My Forehand — Personal Analysis¶
Two video sessions, both from an outdoor hard court in Surrey, BC — one a 1:47 rally in a purple shirt, one a separate session in a different shirt. Fifty-two years old, playing for durability and knee protection over pace. This page is a self-audit against the pro models covered elsewhere in this section, most directly Andrey Rublev and Miomir Kecmanovic.
What's Already Working¶
Footwork is even and consistent, the rally rhythm holds up, the shoulders don't lock up with tension, and the stance naturally falls into a semi-open position without having to think about it. Eyes track the ball well, and the overall rally tempo and mental state are solid — probably 70% of recreational tennis, right there.
Four Things to Fix¶
1. Backswing never reaches the 5:30 position. Right now the elbow stays tucked against the ribs and the racket head points straight up rather than tilting back. Compared to the pro checkpoint — racket head at roughly 5:30 on a clock face, arm in line with the hip — this backswing is being "pulled" by the forearm instead of set by a shoulder turn. The consequence: there's no lag to speak of, which means the wrist has to manufacture racket speed at the very last instant instead of letting the chain build it. The fix: before rotating, push the elbow back about a hand's width, then extend. The cue: imagine your elbow tapping someone standing directly behind you.
2. Contact point sits too close to the body, under 45°. The ball is currently met while the elbow is still bent past 90°, with the hand only about 30 cm from the torso — an angle of roughly 25–30° off the body rather than the target 45°. This forces a wrist "reach" to get the ball over the net, and the ball tends to fly high with little spin. The fix: drill the count "wait, wait, hit." Let the ball travel one extra step deeper and meet it in front of the lead foot. Get the timing right and the arm naturally extends out to close to 45° on its own.
3. Weight transfer occasionally drifts backward. The semi-open stance itself is solid, but on a couple of slower balls in the footage (around 0:22 and 1:04) the back foot plants and stays instead of dragging forward — weight stays centered rather than committing forward. This is the same "backing up" pattern flagged elsewhere in the video. The fix: after every forehand, check whether the back foot's toe slides forward 10–15 cm. Practicing with a towel under the back foot, with the goal of dragging the towel, makes this concrete.
4. The wrist occasionally tenses in preparation. During the setup phase the wrist sometimes flexes inward instead of staying neutral/extended. Going into the ball, the face is already closed and has to be re-opened — wasted effort. The fix: keep the wrist in a light extension throughout the backswing — "palm facing the ground" is the cue — right up until just before contact. A three-finger grip drill helps reinforce this. See Wrist Lag and Release for why an early-closed face and a tense wrist go hand in hand.
Checkpoint Comparison vs. Pro Model¶
| Checkpoint | Pro model | Current form |
|---|---|---|
| Racket in takeback | Head up, wrist neutral | Head drops below the hand early |
| Off-hand | Stays on the racket, guides the turn | Releases immediately |
| Hip-shoulder separation | Hips lead, shoulders lag ~30° | Hips and shoulders turn as one block |
| Slot position | Butt cap toward the ball, visible lag | No lag, racket already opening |
| Contact point | Well in front, weight moving into the court | Close to the body, weight rising |
| Finish | Long extension, chest turns to the side fence | Short wrap, chest stays more open |
Three Things to Do Right Now¶
1. Shadow the 5:30 position in a mirror, 10 reps a day — just the elbow-back-then-extend motion, no ball involved.
2. Rally at half speed, counting "1, 2." One is the turn, two is waiting for the ball to arrive before swinging. The 45° contact angle should follow automatically once the timing is right.
3. Film from the side, hip height — not from behind — next session. A side angle will show the elbow angle and the lag distance clearly, which a behind-the-back angle can't.
Notes From the Second Video (Different Shirt, Same Court)¶
The overall picture repeats: even rally tempo, efficient movement, the ball stays in play well. What's missing is the order in which power gets generated — right now the arm leads, and the legs and hips follow rather than lead.
1. Late preparation, no unit turn. At two points in the footage (around 11.5s and 39.5s), the body is still nearly facing the net when the ball arrives on the forehand side — the racket goes back on arm motion alone, without a shoulder turn. Compared to Rublev or Alcaraz, who turn hips and shoulders before the ball even bounces, this means reaching for the ball beside or behind the body, and the result lacks pace and tends to float.
2. The chain breaks at the hip. At roughly 23.5s and 62s, the feet are nearly stationary — no small adjustment steps, no push from the outside foot. Force travels straight from shoulder to arm, skipping the first three links of the Kinetic Chain: ground, legs, hips.
3. Contact and follow-through cut short. Contact happens fairly close to the body, and the racket stops early instead of driving through the ball the way Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic do. At around 70.5s the hand stops mid-chest rather than finishing over the shoulder — the ball comes out flat and shallow, and easy for an opponent to attack.
Compared to the pro models: not yet like Rublev — no off-hand spacer, no locked trunk. Not yet like Alcaraz — the elbow doesn't rise, the wrist doesn't relax into a pre-stretch. Closest, honestly, to an early-career recreational version of Federer: arm-dominant, legs underused.
Three fixes that don't require extra fitness work:
- Turn the shoulder before the ball bounces. The instant a ball is heading to the forehand side, turn the hitting-side shoulder back, keeping the off-hand on the throat of the racket until the shoulder has passed the hip. Count "1-turn, 2-push," and slow it down the way it appears around the 105-second mark of the footage.
- Add small adjustment steps. A light double-bounce on the balls of the feet before every shot — standing flat-footed right now means any slightly off ball has to be reached for. Djokovic does this continuously; see Novak Djokovic — Forehand Model.
- Drive through, don't block. Focus on moving the racket low-to-high and finishing over the left shoulder. Hold the eyes on the contact point half a second longer, the way Rublev does — and resist pulling the racket back early.