How to hit A Flat Forehand
How To Hit The Perfect Flat Tennis Forehand In 3 Simple Steps
Sharing buttons:
[Music]
hey everyone Simon here from top tennis
training and in this video I want to
help you to get the perfect flat form
and in three simple steps now these
three steps will work regardless of your
grip you could be using the Eastern
forehand semi-western or the full
western grip however if you are someone
who's using that full western it becomes
much harder for you to flatten out that
shot but the steps will still have an
impact on your game however if you're
using the semi western or the eastern
will be much easier for you to flatten
out the shot and you'll really see the
difference when you use these three
steps so step number one is all about
finding the right ball to actually
flatten out too often players will
attack balls that are down below their
waist level and they'll try to flatten
out those balls now if you think about
the court the first obstacle that we
have to clear is a net and in order for
us to flatten out a ball we need the
ball to be above net level so that we
can really be aggressive with that shot
yes I can flatten out a forehand below
the net level but I'll have to then lift
that ball to clear the net so even
though I'm hitting it flat I might not
hit a lot of spin on that shot it won't
have the same effect if I'm hitting a
ball that's above the net level I can be
more aggressive and I can hit down in
the court much more than the borders
below the net level so the first step is
looking for the correct ball to attack
and this means a ball that's higher than
the net level
now there are different types of balls
that will be hired in the net level
sometimes your opponent will hit
aggressive topspin almost like a moon
ball it will bounce and kick up off the
court that becomes a hard ball tattoo
flatten out because the balls traveling
with a lot of spin and it's travelling
with some pace so it's going to go
through your contact zone quite quickly
however a ball that floats a board that
sits up is the ideal ball to flatten out
and you'll get these type of balls
mainly when your opponent is in trouble
and they open the string bed so they're
almost slicing that ball and just
getting the ball back in court that will
sit up after the bounce and that's the
type of all that you want to be looking
to attack and really flatten out so the
balls are around shoulder level that are
sitting up giving you time to attack
giving you the option of hitting in
different parts of that contact zone
that's the perfect ball to actually
flatten out
step two is all about using the correct
swing path so when we want to produce
more topspin our racket is really
traveling from that low to high position
we're having that upward swing path so
as we make contact we might be under the
ball level before the content we're
making contact somewhere around here and
then we're brushing up aggressively to
produce that heavy topspin
so the swing path is
vertical swing path yes the racket will
travel forward a little bit but it's
mainly a vertical swing now in order for
us to flatten out that shot we want to
have the opposite we want to have to
swing more outwards towards a target
the topspin my swing might be like this
so I'm going this way and with a flatter
shot
I want my racket to be traveling this
way
the best way for you to imagine this is
to imagine something like a French
baguette so you have the French
baguettes quite long you have no strings
in your racket now and in order for your
racket to go all the way through that
French baguette you have to extend out
and then you can actually lift the
racket up without touching the bread it
could also be a stick so a long stick
and you're extending outwards this way
before you actually come back into your
body so that linear swing path is what's
going to help you to really flatten out
that shot so we're looking for the ball
that's higher than a net level when we
make contact and we're looking to go
towards a target with the strings
imagine the ball staying on the strings
for as long as possible this will really
help you to feel that extension now it
doesn't matter if you use the bent elbow
or the extended elbow with both swings
what you want to feel is that you're
staying on the ball for longer and
you're hitting through that ball before
you then lift up off the shot now if you
do have that extended arm it's much
easier for you to flatten out that shot
because that's your normal swing you're
actually staying on the ball for much
longer and then pulling off whereas if
you have the bend it's a little harder
and it will take some time for you to
master the more linear swing path as
opposed to the more vertical one and
step three is all about how we can use
our body to produce that more linear
swing path so in order for us to flatten
out a shot we need to stay on the ball
much longer and actually go through that
contact zone and the best way to do this
would be with either a neutral stance or
a semi open stance
you
the open stance is great for producing
topspin so if I want to hit a heavy
aggressive topspin shot I'll use this
outside leg my right leg to load and
then I'll be driving off the ground with
that open stance because my intention is
to brush the ball as aggressively as
possible it makes sense for me to use
that open stance to then drive up off
the ground whereas with the flush shot
when I really want to be aggressive I
want to get my body weight going into
that ball and the easiest way for me to
do this is to step forward with my left
leg so I'm going into that neutral
stance
so this is where the left leg will be in
front of the right leg if your right
handed player your left leg won't cross
the body like so because this will block
that rotation but it's in line with the
right leg so in this position now I can
really go forward using that body weight
on the back leg to the front leg so I'm
going from the back leg position my body
weight is now around 60 to 70% on my
right leg when I'm loading up and as I
make contact I'll make contact out in
front of me and I'll extend and I'll
have that weight shift so the back leg
to the front leg so I'm transferring my
body weight through the contact zone and
then eventually my sure that will follow
and then my hip will follow and my right
foot will follow so it's going to look
like this in real time I'm going here
and here
I'm staying on the ball and as you can
see from the side if I'm doing the open
stance my contact zones here it'll be
like this but if I'm using that neutral
stance to step forward now my swing path
is much more linear and I'm going
towards my target with the body weight
which will make the shot more powerful
and more aggressive
the same is true for that semi opens
that if I don't have time to set up with
that neutral stand or if you're using a
Western grip is very hard for you to
step in with that neutral stance you
could also use the semi open stance and
this is where the left foot is in front
of the right foot but not in line so in
neutral stance is here semi open is here
and then open stance is where they're
roughly in the same line parallel to the
baseline so I'm in that position here
I'm making contact with the semi open
stance and really the focus is getting
this rack ahead then my right shoulder
to come through the bar followed by my
hips followed by my right foot so
eventually your right foot will drag
behind after you make contact you're
making contact this foot will then come
forward and now I'll help you to really
stay on the ball as long as possible
the quick recap step one is finding the
correct ball to attack which means a
ball that sits above the net level when
you can actually make contact some balls
will sit up but because of footwork
because of where you are on the court
you won't actually be able to make
contact when it's higher than that so
even if the ball sits up for a brief
period of time but you're not in the
right position that's not the right shot
to attack you're looking for that ball
that's sitting up when you actually make
contact step 2 it's all about that
outward swing path staying on the ball
for as long as possible
imagining your going forward with your
racket towards the target step number
three is all about the stands and using
the body to then stay on the ball so
that would be that the neutral stance or
the semi open now if you've enjoyed the
video give it a thumbs up subscribe to
the channel and make sure you turn on
that notification belt so you get our
latest videos as soon as we release them
if you have any videos you'd like to see
from us in the near future leave a
comment down below and we'll hopefully
make as many as we can off those
suggestions signing off assignment from
TTT all the best and see you soon
you
