Mastering the Tennis Forehand: A Complete Guide - Tennis Lesson

Nothing much like a roller coaster

Yep

so we should not use the grip of big mac that brought him millions of dollars? 😂 just joking

Really useful illustration - thanks!

I always used a full Western grip growing up. I've always stuck with it because I was out of the box. Haha.

so weird Ian we all know your lefthanded like myself but nice right handed forehand demonstration now go out and challenge Sainsat you play righthanded he plays lefty lol

Pardon me, I really don't understand how a coach can teach tennis strokes by only showing how other (elite) players hit the ball, but not demonstrating what he himself has grasped and is capable of. Tennis, like many other games, is an experiential sports. One has to hit the ball and understand the nuances, the subtleties, including when mistakes are made, how to stay consistent when the balls come and bounce up at different heights, varying pace and directions etc. These cannot be learnt by merely talking about the 'how to' of the stroke, even when teaching at a preliminary or beginner level. What more the title of the video suggests this is about 'Mastering' the stroke.

Sorry ,
101% wrong .

There is a different mechanism behind this.

Thanks coach ian 😂❤..ur valuable resources is a must nowadays in my tennis..😂

what made me click was thinking of the forehand swing more like a whip action than a swing. your wrist needs to be very loose and you need to whip the racket head through the ball

Does one need to have mastered an abbreviated John McEnroe-style swing first before attempting a C path? You say the drop phase just happens automatically, but for many people once the racket is high the natural thing is to swing directly from that high position at the ball. Are you assuming that people have already drilled to automaticity the habit of swinging from under the ball up to contact, so when the hold the racket high they instinctively shift down below the ball in their swing? Because that isn't a natural or intuitive thing to do from a high racket preparation position. If my racket is high, what seems most intuitive is to swing at the ball from there. To get down under the ball I have to do that deliberately, turning the wrist so the racket goes down and the butt cap forward, then pull the racket up into contact. It isn't a matter of the drop phase happening automatically and my not needing to think about it or deliberately bring it about.

Excelent video my friend, i been’ve problems to take my raquet back in forehand but whit the gravity advice is much better!

Great video. Even your funnel video for your course is super helpful. Thanks Ian!

What happened to the video on aesthetics vs function and winning? I think it involved MEP

i think McEnroe is gripping eastern, not continental

Every foot your racket travels gains 6 mph

A slightly closed face at contact in addition to the upward path also adds a considerable amount of spin.

lol friends don't let friends play pickleball

You didn't talk about the angle of the racket face at contact or the part of the ball hit at contact. When I see that Nadal clip you showed, his racket face at contact is something like a 45 degree angle to the floor, whereas Del Potro's is something closer to perpendicular to the floor. Also, Nadal and Federer seem to be hitting above the centre of the ball.
How important is swing path vs angle at contact? If my swing path is up, but my angle at contact is perpendicular, aren't I going to hit a nearly flat shot?
I'm less confident about the other way around, though. If I hit with a 45 degree racket head angle at contact but a flat swing path and hit the centre of the ball, will the ball not just bounce off into the ground on my side of the court? So does that mean that I need to aim for the top half of the ball to make top-spin?

Old gen forehand is pretty much pickleball

Gravity and high prep is far from being major reason for Alcaraz hitting harder than JMac. High prep is to handle much higher balls.

The difference is because of full uncoil, that is possible with E/SW grips. And because of another league of spin, which generally allows to apply much higher RHS without blasting the ball into the back fence with no bounce.

Major power and acceleration comes after the racquet is set buttcap-forward. Everything before is for timing and aligning the shot (and coiling the body, of course).

I wonder how comes you transmit this “rollercoaster and gravity is differentiating power source” idea, it’s not right…

Another Saturday gift for the tennis community.
The forehand lessons never get old, and the experience is ever sweetened with brilliant videos like this.
Adding Johnny to the story is even sweeter in the mix. All this sugar, and yet no calories added. Gotta love that.
Thank you Essential Tennis for keeping it high quality.
Cheers!
M