Lesson #17 with Eldon

5/18/09  Monday 10:00A.M.

Chico Racquet Club

 

In today’s lesson I wanted to work on my forehand and backhand drives and also short balls on both sides just inside the baseline.  Eldon went along with this after we talked a little about some of my last few matches.

 

Forehand drive

 

1.         Step into the ball with knees well flexed.  It is extremely important to take advantage of moving your body weight into your stroke.  This helps produce pace and a penetrating shot.

 

2.         Take the ball about a foot in front of your lead leg.  This is where you have the most racquet head speed and will generate more pace.

 

3.         Take the ball on the rise if at all possible.  Taking a descending ball is harder to control.  It is easy to hit a descending ball long.  More pace is derived from hitting an ascending ball. 

 

4.         Keep the elbow fairly close to the side as you start to move racquet head out toward contact point.

 

5.         Extend forearm as you go towards contact point.  (Your arm should almost be straight, but not locked.)  Extending the forearm can be done before the elbow is close to your side, but it must be done by the time of contact.

 

6.         Hit out away from your body with fully extended forearm.

 

7.         Balance your stance with your non-hitting arm stretched well out in front of your body like a ballet dancer.  It is important to keep this arm up through your shot.  Dropping your non-hitting arm can open up your torso too soon causing you to miss hit or miss where you want to hit your shot.

 

8.         Be sure to get well through the contact point before allowing your body to rise at the finish of the shot.

 

9.         Keep your head steady through your shot.  Avoid looking to see where your shot is going since this can cause you to lift your head and miss hit your shot.

 

Backhand drive

 

1.         Step into your shot, taking oncoming ball on the rise whenever possible.

 

2.         Stay down through your shot.

 

3.         Keep your head still throughout the shot.

 

4.         Point lead foot at a 45 degree angle when hitting down the line.  Avoid putting your lead foot down parallel to the baseline when moving to a ball in the corner.  It will be easier to keep the ball in the court if you get a 45 degree angle with your lead foot.  You also have better balance in making the shot.

 

5.         Don’t close the stance as much on crosscourt shots.

 

6.         Eldon says your down-the-line shot will probably always feel more natural.      

 

 

Taking short balls inside the baseline

 

1.         The principle here is to aim for the service line, not the baseline.  This will help you to keep the ball inside the court.  This is what we may forget once we move inside the baseline.  The court has become smaller and shorter in distance.  There is a tendency to see only the baseline on the opposite side of the court as we approach to hit a short ball and, consequently, we will often hit that ball long out of the court.

 

2.         You do not have to swing hard.  It is much better to go for placement.  Remember that you will have forward momentum working for you so you will naturally generate some pace on your shot.

 

3.         Shorten your backswing, but hit through your normal stroke.  You do not have to try to add a lot of topspin to your stroke!!

 

 

***Extra special lesson***

 

This lesson is a milestone for me.  I believe I finally understand what it is that Eldon wants me to do with my forehand drive.  At last I understand how the forearm should extend through the contact point to produce solid pace and penetration.  And the amazing thing is one does not have to hit hard to do this if one remains loose throughout the shot!.