Tennis Technique
This page has been designated to cover the appropriate technique to be used during a game of tennis. I will only be covering the basics so for those of you who have the base covered, check out the tips and tricks page instead to learn how to improve your game.
NOTE: the videos on this page may take long to load - please be patient.
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SMASH:
A good smash could be what makes or breaks your tennis game. It is, without a doubt, one of the most difficult tennis shots to master yet it promisses to be one of your most poverful shots in the game itself and can land you many points. The main idea behind the smash is to postion yourself a few steps behind the ball as it reaches arm-lenght height over your head; all that follows is hitting the ball with a straight hit, angled slightly to the ground to give it a steep dive effect. You can experiment with the angle at which you hit the ball to find out what works best for you, that way you can determine how to position yourself in a real game to put in the perfect smash each time. Generally, if you are closer to the net, you can place a cleaner and more accurate smash as you have much more angle to work with.
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FOREHAND:
The forehand shot is the most used hit in the game of tennis for the simple reason that it is a safe bet: it's good combination of strengh and accuracy and also that the ball will often find itself in your prominent hand's zone below waist height. The general idea behind this shot is letting the ball bounce off the court, to about the height of your mid-rif, and meet it with a nice hard shot with a straight trajectory to send it barely a few inches over the net and make it land low into your opponent's court with a low bounce. You may also add some topspin onto the ball to increase the speed of the ball upon bounce and lower it's bounce height - this will leave your opponent baffled as he can never seem to be able to predict the course of your ball.
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BACKHAND:
This is yet another relatively hard technique to master. The backhand shot, as it implies, is hitting the ball from the left side (if you are right handed) with the backside of the racket. I strongly recommend that beginners start by using a two hand grip on the racket for better control as a backhand shot can easily go astray. The technique behind it is not very difficult; if you observe the video to the right, you will notice that the man is also adding some spin to his shot - I recommend you stick with a straight shot at first then add spin as you get more experienced.
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DROP SHOT:
The drop shot can be a very effective way of scoring points against a slower opponent and is not that hard to learn either. The ideal dropshop consists of lightly "craddling" the ball with your racket while you add on some back spin to it; if done correctly, the ball should, upon contact with the court, slightly bounce without moving further down the court (i.e: its stays where it landed and hardly bounces -> the other player does not have much time to react and return the shot to you). See the video to see how a drop shot approach should look like. Usually, when you use a dropshot, it is best to make it land closest to the net as possible in the opponents court; it's even better if you can manage to place it right in the front corners of the court. Lastly, if your opponent can manage to return your drop shot, he will most likely have to lob it up, opening up his whole court to you for a smash.
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LOB:
It is highly recommended to not use the lob shot unless you desperatly need to as it is your only choice or your opponent is always near the net which opens up the whole rear half of his court - this will effectively put the ball over his head. There's not really any special technique behind this shot; you basically only wind back and it the ball upwards with your racket tilted from 30 to 45 degree angle - be careful not to hit too hard as you might lose your ball.
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SERVING:
The serve is the single most crucial shot of the game of tennis and therefore needs to be brought up to scratch if you expect to win some games. During serve, as the video shows, the player must stand behind the service line (the one at the back of the court) and has to make it land into the opponents court's opposite serve box (see the rules if I am not being clear). Once the player is in position, he must gently throw the ball slightly infront of where he is standing; once the ball starts descending (thanks to gravity), the player must hit it when it reaches a suitable height all while aiming for his opponents court. The stance during the serve should consist of your uper body and your head should face towards the side you are serving (i.e. left or right); your dominant foot (left foot if you are right-handed and vice versa) should be facing straight towards the general area you want the ball to land in and your other foot should be pointing the same way as your upper body is (towards the side of the court). When moving in for the shot, your should extend the racket hand all the way back with your palm facing the ground; as you start rasing your arm to hit the ball, lift your elbow so your racket is facing the direction of where you want to serve; when moving in for the final strike, whip your arm forward using your torso rotation for extra strenght and hit the ball at a downwards angle towards the opponents court. It is easier said then down. I recommend looking closely at this serve as it demonstrates well the base technique of the serve.
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These videos belong to About.com's tennis section and I am in no way taking credit for these movies. Copyrights for these videos belong to Jeff Cooper and other participating staff at tennis.about.com.
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