Видео

Outstanding video! The catapult action reminds me of a boxer delivering an upper cut punch. The swing begins in the lower body and the energy is transferred from the hips into a torso rotation which propels the arm and racket. I do make my tennis playing friends play catch with a heavy medicine ball. I have noticed that the stronger players throw the medicine ball in a more powerful and efficient manner. By stronger players I simply mean more skillful players.

Kim, another great video from you. I really like how you use the skeleton view to illustrate the catapult power process on tennis forehand.

Dear Kim, thank you again for a very precise explanation. All good students of the game must own those sequence of moves, and then apply them, as you said, firstly in deliberate practice, and then in a More challenged way, but still controlled, and finally in a real live match scenario. My own journey following your tuition is now doing well, as they say it’s a “ process”, and eventually; by introducing more variables, and yet staying faithful to the fundamentals, we can hopefully become more “ skilful “ players!! No wonder , even the best players in the world keep practicing those moves, and as we saw in past week, even the best sometimes crack under pressure, so us humble recreational players must not be too hard on ourselves, keep practicing, keep playing, keep hitting, and once in awhile. , that “ Zone feeling”, will happen, and then disappear; and that’s why we love tennis, a game for life, and a good metaphor for life!! Wishing you all a pleasant journey!! Cheers from London, Charlie

And what about the Two-handed Backhand?

For the Djokovic forehand demonstration, is there a biomechanical advantage to drop the racket to the side so that the racket tip is roughly pointing to right side fence if on a tennis court or should you aim to drop the arm so that the racket tip points more along the right corner where side and backfence meet or it makes no difference is simply a personal preference?

I like the "swing killers" idea and have tried it. It helps to swing better. Also, It helps to get a direction to study further and now I know why. From the pictures FLEXOR MUSCLE GROUP OF THE LOWER ARM in this webpage doctorlib.info/anatomy/classic-human-anatomy-motion/7.html it is clear that the thumb is controlled by different muscles than the other fingers and obstructs the swing. It is therefore not to be used in the swing. If we still try to use the thumb in the swing, especialy sharply vertical swing, the muscles will be strained too much that eventually we will have injury in those muscles/tendons/liagments called "tennis elbow".

What a terrific instructional video! It seems that this video has incredibly surpassed the outstanding videos that preceded it. Your explanation of phase 1 made me review video of my own forehand. I could clearly see that my racket was too far from my head in the initial take back, and that I must keep the racket closer to my head during the initial stages of the swing. Also, your brief explanation of the one handed backhand was I believe spot on. Thank you so much for these wonderful videos. You have greatly enhanced my never ending personal tennis journey.

Thank you for making and releasing another forehand technique video. I cannot wait to get home and watch the entire video. This video is about 1 hr and 20 min long. Your hard work and dedication are greatly appreciated. My forehand technique has improved tremendously since I started watching and applying your concept, instructions , and guiding. May I ask what software you are using to analyze , markup, play back frame by frame, and draw the lines, etc. I used to use coach'eye app, but it is no longer available and has been discontinued. Thanks again for video #12.

I love your lessons. They are very informative and fundamental. I did rewind, pause many times to catch your ideas and they enlightened my tennis knowledge. Thanks so much!

Hi, thank you for your in depth videos. Do you also plan to make an in-depth video about the two-handed backhand? As I am curious as to your view on it and whether the wave analogy also applies there. Take care

Puzzling you didnt provide some demonstratio of it with some actual drop hits

Another wonderful lesson! Your description of the continuous loop of energy is inspiring and educational. I believe this continuous loop of energy is an extremely useful concept on the backhand as well. You mentioned that everything flows from the spiral form, and that the body does all the work while the arm has a free ride. These words perfectly describe the technique of the world’s finest tennis players. I have to mention Tom Stow a famous old tennis teacher from Northern California who coached the great Don Budge. Tom use to say that if want to learn tennis properly, study golf they truly understand how to strike a ball correctly.

so you are saying to internally rotate your left hip/leg in the takeback ... and then externally rotate left hip/leg thru the swing/impact

Another great lesson, do you do online analysis of an individuals forehand?

I love the wave analogy and thanks again for all that you are doing to clear up misconceptions about Tennis. However, I have a couple questions that I’m confused about. 1) When you’re taking the racket back up and out to load the body you were saying to supinate/externally rotate the arm. However, wouldn’t you wait to supinate/externally rotate the arm until after you drop the racket down by your hip into the “pat the dog” position so you would have more of an ATP style forehand where the racket stays on the same side of your body and allows the muscles to prestretch to create more elastic energy. It appears if you supinate/externally rotate the arm to early in the backswing it will create more of a WTA type swing where the racket goes behind the back and does not create a pre-stretch as much in the arm and shoulder becuase the racquet face is more open, the wrist is laid back, and there isn’t the racquet flip into the slot which quickly eccentrically contracts the muscles to create more elastic energy. 2) You mentioned not to “load and explode”, but don’t you need to use close to max effort (ie. explode) at some point in the swing to get the maximum power possible? Or did you just just mean don’t do it too early in the swing and wait until you get to the racquet drop or “pat the dog” position? Thank you! You’re the man!🙂

Superb, thanks! I love the image of the wave, which is not always evident to the untrained eye, but then emerges suddenly near the shoreline, as the arm/hand movement in a forehand. Excellent!

Another great video! Thank you for your love for the game and teaching.

Isn’t the high part of the backswing you do showing coco’s forehand internal shoulder rotation. I always thought pronation of the hand like in the forehand backswing and windshield wiper, after serve contact goes with internal shoulder rotation.

but the flaw here is that the slot starts too late, and for faster swings will create turbulence in the swing for more demanding shots... but yes, this works fine for slow and easy to time, dropping balls

Amazing video!!!

Would love to see your analysis of the technique of Carlos Alcaraz. He embodies many of the principles you discuss, and he has a very clean, consistent pattern of movement and technique well worthy of your analysis. A modern semi western, straight arm forehand, that bears quite some resemblance to Federer and Djokovic, in my opinion. Here are two great videos captured from a high angle where you can clearly see the OUT-IN-OUT-IN among other things. ruclips.net/video/8GORT-n0XTg/видео.htmlsi=ZxqE19vY0mkeF5Uv ruclips.net/video/qwERIdv4Rt0/видео.htmlsi=wkeR1XqROrpb9bzz

Great Video Master Kim; now I can honestly say: “ I used to be the oldest Swinger in town, and now , I’m The oldest Slinger in town”, progress is being made!, 🎾😇

Hello, Another exceptional video, I use a six pound medicine ball and sling it around before I hit tennis balls. People do ask me how I can look so relaxed as I strike the ball. Now I can direct them to your videos. Do you think I might be better off putting the medicine ball in an old pillow case? Thank you again for these extraordinary videos.

Your videos are pretty good overall but most pros don't hit like Federer. There is not one woman pro on the WTA that hits like Federer. None of them have the racket face pointing at the ground on take back in the "patting the dog" position yet they hit well and with a decent amount of topspin. I can only think of a handful of ATP players that hit like Fed. I have read that Jimmy Connors hit 70 mph ground strokes on average. Federer hits around 75 mph on average. That is only a 5 mph difference versus a 40 mph as your physics would say. Connors had a very straight flat shot. McEnroe hit around 65 and Chris Evert around 55. Serena hits around 75 mph on average and she doesn''t hit like Federer. Agassi and Sampras frequently hit around 75 mph and they don't hit like Fed. On average I have read that men ATP pros hit around 70-75 mph and women WTA hit around 60-65. So Fed, Nadal, Novak aren't hitting much harder and they don't hit the hardest. Del Potro and Madison Keys hit harder. I read a statistical study of the Australian Open about 10 years ago and Fed hit on average 75 mph and Serena hit the same. The biggest hitter was Madison Keys and Jack Sock at 81 mph. Neither one hits like Fed. Also, Fed only hits this way when the ball is below his waist. All your photos are showing him hitting balls between his waist and knees. Fed's elbow is never as close to his body as you demonstrate. His elbow is very far from his body when he is hitting at chest height and it looks like he is hitting a flat shot when contacting it at chest height. I think it is total myth that instructors are perpetuating that top players only hit one way. They hit many ways depending on where they are contacting the ball and where and how they want to hit it.

Nobody anymore in our fast paced life wants to practice deliberately which you need to become a "real" tennis player. You can't "learn tennis fast" as the USTA couple of years promoted. For that reason "sports" like Pickleball become so popular......

Finally somebody who understands the game - Bravo! There are soooo many self-actors on RUclips but he is an exception, excellent video

can you do a video on the two handed backhand?

Thank you for another great video, I a really enjoying them and improving my game

Another great video, I practiced the chair exercise with the tilt of the torso. In a way it reminded me of the posture Jimmy Conners used when he was playing. Of course this is a more modern forehand than the one used by Conners. I have a friend who played on the tour back in the 1980’s, and he insists that he hits his forehand better now than he did when he was top 20 in the world. He is now hitting a more modern forehand even though he is in his 60’s. I believe Billie Jean King said pretty much the same thing.

Thank you for taking the time to make the videos and to sharing them on RUclips. You are such a OLD school in giving detailed instructions, step by step illustrations, demos, using baseball and golf swing techniques as analogies. Everything you said is scientific and physical science. I am sure you have put in a lot of efforts and time in each of these videos. Most of them is about 30+ min long. I really enjoyed and learned so much from your videos. I have subscribed and followed your channel, as well watched and re-watched all your videos. Again, thank you for sharing your depth knowledge and looking forward to seeing more videos in your channel.

First

Thank you fo sharing. This is amazing information

Have you come across David Wecks work particularly his rope flow method? He talks a lot about the short side and the long side of the body. I use rope flow a lot with my kids to get them to understand how the spine bends and the body creates the spin, not the forearm or the wrist.

Hello again and thanks for all that you are doing to clarify misconceptions in tennis. I had another question on the non hitting arm and possibly the role the head plays in helping with the kinetic chain. First, besides other body parts, does keeping the head still and looking at the contact point while making contact with the ball also help assist stopping the torso from rotating at the right time in order to pass the kinetic chain energy to the arm and contribute to the whip effect? Next, I sometimes see football quarterbacks (ie. Tom Brady on certain throws) and tennis players (ie. Nadal and others at times) not have their non hitting arm tuck on the side of the body like you have described in the video, but rather they stop the arm when it hasn’t gone that far (kind of near their heart on the chest). Tom Brady calls this arm position when he throws “biting the apple”. Anyway, wouldn’t that stop the rotation of your torso too early or does it depend on the type of shot you are hitting and the type of throws for quarterbacks?

Incredible lesson… I think everything came together for me… at least in deliberate practice shadow swings! The whole swing felt like a pull! I tried the same type spiral swing in a one handed backhand with the exception of the hands arms moving away from each other after the release…. It felt great also. I can’t wait to play on Tuesday and see

More and more I've come to believe the grip is almost irrelevant. Federer uses a modified Eastern. Rafa uses a semi-Western. Henri Leconte is sixty, uses a true Eastern and can still absolutely murder the ball. Three different grips and they all get world-class results. Yes, you're right, the trend over the last forty years has been toward semi-Westerns. But that grip is one small piece of the puzzle. There's as many bad semi-Western forehands in the world in 2024 as there were bad Eastern forehands in the 70's. It's really about how you deliver the racket face to the ball, the amount of energy you can transfer. Elite tennis strokes create deep compression at contact. The ball flattens against the strings. At the same time, they create astonishing ball rotation. That is only possible if your mechanics (wrist & arm structure) allow for massive racket acceleration and stability at the same time. That's the key. Use whatever grip allows you to accomplish that outcome. It's very difficult, in fact nearly impossible from a human standpoint, to maximize acceleration and stability. That's why there are so few pros and so many rec players. But if you understand what the challenge is, you have a chance to overcome it.

Hi, I am still struggling not to be too army and not being able to close my racket , very much a seventies type forehand and not being able to change, I am doing loads of practice swings and videos of myself to try and move forward, any suggestions please? Many thanks, Kevin

Another great video, the body driven swing is such an important fundamental. Young children generally do this quite naturally. Anyone who starts tennis after the age of 12 will probably have an arm driven swing because of the lightness of the racket. Federer, Rosewall, and Conners were swinging a full length racket as two year olds.

Hi Kim. I really appreciate your detailed and thorough videos. I’m loving them! I have a few questions about the role of the non hitting arm as you accelerate forward after the backswing. 1) Should you pull the non hitting arm fast across the front part of your body to assist in generating faster body rotation or is it just kind of a smooth sweeping across motion just clearing out of the way to “allow” the body to rotate? 2) You were saying to keep the non hitting arm close to the body as it comes across the front part of the body (I’m guessing kind of like an ice skater trying to keep the arms tucked close to the body in order to turn faster). But it appears that most (ie. Federer) have their non hitting arm away from the body as they are coming across with it (maybe about a foot or so)? This seems counterintuitive to me if they were trying to have the body rotation go faster. I might be making too big a deal of this, but I was curious about your thoughts. 3) I can’t remember exactly how you said it, but you had mentioned that you rotate the body through contact and then have your non hitting arm tuck and stop the rotation. Wouldn’t you want to tuck and stop the rotation earlier (either right before or right at the beginning of contact) in order for the racquet to whip through contact at the right time? Anyway, thank you for all that you do and I’m looking forward to you hear your thoughts! Keep up the great work.

Wow, I have watched thousands of tennis videos over the years. I usually like short ones that cover one concept in 3-6 minutes. But I must say I really enjoyed your video and I learned a lot of nuances on the forehand. I’m 70 and looking foreword to implementing your ideas. I always lay back my wrist on my forehand but I do not have my hand ahead of my racquet at contact. Looking forward to trying this out. Thank you!

Kim you have revolutionized my forehand and in the process relieved my wrist pain. Been working on this this week in my Doubles games. Played against a 15 year old kid 6' 1' with a power game, and was able to win some games by pulling out the GOAT Kinetic Supinated Forehand on their second serve, which they a. couldn't reach or b. too hot to handle. Thank you for raising my recreational game.

It's the moment of Truth

Another great video, out, in, out, in is a terrific way to keep both hands working together and to engage the entire body for a whip like action of the racket. It is difficult to believe, but at times when I throw the top edge of the racket at the ball my grip seems to gravitate from an Eastern to a semi-western.

Wow, I've watched (almost) all of your vids (going way back), and this one is one of your very best; and one of the best 30 minutes on the technique of the forehand that I've ever spent. Many, many thanks!

Dear Master Kim, You’ve given us the best explanation ever of what the “ inside / out” swing path is!! Many rec players confuse this with The inside out stroke, going cross court from the backhand side using the forehand . So practicing your: OUT-IN-OUT -IN is the perfect swing path!! It’s now time to get back to the practice court, Yours, as always: Grasshopper 🤡😇🎾

Grips sizes seem to have been reduced over the years. First, just curious about your actual grip size. Second, do you believe a smaller grip size promotes or enhances a faster swing? I'm old school and favor a larger grip. I just feel more stable at contact. I just hold it loosely to achieve the greater speed and whip-like action. Thanks very much.

Great video as always. Now I’m looking forward to see how to integrate everything we’ve seen so far with timing, footwork and the tactics of the game…

No doubt this one of the best lessons out there, thank you for posting. Since you have explained it so well I would request you to to create a lesson that starts with end state trace back the biomechanics to first step. That can provide another perspective on outcome of each stage and we start we that stage.

Kim, great video, as always - you mentioned the role of the index finger being not good - but using the semi-western grip, I feel the index finger actually helps to guide the upwards trajectory on the way to the contact point… what do you think?

Excellent video. I put it into practice immediately.