, the crying, the nutty parents...it's the same all over the world. The main thing to remember is tennis doesn't build character, at least not by itself. In fact, tennis can ruin a child's character without good parenting to keep everything in check. Good parenting builds character. Tennis combined good parenting can build excellent character.

Be harder on your child's behaviour on a tennis court than you would be in normal day to day life and you'll be amazed what an outstanding individual your wonderful daughter will turn out to be, which is actually way more important than the tennis.

You've already had some terrific advice from don_budge and John Yandell. Post more clips and you're bound to get further technical help and advice. Nobody cares more than us on the forum. We live and breath tennis like no other coaches on earth.

My bad: https://vimeo.com/359647953

Also, got a video of my son's serve today: https://vimeo.com/360027564

[postpre]

While we are working toward improvements on my daughter's forehand, it's amazing the success Soderling had with less than ideal technique:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqnhPKbGl5o&t=29s

[johnyandell]

Robin would have been swinging a big ax when the vikings came off the long boats. Don't think he is much of a model, especially for a junior girl.

[postpre]

Robin would have been swinging a big ax when the vikings came off the long boats. Don't think he is much of a model, especially for a junior girl.

To clarify, I wasn't presenting Robin as a model to follow, male or female. Just pointing out that unorthodox strokes (including disconnected off handed sides) do not always hinder a degree of success, though not optimal.

[don_budge]

Robin would have been swinging a big ax when the vikings came off the long boats. Don't think he is much of a model, especially for a junior girl.

To clarify, I wasn't presenting Robin as a model to follow, male or female. Just pointing out that unorthodox strokes (including disconnected off handed sides) do not always hinder a degree of success, though not optimal.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...Front.mp4&new=

Robin Söderling...lived twenty minutes from me. As the crow flies. Tibro, Sweden. Furniture capital of Sweden. A week before I was to move to Sweden I was watching a tennis match in my living room surrounded by boxes of my belongings that I was going to ship and popcorn dog. My old Frankie who passed some three years ago. My lasts lifeline to America. But I was watching this match with "The Ugly American" and one of the participants was the aforementioned Robin Söderling. Robin was 19 at the time and I said to the big lug in the room..."This kid can play".

That is an interesting example and love johnyandell's comparison of swinging the big ax because that is exactly what the big lug did. He swung a big ax. That video of him practicing at the U. S. Open was reminiscent of a scene that I witnessed here in Sweden. Down in Båstad. He was practicing on a back court there and my friend Frans and I were watching him swing that big axe. Very impressive. A big idiot as well...he is missed on the tour as one of the more entertaining characters on tour. He will always remain a friend of mine due to his mimicking Nadal at Wimbledon...picking at his shorts in his ass.

Thanks postpre for posting you wonderful daughters stroke. I am an old school tennis coach and I also know the score with regards to a lot of things. You have probably read my paradigm for teaching tennis:

The book is William Tilden. The model is Richard Gonzales with the Don Budge backhand. The coach is Harry Hopman. Roger Federer is the Living Proof.

The video at top is what I consider a perfect forehand. Strings to the wall...step to the wall. See how as Roger turns his strings are facing the wall opposite him? The racquet head slightly tilted towards his opponents side of the court. This is the ideal position from where to start the forward motion. Stepping to the ball and turning the hips first.

Söderling was a perfect example how "unorthodox" motions inhibit a players development. True...he did reach number six in the world. But the question is...how much further could he have gone. His service motion produced very powerful (fast and hard) serves but it certainly lacked in any type of subtlety. Even tactics. The modern paradigm sacrifices everything to speed and force. Very little sublime...except the last remaining link with the past as I describe in my paradigm. I actually wrote a rather lengthy letter to Robin Söderling's dad regarding his "Viking" service motion after watching him double fault on match point at that very same tournament where my friend and I were watching him practice.

So there are limitations as to how much gold you can extract out of lead. I always shoot for the top. I'm a perfectionist and I hold myself accountable as well. It has it's downside. But I really commend you on the kids. The son's service motion produces some terrific energy at the spot where it should. Still...I would discuss his grip, his setup and his backswing. I would critique them. There are some kinks. There are some spots that need some oil. There exists some friction in that motion. But that's me. It's how I roll. It could be perfect.