[Q] hy another forehand question , about contact point contact must be front of the left foot but i think i hit the ball too closer fromm my body what's the good distance on the right of my body to hit correctly the ball thanks a lot

[A] Bel,

the distance away from the body is determinant on a couple factors of which the first is the length of one's arms and the second factor is the height of the bouncing ball. the lower the ball bounces contact will be made closer to the body and the higher the ball bounces contact will be made further away from the body. find your contact point out in front of the body at the left foot toes and then find the height of the contact point. then simply reach out to this contact point in a very relaxed position with your arm straight or ever so slightly bent. The key is for your contact point to feel natural. The hand and wrist should be in a "shaking hands" neutral position at contact. Hope you understand this as it is a bit tough to put into text without visuals. Thanks for the question.

[Q] thanks for your answer i've already tried the body rotation but the result is a lot of short ball i wonder if the hitting arm must not move at all in relation with the body does it not move away from the body att all?? thanks

[A] Bel,

Yes the hitting arm does move from the body. It actually should extend all the way out in front of the body before it comes back to the number three position. Please review the millennium forehand videos and articles on our site to get a very clear explanation on the the hitting zone and ending. They are extremely in depth and will explain exactly what biomechanical reference points that should replicate for your own technique.

[Q] i think i hit my forehand too much with my arm can you say me if it's right to hit the ball with the rotation of the shoulders and not with the arm thanks and sorry about my english but i'm french!!!!!

[A] BEl K,

You are correct that you should use rotational forces to hit the forehand rather than linear such as with the classic style forehand. You do use your arm but if you are executing the technique properly the body will throw the racquet and arm at the ball for you rather than having to use tons of arm energy. Think of preparing properly into your "number one" position as seen in our articles and videos and then uncoil the hips and torso of which will release the racquet into the ball. Also think to transfer your weight from the right side of your body to the left side which will help you use your body much easier. Check out our videos on the forehand in our PROnalysis section and in our "video instruction" section as well as the articles on the forehand to get a much deeper explanation and let me know how it goes.

[Q] Hello Heath How to improve my first volley on the way to the net after the serve? I often overhit the return, even it is not very fast. Should the racket face be parallel to the net or slightly open? Do I need to provide some underspin to the ball? Best Regards C Teoh

[A] hi l Chun Teoh,

On the volley as you approach the net it is very important to first of all split step. The racquet face should be sligthly open on a waist high ball, more open on a low ball, and parallel to the net on a high ball. On balls that are waist high or lower you should apply underspin to the volley but not too much. We have several videos on the volley that would be most helpful to you and the PROnalysis I just put up is very enlightening. Check those out for a much more in depth explanation.

[Q] i want to know the fundamental of hitting the powerful and consistent forehand .

[A] Vaibhav,

Please refer to the videos or articles on "The Millennium Forehand" technique. This technique will allow you to hit both a very powerful and cosistent forehand at the same time. Simply apply the biomechanical reference points from the videos or articles to your own game and let us know how it goes.

[Q] hi! i play tennis and i'm very nervous and scare before a match. i want to ask if there's any chance to eliminate these tings?

[A] Iveta,

Your feelings of anxiety and nerves is a very normal and common feeling that all competitors face. Please read the article in our instruction articles section entitled "The I Don't Care/I Care Approach". This will give you a start towards developing an approach to master and overcome these feelings.

[Q] When serving I am sometimes able to hit a beautiful slice serve out wide, however I have trouble consitantly duplicating this serve. Is there a specific technique that the pros use to hit the slice out wide, or is the slice serve out wide the same serev you review in the first seve pro analysis..Thanks and keep up the good work. The site is fantastic.............Rich B.

[A] Richard,

The serve technique for the slice outwide should be executed with a bit more 7 o'clock to 3 o'clock swing motion. You can visualize hitting more on the outside of the ball. The contact point is also slightly more out in front than the "T" serve as well. Let me know how it goes with adding these visuals.

[Q] I was wondering what the the reason was for contacting the ball at the level of one's fist versus one racquet head below the ball as is used for the ground strokes. If the serve is slower would using more top spin be advised, as it seems that in the pro anaalysis the returns are more flat? Thanks and keep up the great work.

[A] Richard,

Since there is less time to react on the first serve return the racquet take back is very short and compact and the hand is placed directly behind the ball rather than below the ball. The combination of it being very difficult to impart topspin upon the ball from such as short backwing and simply because there is very little time to attempt a low to high swing path upon the ball is the reason for mainly flat 1st serve returns. Many times actually one will only be able to merely block the ball back. You will however once in a while see some topspin if a player really anticpates the location of the serve well but not often.

You can most definitely hit topspin or any other spin that you would like on the 2nd serve return. These are treated almost exactly like a regular ground stroke as there is ample time to react as well as one can execute a full backswing and follow through. Thanks for the question.

[Q] Dear Heath What is the difference between an eastern forehand grip and an eastern backhand grip?

[A] Ahmet,

For the eastern forehand grip the base knuckle of the thumb is on top of the racquet and for the eastern backhand grip the base knuckle of the index finger is on the top of the racquet. Basically hold a continental grip and move your hand slightly to the right for an eastern forehand grip and slightly to the left for an eastern bachand grip.

[Q] Dear heath kindly answer to this question. I just want to know if I'm performing this technique right or wrong. Lately I've found out that in order to keep my left arm straight on two-handed backhand and keep the ball on target all I have to do is to rotate on my axis and everything else will fall in to it's natural place.Thanks to you of-course for your cleaver advise. I use to hit the ball with my arms and every time I use to get different scenarios on the follow throught.But now all I'm trying to do is to make my arms as passive as possible and when I get to the contact point all I do is to rotate on my axis and beleieve me or not almost 70% of my shots go in with out any problem.(just by rotating on my axis)It seems I've discoverd something new. Even when I examine the great pros like agassi, Safin I see the only way they can keep their hiting arm straight on the follow throught is to rotate on their axis.I would really appreciate your comment on this matter.This technique has given me a great boost and confidece.Your comment will be appreciated.Vrej

[A] Vrej,

That is great that you are applying the principles that you are learning from the site directly into your game. This is exactly what the site is for and all who simply apply the reference points, drills, and instruction etc. that we derive from the best players in the world will immensely improve their game I guarantee it.

You are correct in creating a stationary axis on the backhand for the racquet and arms to rotate around just as we use Agassi to demonstrate in our PROnalysis on the two hander. Balance is key in creating this stationary axis and indeed this concept is crucial in maintaining proper balance while swinging with rapid racquet speed. Keep up the hard work and keep us regularly informed on your game's progress.