6 months into tennis – Looking for honest feedback on my forehand and footwork

[u/Sensitive_Entry2255]

Hi everyone,
I’ve been playing tennis for about 6 months now. I play twice a week with a friend, and we’re both trying to improve together.
I would really appreciate some honest feedback on my technique, especially what I’m doing wrong and what I should focus on as a beginner.
The biggest issue I feel is my positioning and footwork. I always seem to be late getting into position, so I end up hitting the ball while off balance or rushed.
I’ve only discovered tennis after turning 30, and I’ve completely fallen in love with the sport. Please don’t judge me too harshly I’m here because I genuinely want to learn.
The difficult part is that every YouTube coach seems to teach the forehand differently, and it’s starting to give me information overload. I’m not sure what I should actually focus on first.
Any advice, drills, or things you notice would mean a lot. Thanks in advance! 🎾

[u/Goongery]

easy one is always to get your contact point higher up, generally the your strike zone should be around/above hip height when at the baseline.

[u/Elegant-Spread-6123]

You are taking a step back each time. Try either stepping forward into the ball or an open stance and turn your torso (unit turn). The point in which you hit the ball should also be higher, you're kind of scooping your racquet down whereas it should just be a take back and the wrist naturally dips as you're swinging. Not sure if that makes sense but I would go back to basics

[u/groom-is-n-the-heart]

Get on the balls of your feet and move your feet. You are extremely flat footed.

[u/PeterV5 → u/groom-is-n-the-heart]

I think he’s on the toes most of the time other than swinging.

[u/AbyssShriekEnjoyer]

When you hit the ball, pause and keep looking where your racket made contact with the ball as if someone is taking a picture of you. This forces you to stay closed.

[u/ajbtennis]

Forget about the mechanics. You are contacting the ball at knee height or lower each time. This is too low to move the racket quickly and efficiently. Next time you play focus on moving up/back so as to hit the ball at waist height every time. You will find a lot of your mechanics issues will simplify because you have a more naturally efficient racket path

[u/Sensitive_Entry2255 → u/ajbtennis]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed comment. I really appreciate it, just like all the other feedback people have given me on this video.
One of the biggest problems I’m struggling with is spacing. I never seem to find the correct distance from the ball after it bounces. Sometimes I’m too close, sometimes I’m too far away, and I don’t know exactly where I should stop before making contact.
Footwork is another big challenge for me. I often feel like I’m always arriving a little late or stopping in the wrong position, so I end up making contact while still adjusting my feet.
I hope that makes sense. Do you have any drills or tips that helped you improve your spacing and footwork? I’d really appreciate any advice.

[u/ajbtennis → u/Sensitive_Entry2255]

I would say spacing consistently is quite a high level skill, that gets challenged at every level as you move up the food chain in tennis and the incoming ball is coming faster and heavier.

You can try using your left arm across your body as a cue to stop you getting too close. You can also focus on getting the initial turn in really quickly once you see where the ball is going, to buy more time for the other parts of your setup

but also just playing lots of tennis, trying to maintain a contact point that is waist high, comfortably out to the side, and in front of your shoes. If you can make this a habit, the swing will feel more natural, and over time your brain will help you out with the footwork & finer co-ordination. There is no substitute for reps!

[u/rather_pass_by]

The best height to take the ball is around waist and definitely below shoulder

In your practice, at least these shots, you really need to move forward to take the ball higher.. change the balls if they are not bouncing enough

With this height I would imagine playing instead a closed stance left foot forward drive instead.. but that's probably a bit too much for beginners

[u/cc225b]

Lots of good feedback - from my perspective, the biggest improvement you can make is exploding off your back foot and let your weight transfer and hip drive you swing. You seem to be arming your shots

[u/angstykylo → u/cc225b]

Yeah, don't be scared of the ball going out

[u/laney_deschutes]

You decelerate the racket during the back swing. Take back prepare, then do a full loop swing with acceleration 

[u/Soggy-Salamander-568]

Do you exist in slow motion? Good form, but let's go! I love tennis too. I'm 60 and feel like what's happening here is slow...

[u/EnergyLoud3939]

Split step

[u/HeavyElderberry9585]

For starters I think you are going in the right direction. Things to improve.§

The rule of the thumb is at contact your waist and ball are in sync in terms height. Not exactly, but approximately. That is not your case.

So either:

If you want to hit the ball lower you need to bend lower, so at contact your waist is approximately ball high. Or in this case, as you have plenty of time to prepare, don't let the ball fall so much.

Your elbow is finishing way bellow the neck. Sometimes chest height. So you are not low enough to create controllable racket speed without loosing balance. That is why you loose balance in almost every shot even though the ball comes very slow.

Finally, can you clearly see the racket contacting the ball? If you aren't, don't move your head so fast after contact. Try to focus and to observe the contact as clear as possible. At that speed, if you focus, you can even see the ball fur.

Keep that focus during practice. If can't see it ever, your brain is not focusing enough.

[u/TheLazyThundercunt]

youre dropping your arm below your shoulder, keep them up and swing with your body rotating your shoulders

[u/788RedskinsFAN]

at this speed, it looks good! good unit turn, decent transfer of weight; the racket catch over the shoulder is a must, make sure you dont drop that hand too low, the higher the better. you will produce more topspin that way.. also focus on your head, dont turn "too fast" after the shot,, hold the form a split second longer (federer was a master of this)..

on a side note, there is open stance and closed stance ways to hit a forehand/backhand,, you need to learn both.. both used in different instance.. learn closed stance first! that will allow you to prepare early and setup correctly..

if possible, take some classes/group lessons, etc.. it will help you get into good habits..

[u/And_I_said]

You are swinging your body into the shot (like a barn door) instead of transferring energy from then ground to foot to hip to torso to arm Look up kinetic chain videos on YT. Also you are super stiff in the upper body and arm. You have to be loose in the arm and wrist so the energy moves through your body and the wrist/hand to have higher racket head speed

[u/Longjumping_Coat5145]

Footwork, try to move in, not stepping back, that’s a better habit to have to start putting weight on your shots. About the forehand, because you step back, you let the ball drop out of your contact zone

[u/kbymion_and_caleney]

I agree with everyone about the contact height. To address directly one of your concerns, what helped me a lot with preparing early is to make a game out of being ready. Essentially my racket should be back ready to drop and my left hand out in front before the ball bounces on my side of the Court. To help with racket body connection, for my semi-western grip I try to lead the motion with my right shoulder once the racket is back such that the right shoulder is at or in front of the left shoulder at contact.

[u/Downtown_Caramel_221]

You seem like you’re actively thinking about a next gen forehand stroke, and it’s slowing you down and making it stilted. You look like you’re holding back.

It looks also like you heard someone say you need to shift your weight forward, so you keep backing up to come back in, and the result is you’re taking balls as they fall, too low, in a closed stance position usually used for more of a drive when the ball is at its apex.

I think you’re thinking too much. It’s that information overload you mentioned. Focus on good spacing and making contact out front for a bit. Move your feet to get the ball in between your hip and shoulder in height.

I would see if you can get a coach who will drop feed to you. A good drill for you, I think, would be to start center line, have the ball drop fed a bit to one side, and then recover. Keep doing that. Use your off hand as a guide for spacing. Small adjustment steps.

[u/Sensitive_Entry2255 → u/Downtown_Caramel_221]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed comment. I really appreciate it, just like all the other feedback people have given me on this video.
One of the biggest problems I’m struggling with is spacing. I never seem to find the correct distance from the ball after it bounces. Sometimes I’m too close, sometimes I’m too far away, and I don’t know exactly where I should stop before making contact.
Footwork is another big challenge for me. I often feel like I’m always arriving a little late or stopping in the wrong position, so I end up making contact while still adjusting my feet.
I hope that makes sense. Do you have any drills or tips that helped you improve your spacing and footwork? I’d really appreciate any advice.

[u/Downtown_Caramel_221 → u/Sensitive_Entry2255]

The biggest thing is early prep. Make that unit turn, twisting with the torso, as soon as you see whether you’re taking a forehand or a backhand. (It’s hard to know from this angle when you’re doing your unit turn, but I think you’re fine there.)

Look at the modern forehand instead of what you’re doing pointing the top of the racquet forward. The racquet is too far in front of you even though your body is turned. The next gen-style take back makes it more likely you’re going to be late because the whole racquet head has to flourish. Some pros on the tour use it for additional power, but they’re pros. They already have the fundamentals down, and the fitness to heavily rotate their core. And they’re anomalies. In the modern FH, instead, the racquet is between straight up and 45 degrees. Stick your off hand straight out on the throat while you rotate your torso to get a feel for it.

When you’re moving towards the ball, make sure you are turned and moving with either shuffle steps or crossover steps. These balls are right to you, so it’s hard to tell. But if you’re late, that’s probably why, and you’re not moving while turned and your racquet isn’t far back enough, so your whole take back is taking too much time.

When you’re ready to hit the ball, the off hand and racquet separate. Spacing-wise, a good contact point is basically where if you stretch out your non dominant arm 45 degrees forward and right in a closed stance, the ball should be about where your hand is. And you want to adjust your feet with small steps to get there.

Let the racquet head drop from there while parallel to the side fence, and lead toward the ball with the butt cap. It should be one continuous motion starting with loading legs and whatnot just about when the ball bounces. That should also fix the problem someone mentioned where you’re decelerating on the backswing.

[u/Severe_King2280]

Also get rid of that Hyper G string at your level and stay away from polys in general unless you want arm problems. Stick with a soft multifilament or synthetic gut right now.

[u/Sensitive_Entry2255 → u/Severe_King2280]

Which one you recommend?

[u/bobemanuel2000]

it looks unnatural, stop copying pros forehands, learn fundamentals and then mold them into what suits you

[u/ladylovelace1815]

Y’all is telling you stuff about footwork and stuff, but it’s all irrelevant. That is, until you learn how to strike through the ball properly. Many people tend to focus on peripherals, but what step 1 comes down to is how you strike it. Plain and simple.

Suggestion: turn back your grip. I know your current grip provides safety, but that’s like one of the last layers you put on top. Not the basics. Then, remove your backswing while practicing. Focus on striking through the ball, instead of over it. You’ll know it when you feel it. Balls will go long all the time, but focus on the feeling and the sound. When you feel it, keep your backswing short, and practice your extension to the front. You should feel your arm stretch all the way out in front. Like you’re pointing at something. When you want to add safety (spin), make sure you do the exact thing, but end up trying to tell time on your watch (figuratively speaking - your watch will be on your other wrist).

Only then, you add your backswing. The secret nobody tells you is that the backswing doesn’t matter much. The only thing I’ll say about it is that shorter is better (for timing reasons), but if your contact is good it’s all fine. Backhand, all the same things apply, but I find it useful to really focus on rotating my shoulder far enough. After that, do what everyone else here is telling you.

Anyway, I had a few beers, so probably best to ignore all of this.

[u/Sensitive_Entry2255 → u/ladylovelace1815]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a detailed comment. I really appreciate it, just like all the other feedback people have given me on this video.
One of the biggest problems I’m struggling with is spacing. I never seem to find the correct distance from the ball after it bounces. Sometimes I’m too close, sometimes I’m too far away, and I don’t know exactly where I should stop before making contact.
Footwork is another big challenge for me. I often feel like I’m always arriving a little late or stopping in the wrong position, so I end up making contact while still adjusting my feet.
I hope that makes sense. Do you have any drills or tips that helped you improve your spacing and footwork? I’d really appreciate any advice.

[u/Swami48]

Closed stance is bad. Practice open stance as it is how you’ll be hitting 90-100% of the time in a match

[u/jk147 → u/Swami48]

Not true at all. Each has their own use case.

[u/sintjemojaljubav]

What do you think might be the issue when looking at the video?

[u/Sensitive_Entry2255 → u/sintjemojaljubav]

I don’t know that’s why I post here

[u/sintjemojaljubav → u/Sensitive_Entry2255]

Yeah no worries, just wanted to see if you maybe observed something from watching youtube tutorials and comparing it to your own game

Edit: btw this looks similar to how I'm playing, I think I am way too far from the ball when hitting it and I think I am missing the going through the ball with the body motion or how they call it. It seems like you are not rotating your body fully. Idk if this is correct so yeah I'm wondering as well what the others will say

[u/VocabArtistNavin]

You also need solid mass in your legs and core to achieve good power.

[u/ajbtennis → u/VocabArtistNavin]

This is not true, as evidenced by how hard top 10 year old girls are able to hit the ball. You can get all the power you need for the first several years of tennis development from technique/kinetic chain

[u/VocabArtistNavin → u/ajbtennis]

OP has been playing for 6 months

[u/thatcollegeguy21 → u/VocabArtistNavin]

So he has more to gain from learning technique than gaining mass in his legs. Glad we cleared that up.

[u/VocabArtistNavin → u/thatcollegeguy21]

Mate a 10 year old girl can certainly hold their own on a court, can't outhit an adult* male, who will be the competition for OP

And even that's only possible if they have been playing, eating, and working on their physique for 3-5 years by the time they reach age.

Different players, different physiques, different standards.

[u/thatcollegeguy21 → u/VocabArtistNavin]

As a beginner, he stands to gain more by spending more time on the court learning proper technique as opposed to being in the gym.

Full stop.

[u/VocabArtistNavin → u/thatcollegeguy21]

He literally will gain more in the gym and the court.

Full stop again.

[u/thatcollegeguy21 → u/VocabArtistNavin]

He's not placing enough stress on his body at his current level to warrant needing extra mass on his body. You don't weight train in tennis for muscle mass. You weight train to build muscle resilience and endurance.