The Forehand Drive in Tennis

The forehand drive is the opening of every offensive play in tennis and should be most carefully studied. There are certain rules of footwork that apply to all shots. To reach a ball that is a short distance away, advance the foot that is away from the shot and thus swing into position to hit the ball. If a ball is too close to the body, retreat the foot closest to the shot and drop the weight back on it, thus, again, being in position for the stroke. When hurried, and it is not possible to change the foot position, throw the weight on the foot closest to the ball.

The receiver should always await the service facing the net, but once the serve is on the way to the tennis court, the receiver should at once attain the position to receive it with the body at right angles to the net.

The forehand drive in tennis is made up of one continuous swing of the racquet that, for the purpose of analysis, may be divided into three parts:

1. The portion of the swing behind the body, which determines the speed of the stroke.

2. That portion immediately in front of the body which determines the direction and the pace of the shot.

3. The portion beyond the body, comparable to the golfer's "follow through," determines spin, top or slice, imparted to the ball.

All drives should be topped. The slice shot is a totally different stroke.

To drive straight down the side-line, construct in theory a parallelogram with two sides made up of the side-line and your shoulders, and the two ends, the lines of your feet, which should, if extended, form the right angles with the side-lines. Meet the tennis ball at a point about 4 to 4 1/2 feet from the body immediately in front of the belt buckle, and shift the weight from the back to the front foot at the moment of striking the tennis ball. The swing of the tennis racquet should be flat and straight through. The racquet head should be on a line with the hand or, if anything, slightly in advance. The whole arm and the racquet should turn slightly over the ball as it leaves the racquet face and the stroke continues to the limit of the swing, thus imparting top spin to the ball.

About The Author

Edward Pena is a tennis fanatic that loves to play tennis as often as he can. He runs an informational website to help tennis players improve their game. His sites offer free articles on tennis and other tennis products. To take advantage of all this cool stuff and more, be sure to check out Ed’s site at Tennis Guide