SloMo Lesson: How to Hit the Pro Topspin Forehand

[TheJosko987]

0:20 hahaha. OMG your forehand is so fckn ugly

[hi10spro]

@TheJosko987 wow that's not me, you just called the number 156 or so ranked pro in the world--stabler--i believe, having an ugly forehand. yours must be like federer like..oh wait, he's is ugly too--right? go play golf or some sport that you know

[ThugTsotsi]

@TheJosko987 LOL? r u fkin srs.. thats a freaken best as forehand... u dont kno shit bout tennis..

[kevinlai11121995]

dude... you won't have that much time in a high level tournament to make such a big swing.

[hi10spro]

@kevinlai11121995 i so agree, but this is something Stabler? Stadler? he's top 300... so he's doing something right

[darius3000]

I thought this young man's forehand was spectacular. I have a good forehand but it's mostly flat and I'm trying to learn how to hit a whipping topspin forehand at age 38. It's not easy, and it's been frustrating, but I think I might be able to do this. So thx for posting!

[hi10spro]

@darius3000 this forehand is too big.  a shorter preparation would be better

[darius3000]

@hi10spro I practiced this today on court. Amazing success! I'm so thrilled! Now I just have to hit it during match play, which I found is much harder (a guy next to me saw me hitting these forehands, and wanted to hit with me!). We played a set and it didn't go as well, but practice, practice, practice. Thx again for posting, hi10spro!

[hi10spro]

@darius3000 try to make that backswing shorter

[crazyphilly555]

he's good



[hi10spro]

@crazyphilly555 stadler... to be here in the qualies--it's the qualies...you have to be top 300

[crazyphilly555]

@hi10spro can you make a video on how to hit this forehand?

[hi10spro]

@crazyphilly555 you don't want this forehand it's really big

[atalayapark]

beautiful, clean technique

[antonarap]

This guy is sort of stiff. Doing the same thing over and over just means a lack of understanding of how the racquet works: The guy, after countless repetitions and mediocre instruction stumbled on a solution and he sticks with it. . Anyway why we should analyse this guy? Aren't there any slow mos of Federer, Djokovic or Nadal? And what about the Jedi takeback?

[hi10spro]

@antonarap I did this to show a big take back

[johnnytohotty254]

Nadal is the one to whatch for topspin HE the guy in the video is not that good

[hi10spro]

@johnnytohotty254 hitting like nadal could hurt yourself...

[botakchee]

@hi10spro Why would you hurt yourself using Nadal's style?I am using it now and I'm not injured at all.

[hi10spro]

@botakchee i don't like nadal's backhand it looks like he's massively torqueing his hips

[Magesandrogue]

nice video, I have noticed that everyone takes the fundamental techniques and adapt it to his/her own particular level of comfort. I call it centering yourself for the shot. I see this in golf as well where each player has his/her own "twist" to the basic swing. cheers.

[hi10spro]

@Magesandrogue seriously--everyone puts their stamp of approval on a shot.

[PancakesPies]

i am sorry but your not explaining the fundementals in your videos and i think hes using a windshield wiper forehand

[hi10spro]

@PancakesPies if you're new, that's cool, but I'm over that. I've covered that previously. What I'm wondering is this the new trend in tennis NOW--this was a qualifier for the Thailand Open so he's top 300 in the world from Germany. I have never seen this take back, but I did like the angular motion of his shot plus the linear acceleration through the ball with the fan action. The question was the take back initially is super HIGH

[tuber123asd]

I cannot believe this guy's forehand is being used as anything besides a warning about allowing quirks and hitches to contaminate your strokes.

[hi10spro]

@tuber123asd why? he's a qualifier at the Thailand Open ATP so he's ranked in the top 200 in the world--he's got a big backswing but so do alot of the pros. He was Safin's doubles partner a year ago. He's a big guy also with great feet. What don't you like about it--donald young was hitting like this also

[tuber123asd]

@hi10spro That odd take back near his head where the racquet is horizontal to the ground is completely unnecessary and is bad form, and it cannot be helping his swing, his game, or his results. As such, it is to be avoided. People should not be lead to believe that weird quirks such as this take back are fine as long as you can hit the ball hard or work around the deficiency in form. Instruction must be based on sound, proper technique.

[hi10spro]

@tuber123asd yeah, I saw that also, but hey--Roddick's service take back, Lendl's forehand, Nadal's forehand follow through, and even Nadal's one handed slice are a bit odd. Have you tried this high take back, you generate alot of torque and speed on the ball--BUT i do think/agree that it's a slow court thing more than a fast

[tuber123asd]

@hi10spro It's a bad form thing, not a surface thing. :) My point was that someone with normal form should've been used as an example, not this guy. If you asked a USTA junior development coach whether this guy should be used as an example of "pro topspin forehand," guess what their answer would be?

[hi10spro]

@tuber123asd I was wondering though is this the trend now for juniors--I haven't seen top juniors in America--this guy is German though so perhaps it's a new thing. BUT I do agree it's a BIG takeback and his forehand is really spinny, whereas Monfil--who was at this tournament--his forehand is like a laser--straight line--like as fast as my first serve off a forehand...unbelievable

[tuber123asd]

@hi10spro We're having a breakdown in communication here. I'm not talking about a big swing, a huge takeback, etc. I'm talking about the odd and unconventional nature of his takeback, which is something NO ONE should duplicate, and certainly something whoever was coaching him should've gotten rid of long ago.

[hi10spro]

@tuber123asd is this the new trend in tennis though? his forehand was a rock

[IllnezzBD]

once again lefties rule G....the elbow is supposed to be tucked in right and are you not suppose to flick the wrist during a forehand topspin?

[GueorguiJoukov]

Your wrist action must be a consquence of your movement: all you do is lay it back or leave it behind if you prefer and then just keep it loose. When your arm crosses a certain point, it stops goign forward and start turning. At this moment, your arm turns, but your wrist continue to go forward until it is pulled accors your body following your arm. (Newton's first law) When it happens, your wrist accelerates and when it comes to a certain point, it can no longer go forward.

[GueorguiJoukov]

When this happens, your wrist whips or rotates around his joint very quickly. So, this is not a conscious act.

Actually, once your arm starts forward, about nothing in your arm is a conscious and active movement - it's passive; it's a reaction.

[hi10spro]

you have to be careful, it has to flow through, and i make it...so it's conscious

[GueorguiJoukov]

I mean the swivel action is a reaction to what happens earlier; it only seem conscious. You are aware of it and it is a voluntary movement - you want it to happen - but you do not actually use your forearm muscles to whip your wrist.

You can control the movement in all other directions and you are using your muscles to adjust your hand; but you do not use your forearm muscles to pull your hand forward.

[hi10spro]

you have to control the movement of the wrist because you don't want it to bend in an inappropriate way leading to an injury

[GueorguiJoukov]

You do not seem to understand fully my point... I mean that you control it partially. I'll show you which movement you cannot control.

Put your hand face down -palm- on a desk or a table. Keep it on the table and slide your arm so now both your forearm and the palm of hand are in contact withte surface.

Now, do not move your forearm from the table and lift your hand so the palm becomes as near to be at 90 degree with the table. Put it down.

[GueorguiJoukov]

Stay in the same position, but get your forearm near the end of the table so your wirst is on the edge and your hand no longer touches the table. From this position, point the ground with your fingers.

Those two movements are those you cannot control in anyway - neither partially, nor fully - during your swing because this is how your wrist swivels or rotates during the swing. The acceleration is greater than what your muscles can do and you therefore cannot catch up and control it.

[GueorguiJoukov]

So, if you read bot my new comments, you will see around which axis the wrist is compelled to rotate and what you cannot control. If you want to control it, you have to lock it, but you cannot slow it down or accelerate because the acceleration due to the swing is much greater than what you can generate with your muscles.

The whipping is therefore a reaction.

What you can and should control is the other directions - like the one you would use to knock nails with an hammer.

[hi10spro]

we're saying the same things, but i tell people to keep the L shape of the hand, but use the whole arm to hit the ball, not just the wrist

[GueorguiJoukov]

If we shall be both right, it must be by saying the same thing and the purpose of all my this work was to determine the nature of the movement of the wirst in a swing - many words used to say that it was controlled, voluntary, yet passive.

[hi10spro]

okay.

[mannydesalamanca]

The opponent returned the balls at 70 mph+ and hitting within 12 inches of the baseline.... That would push many a player back !!! This guy has a bad ass forehand and solid backhands ....... ;)

[hi10spro]

and he lost in the very next round...unbelievable how good these guys are

[Electricgypsyboy]

I'll take an Agassi style back swing anyday!

[hi10spro]

Agassi was unreal...picked the ball up so early

[Electricgypsyboy]

I love Agassi! I hate his little girlie socks! Believe it or not, Agassi when in his teens had hair all over, like a bear, but he shaves everything off now! Maybe to keep Stephie happy!

[Glorgig]

why did he get pushed back so far for that one forehand. should have just taken it early.

[hi10spro]

that was a deep ball

[Electricgypsyboy]

He was just keeping consistent spacing between the bounce and his contact point! You can see in all the early forehands the bounce of the tennis ball doesn't enter the frame of the video, But as you see him back away, you can also see the ball bounce almost on top of the baseline!

[Glorgig]

Watch federer!

even i take most shots early especially if they land on the baseline cuz if i dont, the ball kicks to my shoulder height and i get out of position.

[Electricgypsyboy]

Anybody can take the ball early! But can you take it early and send something amazing back over the net? At the level these guy's are playing at anything weak or short will put them even more on the defense!

[hi10spro]

yep

[hardkicker92]

who is this?

[hi10spro]

um...dang...i'm not sure.

[paulkielsmithdotcom]

you all are wrong. watch roddick slow motion watch?v=GpocoSPRkMA , you will notice roddick does the stop sign motion which puts just the racquet tip above the head which is MUCH different then this guy , who puts his whole wrist over his head , like donald young. nadal does more like roddick also. this guy in the vid hits nothing like roddick or nadal

[Electricgypsyboy]

If this guy could hit his forehand like Roddick and Nadal We would know his name! Or at least his face! I don't think we will ever see this guy again! Unless Hi10spro puts up his whole video shoot of this guy! I've already forgotten what this guy looks like and I just watched the video a second ago!

[paulkielsmithdotcom]

that high prep is just silly IMO. Show me anyone in the top 10 ever with that kind of stuff. i could be wrong, but its just a flawed way to get extra wrist snap

[Hexelsfayt]

Nadal does that smart ass :P

[thegarbageman21]

roddick has a similar swing. Huge high backswing. Don't think its the best method for forehand but it works for some . . .

[hi10spro]

even donald young was doing this High prep... it's a big backswing

[thegarbageman21]

yep but i dont think anyone likes donald :(.

[hi10spro]

HAHAHAHA USTA tennis development did. BUmmers and Querrey just cut his forearm sitting on a glass table that shattered

[TennisFlip95]

looks like he uses a k 6.1 tour. that racket needs a pretty big backswing to get a generous amount of spin. also requires early prep in order to have enough time to hit the ball