I made a huge breakthrough on my forehand!

Summary

In this instructional video, the speaker shares a recent tweak to their forehand technique, which has significantly enhanced power, spin, and consistency. Despite being a naturally right-handed player, they are relearning to play left-handed after an injury. The speaker emphasizes the importance of a gradual process to improve one's forehand, focusing on the unit turn and upper body rotation for a more effective swing. They also introduce a subtle timing adjustment to create intentional racket lag, resulting in increased power without losing consistency. The video concludes with a call to action for viewers to engage with a free class on improving tennis skills, highlighting the importance of practice and brain-based training for enhanced coordination.

Takeaways

• 😀 The video discusses a recent tweak to the speaker's forehand technique, which has improved power, spin, and consistency.
• 🏌️‍♂️ The speaker is a right-handed player who is relearning to play left-handed due to an injury.
• 🔧 The speaker emphasizes that improving forehand technique is a gradual process, not a quick fix.
• 📈 The speaker has been working on their forehand for three years, focusing on ironing out issues and making gradual improvements.
• 🤔 The speaker suggests that viewers analyze their own technique to identify underlying problems and work on fixing them.
• 👉 The speaker mentions a free class they created, detailing the steps they used to improve their left-handed game to a 4.5 level.
• 📹 The speaker compares two videos, showing a recent improvement in their forehand by focusing on upper body rotation and chest stretch.
• 🔄 The speaker adjusted their timing by intentionally creating racket lag before driving through the hip, resulting in more power and consistency.
• 💡 The speaker highlights the importance of repetition to turn these technique tweaks into habits for use in match situations.
• 🧠 The speaker recommends brain-based training to improve eye-to-hand and eye-to-foot coordination, which is crucial for skill development in tennis.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the video?

The main focus of the video is to show a tweak the speaker made to their forehand, which has improved power, spin, and consistency in their tennis strokes.

Why is the speaker relearning to play left-handed?

The speaker is relearning to play left-handed because they injured their right arm in a mountain crash.

What is the speaker's goal in developing their forehand?

The speaker's goal is to develop their forehand into a weapon that can dominate opponents.

What is the speaker's approach to improving their forehand technique?

The speaker's approach involves a gradual process of identifying and fixing underlying problems with their stroke, making subtle tweaks, and practicing consistently.

What is the first tweak the speaker made to their forehand?

The first tweak was focusing on getting a greater upper body rotation and more stretch in the chest, which moved their arm and elbow further away from their side.

How does the speaker describe the second tweak in their forehand technique?

The second tweak involves a subtle change in timing, specifically creating an intentional racket lag just prior to firing with the hip.

What is the speaker's advice on incorporating these tweaks into one's own game?

The speaker advises practicing the tweaks repeatedly until they become natural habits, which can then be used effectively in match situations.

What is the importance of timing in the speaker's forehand technique?

Timing is crucial as it allows for the creation of racket head speed and proper sequencing of the kinetic chain, ultimately leading to more power and consistency.

What is the speaker's view on the role of brain-based training in improving tennis strokes?

The speaker believes that brain-based training can improve eye-to-hand and eye-to-foot coordination, which are essential for becoming a better tennis player.

How can viewers access the speaker's free class on improving tennis strokes?

Viewers can access the free class by following the link provided in the video description.

Outlines

00:00

🏸 Forehand Technique Breakthrough

The speaker discusses a significant improvement in their forehand technique, which has enhanced power and spin while maintaining consistency. As a right-handed player recovering from an injury, they are relearning to play left-handed and aim to develop a dominant forehand. The video will analyze the forehand from various angles and emphasize the importance of a gradual process in improving tennis strokes. The speaker shares their three-year journey of refining their technique, focusing on identifying and addressing underlying issues step by step. They also mention a free class that outlines the steps they took to improve their game and become a proficient left-handed player.

05:01

🔄 Enhancing Forehand Power and Timing

In this paragraph, the speaker describes two key adjustments they made to their forehand technique. The first adjustment focuses on maximizing upper body rotation and chest stretch, which has led to a more 'next gen style' forehand and a whip-like effect. The second adjustment is a subtle change in timing, where the speaker intentionally creates racket lag by supering the forearm and externally rotating the shoulder just before firing with the hip. This has resulted in increased power, racket head speed, and consistency. The speaker emphasizes the importance of repetition to turn these adjustments into habits, allowing for their use in match situations. They also highlight the role of brain-based training in improving hand-eye and foot coordination, which is crucial for skillful tennis play.

Keywords

💡Forehand

The forehand is a fundamental stroke in tennis played with the dominant hand, which in the case of the speaker is the left hand due to an injury. It is crucial for generating power and spin in the game. In the video, the speaker discusses a tweak to their forehand technique aimed at increasing power and consistency, which is central to the video's theme of improving tennis strokes.

💡Power

Power in tennis refers to the force exerted when hitting the ball, which can affect the speed and trajectory of the shot. The speaker mentions a breakthrough in generating more power with their forehand, indicating an increase in the effectiveness of their strokes. This is a key aspect of the video as it demonstrates the results of the technique adjustments.

💡Spin

Spin is the rotational force applied to the ball during a stroke, which can alter its flight path and bounce behavior. The speaker feels that their tweak has also improved the amount of spin they can generate with their forehand, enhancing the control and strategic options in their game.

💡Consistency

Consistency in tennis refers to the reliability and predictability of a player's shots. The speaker notes that along with power and spin, their forehand has become more consistent, which is vital for maintaining a high level of play throughout a match.

💡Tweak

A tweak in the context of the video refers to a small adjustment or modification made to the speaker's forehand technique. The speaker discusses specific tweaks they made to improve their forehand, which is the central focus of the video content.

💡Unit Turn

The unit turn is a part of the preparation for a tennis stroke, involving the rotation of the body to generate power. The speaker mentions focusing on improving the quality of their unit turn to enhance their forehand, illustrating the importance of body movement in stroke technique.

💡Racket Lag

Racket lag is the deliberate delay of the racket's acceleration relative to the player's body movement, creating a whip-like effect for more power. The speaker describes a subtle tweak in their timing to create an intentional racket lag, which has contributed to increased power and spin without losing consistency.

💡Kinetic Chain

The kinetic chain in tennis refers to the sequence of body parts used to generate force in a stroke. The speaker mentions the sequencing of using their kinetic chain in relation to timing and racket lag, emphasizing the coordinated body movements necessary for an effective forehand.

💡Brain-Based Training

Brain-based training is a method of improving neuromuscular coordination and cognitive functions, which can enhance tennis skills. The speaker recommends using brain-based training to improve eye-to-hand and eye-to-foot coordination, suggesting it as a complementary practice to technical drills.

💡Repetitions

Repetitions in the context of tennis training refer to the practice of repeating a stroke or movement multiple times to ingrain it as a habit. The speaker emphasizes the need for many repetitions to turn the tweaks into habits, highlighting the importance of practice in skill development.

💡Skillful

Being skillful in tennis means having the ability to execute strokes and strategies effectively. The speaker suggests that understanding technique and practicing properly are essential, but becoming a better player also requires being skillful, which includes the use of brain-based training to improve coordination.

Highlights

The video demonstrates a tweak to the forehand technique that has increased power, spin, and consistency.

The player is naturally right-handed but is relearning to play left-handed due to an injury.

The forehand is being developed into a weapon to dominate opponents.

Improving the forehand is a gradual process that has taken three years.

The importance of understanding that high-level strokes require a process, not just simple tweaks.

The player focuses on fixing underlying problems with the stroke gradually over time.

A free class is offered that outlines the steps to become a 4.5 player using the left hand.

The player emphasizes the quality of preparation and unit turn in the forehand technique.

A recent tweak involved maximizing upper body rotation and chest stretch for more power.

The player unintentionally moved towards a 'next gen style' forehand.

A subtle tweak in timing created more racket head speed without sacrificing consistency.

The player now consciously creates an intentional racket lag for better timing.

The change in technique resulted in more whip and power in the forehand shots.

The player must now practice the new technique to make it a habit for match play.

Brain-based training is recommended to improve eye-to-hand and eye-to-foot coordination.

The class mentioned provides detailed guidance on structuring practice and analyzing strokes.

The player invites viewers to ask questions in the comments for further discussion.

Transcripts

in this video I want to show you a tweak

that I made to my forehand this week

that I feel has given me a real

breakthrough in terms of the amount of

power and spin that I've been able to

generate but the cool thing was I also

felt like it was more consistent so I

want to break it down for you now I'm

naturally a right-handed player but

unfortunately I injured myself in a

mountain of my crash and now I'm

relearning to play left-handed I'm

trying to become the best player that I

can and obviously one of the things that

I want to do is develop my forehand into

a weapon it's been progressing slowly

over time mine I'd got it to a point

where it's kind of reasonably consistent

and now I'm trying to add layers to it

so that I can use it as a real weapon to

dominate opponents so hopefully you find

this video helpful if you do be awesome

if you can give me a thumbs up if you

haven't subscribed to my channel before

it's much appreciated if you could do

that as well so we're going to look at

my forehand from a few different angles

first and while we do that I want to

explain a really important concept about

improving your forehand because there's

a lot of content online that makes out

that it's really easy and if you just

tweak this or twe that you'll suddenly

have high level strokes and that's

really not the way it works it's

absolutely vital to understand that it's

a process so what I'm doing now is a

process that's taken me three years of

ironing out creases of working out what

the underlying problem with my stroke

was and addressing that until it was no

longer a problem and then moving on to

the next thing and doing that gradually

over time until I got to the point where

I'm at now where I'm making making

subtle tweaks to really try and get more

power and spin and this is exactly what

you need to do with your Technique you

need to work out where things are going

wrong at the moment you need to work on

fixing that underlying problem so it

might be incorporating some of what I'm

describing here and the things that I'm

working on or what you need to work on

might be completely different because

for the first 2 and a half years of

developing my stroke I was focusing

almost exclusively on the preparation

trying to get a good unit turn and

setting up in the right position and to

an extent I'm still focusing on that

because one of the tweaks that I'm going

to explain in the moment was kind of a

change in the way that I was thinking

about doing my unit turn before we get

to the next bit I want to let you know

about a free class that I've created for

you that lays out the exact steps that

I've used to become a 4.5 player with my

left hand and explains how you can use

the same process to dramatically improve

your game so I'll place a link to that

free class down in the description so

the video on the right is the latest

video the video on the left is a video

from last week now I made two tweaks

this week the first one is kind of a

continuation of the process that I've

been working on for a while I'm always

focusing on getting as good a quality

preparation as I can so really loading

my back or outside leg so thinking about

loading this leg so that I can then

drive through it to initiate the swing

so I'm always working on that and I'm

always working to improve the quality of

of my unit turn now obviously the the

shot that I'm hitting is slightly

different so we have to factor that in

but what I've really tried to do this

time around is get a much greater up

body rotation and a bit more stretch in

my chest so if you look at the position

that I'm here on the right hand side and

compare that to the video that's on the

left hand side you'll see that it's

slightly different now I wasn't

intentionally doing this but the end

result is that my arm my elbow has come

further away from my side on the most

recent video so I guess unintentionally

this is moving slightly more towards

what they class as a next gen style

forehand now that wasn't my intent I was

just really thinking about getting as

much upper body rotation as I could but

then when I watched it back it's clearly

kind of moving and trending towards the

next gen style so that is the first

thing that changed just really trying to

get that upper body unit turn maximized

trying to get as much stretch in my

chest as I can here which has involved

me pulling the elbow further away from

my side and then that's allowed me to

kind of create more of a whip like

effect so that was the first thing but

then there is a second piece to it

that's been really important the next

tweak that I made was kind of a subtle

tweak in terms of the way that I think

about timing now timing is one of the

most important parts of the stroke

because it's what allows you to create

the racket head speed there's the visual

side of it so you starting your swing at

the right time relative to the Flight of

the ball but then there's also the

timing and the sequencing of using your

kinetic chain and that was kind of where

I made a slight tweak normally I'm

thinking about driving through my back

hip to initiate the swing and then

creating the racket lag as more of a

natural process but this time I switched

that round a little bit and I thought

about creating an intentional racket lag

so after doing my preparation getting

that unit turn I very intentionally and

deliberately did this so I very

intentionally and deliberately supered

my forearm and externally rotated my

shoulder to create the racket lag and I

thought about doing that just prior to

firing with my hip and the net result

was way more whip way more power way

more rack ahead speed but without

sacrificing consistency like I said I

felt like it actually increased my level

of consistency so it was just one subtle

change just kind of thinking about just

externally rotating and super nating

basically falsely or intentionally

creating a racket drop and that seemed

to really help my timing so that then I

was able to get much more Whip and

Racket head speed through to contact

okay so if we now go in and we'll take a

look at those two videos again this is

the video from last week I'm driving

through the hip and creating the racket

lag as more of a natural process and in

the newer video I'm being more

intentional about it so you should be

able to see that the racket leg starts a

little bit sooner so I'm in position and

before I've really driven through that

leg I've started to create the racket

lag and that's allowed me to get much

more whip on the ball so it was a subtle

thing but the result was massive I don't

think I've ever got as much kind of

power and bite into my shots before like

the way the ball reacted off the court

was pretty exciting for me I couldn't

even do that with my right hand so a

subtle change that's made a big

difference but now obviously I've got to

go away I've got to remember what I did

remember what I thought about and do a

lot of different repetitions until this

becomes more of a natural process

because obviously when I'm playing a

match I don't want to be thinking about

creating racket lag I need to have done

enough repetitions to make it a habit so

as you can see there were subtle tweets

but the results for me were very big and

as I've just said now I've got to go

away and I've got to do a lot of

repetitions to turn those tweaks into

habits because once those tweaks become

habits then I'll be able to use it in a

matte situation and this is the process

that I use to kind of work and improve

all of my strokes and it's a process

that you can use as well now something

else that I do to improve my strokes and

what's allowed me to get to this point

with my left hand is doing brain-based

training to improve my eye to hand and

my eye to foot coordination because yes

you need to understand technique you

need to practice in the right way but

ultimately the way that you play tennis

comes down to how skillful you are so if

you really want to become a better

tennis player you want high quality

practice but I also recommend using

brain-based training to improve your

hand to eye coordination if you'd like

to learn how to do that I explain the

process within that class that I

mentioned earlier so the class talks

about in detail how to structure your

practice and how to to analyze your

strokes and how to use brain-based

training to become more skillful so I'll

place a link to it in the description so

you can watch that if you would like to

if you have any questions about what

I've gone through today leave them down

in the comment section and I'll get back

as uh quick as I can otherwise thanks

for watching and I'll catch you next

time