Hello, I am new to the tennis game and I have been having some trouble. I learned how to use the forehand, but every time I hit the ball, it goes out of bounds or past the fence.
Dear Crazy 4hand,
As usual with this sort of question, it leaves our important factual info. Like: Are you a beginner, advanced beginner, or ?? I teach tennis year round to 5 early learners and 14 more advanced students. The early learners all have the same problem you describe. You didn't mention whether you use TOPSPIN of you forehand. Topspin is the way to go; forget hitting flat.
In any case, here is the short answer: Get someone who knows good tennis form to feed you some medium paced balls. 1) Swing SLOW, which means take a lot of arm speed off your racket swing. If your shots start to go IN, then there's a fix for your problem. If your shots do not improve appreciably, then get the feeder to suggest corrections to your form. If your form is not approximately correct, then you can practice forever and not improve much. Inconsistency has a lot to do with FORM.
In all situations: 2) if most of your balls go OUT beyond the baseline, your racket face is too open (pointed towards the sky). If most of them go into the net, then your racket face is too closed (pointed towards the court surface). In either case, your WRIST is the culprit. Your wrist controls the racket face, so lock your wrist as you swing your forehand forward. 3) If your shots go too much to the right or to the left, you are either flexing your wrist forward or backward as you swing, OR your timing is off. Good PRACTICE is the answer. 4) Lastly, if your form is good and you are still missing, then your are not getting to the approximately right place to hit the ball, which is a judgement problem. If you do not get in the right position to hit the ball and SET UP before you swing, then you are hitting in an emergency, which most learners do. RUN QUICK, SET UP, & SWING SLOW.
Consistency is all about proper mechanical repetition. Good mechanical repetition must get into your kinetic memory (sometimes called muscle memory). Only good practice will accomplish that (no exceptions). If you can afford it, a good instructor can have you on the road to success by next year if you will faithfully work at doing what he/she suggests.
I have left out many, many details, but you now have the short answer. Hopefully, this will help other readers who have the same problem. Good luck with your tennis and don't forget to have FUN!
Dec 26, 2009 Rating
Tips by: Aris
Hi there, I'm just a fellow Tennis player that's been playing for a good eight years or so, I'm not a coach nor have I ever coached but here's just my input to your question.
Seeing as how your question isn't very specific, I'm going to assume that you're a beginner since you're just "trying to get the ball in." The reply above me is great but I would just simply recommend more play-time.
You will develop a lot of your skills from just playing the game more, your body will know if a shot feels right or not. Specific details and techniques are only useful for intermediate-level players as they can be too complicated for beginners.
However, some basics you should know includes:
1. Stepping into your shots
2. Make sure you swing through the ball and don't stop your swing short
3. Footwork, always be prepared to move, it doesn't matter how great your shots are if you can't get to it in time to prepare for it
4. Don't be afraid to hit the ball. Consistency is good but you need to develop "winner" shots as well
