Attacking Forehands
We should be looking to hit an attacking forehand whenever the opponent has hit a ‘weak’ ball, both lacking in depth or speed and as a result giving you more time for preparation to hit a more powerful forehand.
It is important to understand where power comes from when learning to execute an attacking forehand. You should know that when creating more power you do not want to ‘muscle’ the ball, forcing the forehand will only impede the correct process of power production. We will use the below video of Tsonga to help demonstrate this our 3 step progression to the perfect attacking forehand.
The following 3 steps will hopefully help you to understand some key aspects in creating more power, such as legs, hips, torso and arm (kinetic chain).
1. Turn to the Side and Load weight on Back Leg.
As Tsonga turns his shoulders his weight is shifted to the back foot and elbow is drawn back behind the body. During this phase you want to leave the racket head above the hand (tip of the racket pointing upwards) even as you have brought the racket behind you.
2. ‘Crouching’ before acceleration for balanced weight transfer
Weight should start shifting (slowly) onto the left foot (right handed players), centering your weight on both legs. This should almost look like a ‘crouching’ position before a dual leg push upwards from the ground. As the swing picks up momentum, the arm and racket are allowed to fall slightly below the ball.
3. The Fun part. Hitting the attacking forehand
Once the racket has lifted to impact the face (strings) is parallel to the net. At this point in the swing Tsonga's shoulders have activated and are leading the body rotation. His hips will lag slightly before rotating which will ensure he maintains balance (This is an important factor for recreation players to remember as over rotation frequently occurs when trying to implement this technique).
Post impact the racket head naturally pushes forward as it lifts above the hand as his body continues to rotate led again first by the shoulders with the hips and legs following. Eventually the racket will end up behind Tsonga's body and his right leg will comes around to point back to the net allowing him to stay balanced and to get ready for the opponents response.
Breaking the forehand down into 3 key areas and concentrating on each during your practice session will help make developing the attacking forehand a more manageable process. Ask one of our coaches if you have any questions and they can help you in person or leave a feedback comment below.
I hope you enjoyed the first Tip of the Week and we will be back with more in the new year!
