Tennis Stroke Learning Process

When developing your forehand or backhand groundstrokes there is an order of importance in the things that you accomplish.  Certain results of the stroke are more important than others and it is important that they are accomplished in the correct order. All of the forehand and backhand lessons that I teach will fall into one of these categories.  It is imperative that you decide what part of your stroke needs the improvement and don’t skip over steps to get to other parts that may be “cooler” to work on.  For example, if you are having a hard time getting your forehand in play, whether or not you are hitting topspin or not is less important than developing skills to build consistency.  I am going to go through each component and explain each to help you decide where to begin.

Consistency – The basic building block of all strokes is consistency. If you can’t get the shot in play, then all other aspects are not important. Building consistency is about the least “sexy” part of a forehand or backhand but the most important.  If you have a hard time getting the ball in play, imagine what it is going to feel like under the pressure of a third set tie breaker. If you are a consistent player, you will always have that to fall back on if you are having a bad day.

Accuracy – Being able to consistently control the direction of the ball is the next most important part of the stroke.  Being able to place the ball to your opponents backhand consistently can win you more than a few matches. You must be able to change direction of the the ball also. If the ball is coming in from cross court changing direction so the ball goes down the line can be difficult to do on a consistent basis. Being able to control depth of the shot also falls into the accuracy category also. Keeping the ball deep so your opponent can’t attack the net or giving your opponent short shots to force them in to the net when their volleys are weak are strategies you will be able to consistently execute when accuracy is mastered.

Spin – The ability to control spin on your strokes is the next in the chain of importance. Using topspin and under spin to make your shots more effective is an important building block to improve on the previous accomplishments.  A ball hit with spin is a much more controlled shot and consistent shot.  Using topspin to make the ball drop in the air will improve consistency by allowing you to hit higher over the net, lower the chance of hitting it in the net, and have it still drop in to the court. As for direction, just like a knuckle-ball in baseball, a ball without spin travels in an erratic path but a ball with spin is directed and controlled.

Power – Finally, we get to power. Power is what everyone I teach seems to want more of, but as you can see, if you don’t have the building blocks we have previously talked about, power will do you no good. I define power as the speed in which the ball travels.  Being able to increase your power will be a necessity when playing with high level players. You will use power to decrease the amount of time your opponent has to react to the ball including preparation time, movement time and reaction time.

Each forehand or backhand lesson will fall in to one of these categories.  You will need to identify which area you need to work on and find the lessons that are appropriate to your area of focus.  If you need help with identifying your area concentration, please comment below and I will help you make that decision.