Develop a lethal attacking forehand

Summary

In this tennis tutorial, Richard Bryce from Tennis Hacker shares insights on improving the short attacking forehand. He discusses the importance of early ball recognition, biomechanics, and technique, including the unit turn, racket drop, and proper leg drive. Bryce emphasizes the challenges of timing and kinetic chain sequencing, offering his practice experience as a left-handed player recovering from an injury. He also highlights the significance of footwork and spacing, providing a free footwork program. The video concludes with advice on ball recognition and a web class on vision training for enhanced on-court performance.

Takeaways

• 🎾 The video aims to improve the short attacking forehand in tennis, focusing on technique and common sticking points.
• 👀 Early ball recognition is crucial, but the focus starts with biomechanics and technique, particularly the importance of a good quality preparation.
• 🏃‍♂️ A unit turn is essential for preparation, involving rotation of the upper body, getting the pelvis side on, and loading the outside leg for power.
• 🔄 The racket drop is a passive process initiated by driving through the hip, creating a lagging motion that turns the body into a whip effect.
• 🤸‍♂️ The kinetic chain is vital for efficient power generation, sequencing from the hip, through the torso, and into the arm for contact with the ball.
• 👣 Footwork is key to hitting high-quality short forehands, with a wide split step providing a stable base for efficient movement.
• 🔗 The timing of the hip drive in relation to the ball's position is often a sticking point for players, affecting the ability to hit with power and control.
• 📍 Spacing and setting up in the right position are critical for utilizing an Inside Out swing path and generating speed.
• 🔄 Over-rotating or inefficient timing can reduce power; it's important to continue working on these aspects to optimize the stroke.
• 🛠️ Practice with a ball machine can help improve ball recognition and footwork by providing random feeds that simulate various court scenarios.
• 👁️ Training and improving the visual system off the court can significantly enhance on-court performance by aiding in accurate ball reading.

Q & A

What is the main focus of Richard Bryce's video?

The main focus of Richard Bryce's video is to help viewers improve their short attacking forehand in tennis, covering both technique and common sticking points that players might face.

Why is early ball recognition important in tennis?

Early ball recognition is important because it allows players to set up in the right position and have good timing for their shots, which is crucial for effective play.

What is the significance of a unit turn in tennis forehand preparation?

A unit turn is significant in tennis forehand preparation as it involves rotating the upper body and loading the outside leg, which helps in setting up the kinetic chain efficiently for creating racket head speed.

How does Richard Bryce describe the process of the racket drop in a forehand swing?

Richard Bryce describes the racket drop as a passive process where the racket naturally lags behind as the player drives through the hip, creating a whipping motion that leads to efficient racket head speed.

What is the role of the chest muscles in the forehand swing according to the video?

The chest muscles play a role in the forehand swing by kicking in and firing forwards after the initial hip drive, contributing to the overall power and control of the shot.

Why is footwork important for hitting high-quality short forehands?

Footwork is important for hitting high-quality short forehands because it helps players move efficiently to the ball and set up in the optimal position for making contact, which is essential for power and control.

What is the purpose of the free footwork program mentioned by Richard Bryce?

The purpose of the free footwork program is to help players improve their movement on the court, which is crucial for better ball recognition and setting up in the right position for shots.

How does Richard Bryce address the issue of over-rotating during the forehand swing?

Richard Bryce addresses the issue of over-rotating by suggesting that players should focus on the timing and sequencing of the kinetic chain, and make adjustments to ensure they are not over-rotating, which can affect the power and control of the shot.

What is the importance of spacing in tennis when setting up for a shot?

Spacing is important in tennis as it allows players to have the appropriate distance from the ball for their swing path, enabling them to generate power and control in their shots effectively.

How does Richard Bryce suggest practicing to improve ball recognition?

Richard Bryce suggests practicing with a ball machine that provides random feeds in terms of width and depth to improve ball recognition, as well as working on on-court drills to enhance the visual system's ability to read the ball accurately.

What additional resource does Richard Bryce offer to help improve visual system function for tennis players?

Richard Bryce offers a web class that teaches players how to train their vision and includes brain-based training techniques to help improve visual system function for better performance on the court.

Outlines

00:00

🎾 Improving the Short Attacking Forehand

Richard Bryce, a tennis coach, introduces a video aimed at enhancing viewers' short attacking forehand skills. He discusses the importance of early ball recognition and the biomechanics of the technique, emphasizing the unit turn and loading the outside leg for a powerful swing. Bryce shares his personal experience of relearning to play left-handed after an injury and the challenges he faced in developing his forehand. He offers a free footwork program to assist with the necessary movement and stresses the importance of proper preparation and kinetic chain sequencing for an efficient forehand attack.

05:03

🏃‍♂️ The Role of Footwork and Spacing in Tennis

The second paragraph delves into the significance of footwork and spacing in executing a successful forehand shot. Bryce highlights the importance of a wide split step for stability and efficient movement, which is a common trait among top players. He discusses the unit turn, loading the outside leg, and the timing of the hip drive in relation to the ball's position. Bryce also points out common issues such as over-rotation and incorrect chest-arm angle, which can affect the power of the shot. He emphasizes the need for proper spacing to allow for an inside-out swing path and mentions a ball machine setup that helps improve ball recognition and footwork by providing random feeds.

10:03

👀 Enhancing Ball Recognition for Better Tennis Performance

In the final paragraph, Bryce focuses on ball recognition as a crucial skill for tennis players. He explains that recognizing the ball's trajectory early is essential for setting up in the correct position and timing the shot. Bryce shares his practice routine, which includes random ball feeds to improve his ball recognition and footwork. He also discusses the importance of training the visual system to enhance on-court performance. Bryce introduces a web class that teaches viewers how to train their vision and other brain-based training techniques to improve their game, offering a link to the class for interested viewers.

Keywords

💡Short Attacking Forehand

The 'Short Attacking Forehand' is a tennis technique where a player steps into a ball that is relatively close and hits it with force down the line. In the video, Richard Bryce discusses improving this skill by focusing on biomechanics and technique. The script mentions overcoming common problems and demonstrates his own practice to develop the ability to step in and attack the forehand effectively.

💡Biomechanics

Biomechanics refers to the application of mechanical principles to living organisms, in this case, the human body during a tennis swing. The script emphasizes the importance of understanding biomechanics for a good preparation, including unit turn, body rotation, and leg loading, which are crucial for generating racket head speed and power in the forehand stroke.

💡Unit Turn

A 'Unit Turn' is a fundamental part of the forehand preparation where the player rotates their upper body to get into a position that allows for efficient power generation. Richard Bryce explains that for a left-handed player like himself, this involves loading the left leg and hip, while right-handed players would do the opposite, which is essential for setting up the kinetic chain properly.

💡Kinetic Chain

The 'Kinetic Chain' is a sequence of body movements that transfer energy from the ground, through the legs, torso, and into the racket to hit the ball. In the script, Bryce explains the importance of the kinetic chain in creating power and control in the forehand, emphasizing the correct sequencing of the hip, torso, and arm.

💡Racket Drop

The 'Racket Drop' is a phase in the forehand swing where the racket naturally lags behind as the player drives through the hip. Bryce mentions that this is a passive process that occurs due to the body's rotation and is a key part of generating racket head speed without active hand movement.

💡Footwork

Footwork is the movement and positioning of a player's feet during a tennis match, which is critical for reaching and hitting the ball effectively. The script discusses the importance of footwork in setting up for the forehand, particularly the width of the split step for stability and efficient movement, and Bryce even provides a free footwork program for viewers.

💡Spacing

Spacing refers to the distance a player maintains between themselves and the ball when setting up for a shot. In the video, Bryce highlights the importance of correct spacing to allow for an Inside Out swing path, which is essential for generating power in the forehand. He demonstrates how to adjust spacing based on the depth of the incoming ball.

💡Ball Recognition

Ball recognition is the ability to quickly and accurately identify the trajectory, speed, and bounce of the incoming ball. Bryce points out that this is the first and potentially most important part of tennis, as it dictates footwork, spacing, and timing. He also mentions practicing ball recognition both on-court and through visual system training.

💡Inside Out Swing Path

An 'Inside Out Swing Path' is a term used to describe the movement of the racket during a forehand stroke, where the racket starts from the inside of the body and swings out to hit the ball. This path is crucial for generating power and is directly related to the spacing and positioning of the player, as explained in the script.

💡Practice

Practice, as discussed in the script, involves deliberate repetition of movements to improve a skill. Bryce talks about using a ball machine to practice short attacking forehands with random feeds to improve ball recognition and footwork. He emphasizes the importance of identifying and fixing underlying problems in one's stroke before moving on to more advanced techniques.

💡Visual System Training

Visual system training refers to exercises and techniques aimed at improving the function of the visual system to better read and react to the ball in tennis. Bryce suggests that most players' visual systems need improvement to accurately read the ball's trajectory and speed. He offers a web class to teach viewers how to train their vision and improve their game.

Highlights

Improving the short attacking forehand in tennis involves recognizing short balls and stepping in to attack down the line.

Technique is important, but addressing sticking points can help players overcome common issues.

The presenter shares personal practice insights, having to relearn to play left-handed after an injury.

Early ball recognition is crucial, but the focus starts with biomechanics and technique.

Good preparation involves a unit turn, rotating the upper body, and loading the outside leg.

The racket drop is a passive process initiated by driving through the hip.

Creating racket lag is essential for generating efficient racket head speed.

The chest muscles and torso rotation are key in the follow-through after contact with the ball.

Footwork is critical for setting up the right position to attack short forehands.

A wide split step provides a stable base for efficient movement.

The unit turn's appearance varies among players, but chest rotation and leg loading are consistent.

Timing the hip drive in relation to the ball's position is challenging for many players.

Setting up at the right distance from the ball is crucial for an Inside Out swing path.

The presenter emphasizes the importance of spacing and setting up in the correct position.

Ball machine practice helps develop skills like ball recognition and appropriate spacing.

Focusing on one aspect of the stroke at a time is recommended for steady improvement.

Ball recognition is the first and potentially most important part of the game.

Training the visual system can significantly improve a player's ability to read the ball.

The presenter offers a web class on training vision and brain-based techniques for tennis improvement.

Transcripts

hey Richard Bryce here tennis hacker in

this video I want to help you to improve

your short attacking forehand so

recognizing that short ball stepping in

and attacking it down the line we're

going to be talking about the technique

but the chances are you might already

have a reasonable understanding of the

technique so we're also going to be

talking about some of the sticking

points and things that can hold players

back and what I want to do is show you

some of my own practice because this is

something that I've been working on

fairly recently I'm naturally a

right-handed player but unfortunately I

injured myself in a mountain B crash so

I'm having to relearn to play

left-handed and one of the things that

I've been working on is developing the

ability to step in and attack my

forehand and there was a few things that

I was struggling with but I finally

managed to overcome them so I want to

point out what they are because they're

very common problems so hopefully you

find the video helpful if you do be

awesome if you give me a thumbs up and

if you haven't subscribed to my channel

before it's much appreciated if you

could do that as well the first thing

that's going to be important is early

ball recognition but we're going to

focus on that towards the end of the

video we're going to start by talking

about the biomechanics and the techniqu

and as always that's going to start with

a good quality preparation now for a

good preparation we're going to need a

unit turn so we're going to need to

rotate our upper body we're generally

going to want to get our pelvis side on

and we're also going to want to load our

outside leg so for me as a left-handed

player I'm loading my left leg and my

left hip as a right-handed player you'll

be loading your right hip so we're doing

all those things to basically prepare

ourselves to set up and so that then we

can use our kinetic chain efficiently to

create the rack Ahad speed so for me I

finished my unit turn there my body is

rotated now I'm about side on

potentially you could try and rotate a

little bit more if you want to get more

power and you've got better timing I go

to about side on at the moment but it's

something that I'm working on and then

I've loaded into this outside leg so

that I can then drive through them you

can see for me I'm about to initiate my

leg drive so we're going to start the

swing by throwing the outside or back

hip forwards as we do that that's then

going to initiate the racket drop so the

racket drop is a it's kind of a passive

process you drive through the hip and

you don't really do much with your hand

but as you drive through the hip the

racket just naturally lags behind

because you pull on your torso and pull

on your body but then the idea is that

you drive through the hip the Torso then

starts to rotate forwards that creates

this lagging motion where you turning

your body into a little bit of a whip

and then hopefully you've done all of

the the hard work with your muscles so

that from this point forward so you can

see here we've got the racket lag

position from this point forwards the

chest muscles are going to start to kick

in and they're going to be firing

forwards and then all of the work is

done by the time that you make contact

with the ball out in front of the body

and then the follow through is just

going to be a product of momentum and

what you'll also see is that back leg

coming through that's going to be really

important as well so we're driving

through that back or outside leg we've

got the

contact racket comes through and then

the hip pivots round afterwards then if

we take a look at another one slightly

different position we've got the unit

turn now the way that the unit turn

looks is kind of unique to each person

for some reason I tend to hold the end

of my racket as I do my turn haven't got

a clue why uh maybe because my right

shoulder isn't moving properly anymore

so I can't properly bring it across my

body but that sort of thing is going to

be less important as is the exact

position of your racket so this is the

position that I take my racket into when

you watch top players you'll see a lot

of different variation the key pieces

are going to be the chest rotating and

loading the outside leg but then the

tricky bit is all about this bit it's

timing driving through your hip in

relation to where the ball is if you

start that too late which is what a lot

of players do that's the kind of the big

sticking point for most people you end

up being late on the shots which creates

a lot of the difficulty but driving

through that hip at the right time

relative to where the ball is and then

the sequencing of the kinetic chain so

hip torso Arm coming through in that

order but it's easier said than done

this is the difficult bit that you have

to play around with and if you get all

that right and and you can get a nice

early contact that's how you're able to

generate efficient rack head speed and

how you're able to hit with power and

control one of the keys to hitting high

quality short forehands is going to be

your footwork so to help you with that

side of things I've created a free

footwork program I'll place a link to

the free program up there and I'll place

a link to the free program down in the

description so that you can get hold of

it and start working on

it okay so let's take a look from a

slightly different angle and one thing I

want to point out here is the width of

the split step having a nice wide stable

base is really important for efficient

movement when you watch top players play

they all have wide split steps so it's

something I continue to try and work on

and if you stand with a narrow base it's

something I highly recommend that you

work on as well because setting up in

the right position is one of the most

important parts of the shot but then you

can see from there we've got the unit

term with the upper

body where I'm rotating I'm loading into

this outside leg and then from there the

key piece is going to be driving through

the back of the hip at the right time

followed by the Torso doing those things

to create the racket lag now I want to

point out a couple of things here the

first one is this if you look at the

position that I'm in here look at this

angle between my arm and my chest if you

watch top players play it'll look

slightly different um the chest will be

like that and the arm will be slightly

further back so they have a little bit

more stretch in their chest I'm not

timing this as efficiently as I would

like to so this is what I'm continuing

to work on uh because of the way I'm not

timing it quite as well I'm losing out a

little bit of power so that's something

that I'm going to continue to work on

and the other thing is I'm probably over

rotating a little bit so if you look at

the angle of my chest there the Baseline

is there I should probably be a little

bit more Square on here so this suggests

that the timing the sequencing of my

kinetic chain is a little bit off so I

want to continue to work on that as well

to try and create additional rack Ahad

speed but this is what it looks like

from this angle uh all the same things

apply so this one I got a good upper

body rotation and then it's all about

timing the hip Drive sequencing the

kinetic chain now that we've talked

about the technique I want to talk about

something else that's going to be really

important and that's your spacing and

setting up in the right position the two

hardest things in tennis one are the

timing that we just talked about when

you drive through that back hip and the

sequencing of the kinetic chain but then

before that we have to set up in the

right position most people set up too

close to the ball and because they set

up too close to the ball they're not

able to use the Inside Out swing path so

here you can see how far I am away so

this is a short ball and on a short ball

we set up a little bit closer but you

can see how far I am away from that ball

in order to get the Inside Out swing

path so unless you have the the correct

spacing so if I take that out the way

unless you have the correct spacing so

at this distance here as I'm driving

through the hip I've created the racket

lag I can now Swing Out to the Ball

which is how you create the

speed if you set up too close it doesn't

allow that to happen so the hard part or

the first hard thing in tennis is really

focusing on the spacing the footwork and

setting up in the right position so

that's why that footwork program and

working on that side of things is so

important now if I just talk a little

bit about the practice what you'll see

is I've got my ball machine set up to

help me develop these skills it's not

just giving me one short ball it's

giving me random feeds widthways so I

don't know exactly where it's going to

go sometimes ever having to move out

wide like I just did sometimes it's

going more centrally so I'm stepping in

and hitting kind of more of an inside

out forehand but then it's also

alternating randomly between short and

deep so here I've got a deep ball and

what this is helping me to doing by

practicing in this way it's helping me

to kind of improve my ball recognition

and my footwork so I have to recognize

whether the ball's going short recognize

whether the ball's going deep and then

get the appropriate spacing for it

because again on these deep balls it's

even more important that you're further

away so on the short balls you're a

little bit closer on the Deep balls

you're a little bit further away but

this is the stuff not setting up in

these optimal positions that tends to

hold players back back so this is stuff

that I've really had to focus on

transitioning from playing a

right-handed one-handed back end where

you're fairly close to the ball to now

playing a left-handed forehand that is a

massive difference in how far you set up

away from the ball so I had to spend a

considerable amount of time working on

fixing my spacing before I could focus

on the minute details of the technique

so the stuff that I was talking about a

moment ago with the timing driving

through the hip and trying to sequence

my kinetic chain and get the optimal

timing for your Strokes you have to kind

of think about things in order it's not

about what I need to work on it's not

about what anyone else needs to work on

you got to figure out where your stroke

is growing wrong and you need to

practice and fix that underlying problem

until it's done and then move on to the

next thing and that's the only way to

really make you know steady improvements

over time where it goes wrong for so

many players is they try and work on too

many things all at once or things that

are too advanced at the start and then

they end up spinning their wheel so it's

really important that you kind of think

through that in terms of developing your

Strokes so now you understand the

technique and you understand the

importance of spacing so that you can

use efficient biomechanics the last

thing I want to talk about is the ball

recognition because that's the first and

potentially the most important part

Because unless you recognize the ball

early enough you can't set up in the

right position and you can't have good

timing so part of training your ball

recognition is the stuff that you do out

on Court and I've just showed you the

setup of how I practice it but in

addition to that something that I highly

recommend for players is training and

improving how your visual system

functions the reality is most players

visual systems don't work well enough to

allow them to read the ball accurately

enough to do all the things they're

trying to do on coure it's one of the

big things that holds them back the good

news is that we can actually train and

improve our visual systems and it makes

a massive difference when we combine

that with good oncore practice so to

teach you more about that I've created a

full web class that's going to teach you

how to train your vision and teach you

some of the other brain-based training

techniques that I've used to help get

this get to this point with my left hand

so it's going to lay out the whole

process for you if you're interested in

learning that I'll place a link to the

class up there and I'll place a link to

the class down in the description as

well okay hopefully this video has been

helpful to you if you have any questions

about the stuff that I've covered I

would love you to leave a comment down

below if not I will catch you next time