Junior Development:
A New Forehand Progression
Joe Dinoffer
In this article, I'm excited to present a new type of teaching progression for the basic forehand. You may be surprised when you see that this progression is a nothing more than a series of simple physical exercises, none of which involves hitting a regulation tennis ball.
These exercises are the foundation I used to teach my daughter the forehand when she began to take an interest in tennis at around age 10. You can see how it all turned out three years later in the animation of her forehand filmed by John Yandell at a Northern California coaching presentation. I'll talk more later about the subsequent steps in developing the stroke, but this article describes how we laid the basis.
As I explained in the first article, (Click Here) my approach is to communicate information to players using as few words as possible. The idea is to use images and feelings. The purpose of this progression is to help the player feel all the core elements of a sound technical forehand simply by the process of doing the exercises.
Research shows that this will accelerate the learning process by communicating directly with the body and bypassing the verbal analysis that often leads to confusion, especially with young players.
We need to remember that all players, especially at beginning levels, need to feel successful. The goal is to help young players build a forehand that will become their best friend and serve them well for their entire tennis life.
This approach is designed for beginning juniors but it will actually work well for beginners of any age. After presenting the basic progression, I'll also address some common problems and how to correct them.
I also believe that even experienced players will get ideas to improve their fundamental technique from this article, particularly the exercises with the sponge balls, and the exercises to correct basic problems.
Exercise 1
The first exercise in the progression is simply pushing a beach ball forwards. We start just pushing with the hand, and then progress to using the racket. This gives an immediate feel for several essentials: the contact point, the push forward with the palm of the hand, and also, how this pushing feeling creates forward spin, or topspin.
Often when coaches talk about topspin to a beginner, they make it far too complicated, relating it to what elite pros do on television. This exercise makes it simple and tactile. Turning the beach ball over is something the player can actually feel at anyage.
Notice how the player lines up the racket directly behind the ball. The emphasis is on the interaction between the ball and the racket. I find this pays dividends later in helping players control their backswings and create early contact.
Exercise 2
The next step is to play what I call "Connect the Dots." Everything is the same as in the first exercise, except now we put one dot on the right hand and one on the left shoulder. We tell the player to connect the dots to get the idea of one of the basic finishing points. Note that the beach ball offers some resistance so the player will have to push it forwards and not come up off the ball too quickly to make the dot connection.
Exercise 3
The next step introduces footwork, by changing the position of the beach ball, and also, establishing a recovery position.
I like the player to start with "happy feet" but at this stage I don't mention specific footwork patterns. This allows players to start figuring out how to adjust the steps and distances to the ball for themselves. You may be surprised how, with little or no information, players will start doing many right things on their own, including the natural use of various stances.
These are 3 simple exercises. But the result lays down a very sound foundation for future development. Through these exercises, we've established a compact backswing, extension through the swing, the basics of topspin, and also active footwork.
You may have noticed that so far we have not even mentioned grips. This is because most new players will naturally adopt an eastern or moderate semi-western forehand grip, both within an acceptable range for developing players. Again this usually happens without complicated verbal instructions. If there is a problem, you can always make an adjustment.
Hitting Tees
Now let's start the transition toward a regular ball by using a hitting tee and starting with an oversized foam ball. This is another powerful way to help players feel the critical aspects of the stroke without a lot of explanation.
I start with a foam ball for two reasons. First the dwell time on the strings is longer with a foam ball so there is more feel, particularly when it comes to generating spin. Second because the ball is two tone, the players can actually see the forwards rotation of the ball with every hit.
The next step is to change the recovery and starting position to encourage even more movement. I simply set up donuts of various colors. This exercise again forces the player to take adjusting steps to get into position and to learn automatically how to position herself to the ball.
I also use a concept developed by Melanie Moliter, mother and coach of Martina Hingis. This is hitting a ball out of the air. Notice that we now introduce a modified starting position that will quickly lead into a loop forehand.
The player starts with her racket in her left hand and in line with her right ear. This helps her use the left hand to rotate the upper body. The left hand will also set the angle of the racket face, to help any beginner learn topspin. Another great tool for this is the Spin Doctor which is a rotating ball on a stick. This really gives the player a feel for brushing up on the ball.
Once the player gets a feel for hitting out of the air, we alternate this with balls hit on the bounce. You can add a third variable which is a ball hit on a "short bounce." This is a great way to builds timing and rhythm skills and sets the stage for learning to hit on the rise, something that is rarely taught to young players.
In all the variations, make sure you have the player stand as close to the net as needed to feel successful. Then, over a period of days or weeks, gradually back your new players up toward the baseline.
Problem 1: Big Backswing
Most beginning players will have at least some problems or awkward moments learning these skills. The first common problem for beginners is when they take too big a backswing.
A large backswing may work if the player has a ball tossed to them at just the right speed, but as they improve too large a backswing will lead to major problems and inconsistencies. Here a two approaches to the problem.
The first option is to connect the wrists together. Here we are using a velcro Forehand Fixer but many other methods are possible.
The idea is that when the non-racquet hand helps prepare the racquet, many good things happen. The upper body coils, the backswing is more accurately prepared, and the grip is better established. The distance between the arms is now fixed, making it impossible for the player to take the racket too far behind the body.
A second powerful option is to learn to temporarily hit the forehand with two hands. This will automatically create a more limited, compact backswing. The second hand is placed on top of the dominant bottom hand. This will restrict how far the dominant arm can go back.
After hitting with two hands, the player can then take an intermediate step to transition back to one hand. This is to hold the racquet with only 2 fingers of the non-dominant hand. Now the dominant hand is doing most of the work, but the opposite hand is still helping the player control and limit the motion.
Problem 2: Developing a Loop
Some players have trouble getting a feel for the loop backswing. Here's a simple exercise that usually solves the problem.
If I position my racket as shown in the animation, the player can learn to take the racket up in order to get over this obstacle. Then, in order to hit up on the ball in the forward swing, the player will naturally drop the racket down to the bottom of the looping motion.
The fact that the player doesn't want to bang rackets helps them focus on really executing the pattern of the loop. The player should start slowly with this exercise and build up to normal speed.
Problem 3: Late Contact Point
A third common problem is making contact too far behind the body. Typically late contact causes the player brush up too dramatically just to get the ball over the net. The result is less power and little depth.
To solve this problem, a simple solution is to toss the player balls from behind. Now the player has no choice but to contact the ball more in front. After the player gets an initial feel, switch over to tossing from in front and then rotate back and forth every 3-5 balls.
So there's the basic progression. Keep in mind that it was designed to be dynamic, and remember one thing. The truth is that there is no single way to teach any stroke in tennis. Try all or part of this approach in your own game or with your students. Then let me know what you think, either by posting your thoughts in the Forum or emailing me through my site at www.oncourtoffcourt.com
