Tennis Forehand Tips
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Forehand is the main weapon and solid stroke for the vast majority of players. There are of course exceptions to this rule and those players are usually very naturally talented for their backhands.
You'll find many useful tennis forehand tips regardless of your preference – whether your forehand is your good shot or your not so favorite one.
If your forehand is your good shot
You have the feel and confidence in your forehand, but are you using it to its maximum potential? If you feel confident in your forehand, then go for it. Look to develop it even more. Don't get stuck only on improving your weak backhand. That's surely a good tip but many times your forehand which may be your potential weapon gets neglected because of your backhand. Maybe your backhand will never improve beyond a certain point even if you practice it for years. (Remember Pete Sampras or Steffi Graf's top spin backhand?) What did both of these players do? They developed an incredible weapon with their forehands.
Tennis forehand tip #1
Whenever you practice, strive to develop your forehand even more. Learn to play short cross court, off forehands (from your backhand corner to opponents backhand corner), flat and top spin shots and top spin lobs.
Also practice being deadly on sitters. See if you can improve your percentage on »easy« balls in the court and become really deadly from there. This puts incredible pressure at your opponent because they start realizing that every short ball will be put away.
When you have a bad day and your forehand is not working as usual - don’t PANIC! You can get it back to play. This is sometimes a big hole in the defense or attack of players with good forehands. When their forehand is on, they are in the zone, but as soon as their big weapon starts missing, they crumble.
An excellent example of how to get your forehand back is Roger Federer. His forehand is his big shot but sometimes when he starts the match his forehand is not firing yet. Roger doesn’t panic. He accepts this is a part of the game and our inability to be perfect.
He is not trying to hit his best forehands all the time when it's not working yet. He develops the feel and timing during the match when he adapts to the conditions – court, balls and his opponent.
Tennis forehand tip #2
When your forehand is off, don't try to go with your head through the brick wall; don't try to hit good forehands if even your average forehands are not consistent yet. Also don't make assumptions and conclusions that it has to stay that way and that this is your bad day.
Accept the forehead as it is right now. Yes, very hard to do for some of you. Wait. First get the average forehands working well. Hit deep, shots well away from the sidelines and you'll soon start finding your feel and timing.
The next step is to step up. Go for better shots, take more risks and see how it goes. Remember: if it's not working well yet, don't push it too hard or too far. Gradually look for better and more risky shots. They will probably start happening.
Remember – the end goal of your match is not a good, beautiful or superb play. It's to win. Sometimes that means average shots, but above average determination and fighting spirit.
If your forehand is your weaker shot
That's our first trouble. As soon as we perceive our forehand as a weaker shot, then as soon as the ball flies to your forehand you are not decisive and courageous. You feel doubts and maybe even fear of missing.This feeling affects your shot very negatively before it's even attempted. Always focus on what you want. Don't focus on how you don't want to miss your forehand because that greatly increases the chances of really missing it.
The Inner Game section explains and shows you how to quiet your mind at least in practice first.
Tennis forehand tip #3
Holding on to the belief that your forehand is your »bad« shot will NOT help you. Just think about this: if your forehand stays realistically the same – technically and you change your thinking about it – will it improve in consistency and power? I'm absolutely sure it will.
So the first step is to accept your forehand as it is. Yes, I know – here it is again. The next step is to realistically evaluate your forehand on a scale from 1 to 10. Where is it? 5? 6? Now here is the crucial question? If you think your forehand is 5 now, how good ones are you trying to hit? 9? 10???
I'm sure you realize that the gap is too big and you are asking the impossible from your forehand – and yourself. If you forehand is 5, first try to make a solid 6 out of it. Take time; improve for just 10-15%. And when your forehand is 6, go and make a 7 out of it.
That way you'll hit many good shots (not 1 super in a million ones) that will stay in your memory. You'll start developing feel and confidence in your shot. Then you'll be able to go higher and higher with it.
Another common way of dealing with weaker shots is to try and avoid them. I'll offer similar tip as I did in the »Backhand tennis tips«. If you have been avoiding your forehand for some time since you feel it's a weaker one, you have hit fewer shots with it than with your backhand. That means that you have developed less feel and proficiency with it.
It's not your forehand’s fault that it can't hit balls in; it just hasn't received the same amount of practice!
Tennis forehand tip #4
Play forehands. Don’t avoid them, you need repetitions and feel. And don't go for too much first. Check tennis forehand tip #3! Combine both tips for best results. Feel the fear of missing your forehand again and do it anyway.
You can improve your forehand but you need to be 3 P: patient, persistent and positive.
Just do it.
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