The forehand

B A C K T O B A S I C S

T H EF O R E H A N D

B Y R H O N D A C O S T A

W W W . C O S T A - D E L - T E N N I S . C O M

http://www.costa-del-tennis.com/

I'm going to cover some of the basics for beginnerintermediate players

and by basics I mean gold!

The Forehand is a really popular stroke and something you want to hit

well!

It’s typically cracking our 1st forehand that sends us over the moon about

tennis and all we want to do is figure out how to crack the next one.

You want to feel confident, balanced and in control. And further down the

line you’ll want to have it as a weapon.



Grip

Stance

Shoulder rotation

Contact out in front

Extension

Finish

Let´s get moving!

I'll cover:



1# THE GRIP

The Grip we’ll cover is Eastern, where we literally shake hands with the racquet

and the racquet face is flat on contact.

This continues to be a great grip for beginner & intermediate players as it’s the

cleanest way to make contact with the ball. You can move your hand over from

there when you’re ready to start applying spin.



Today’s debate? Open stance vs neutral stance. Modern tennis primarily teaches

open stance.

Hitting in neutral stance is a more traditional stance – that still applies!!

Neutral Stance Open Stance

2# THE STANCE

I prefer to teach neutral stance

to beginners as it helps them to

keep their balance, turn their

shoulders & understand weight

transfer moving forwards

through a shot.



In ready position your

shoulders begin parallel to

the net, as the ball

approaches you have to turn

your shoulders

perpendicular to the net

while taking the racquet

back low. As you finish the

stroke your shoulders & hips

turn again to face the net.

Don’t forget to take the

racquet head back low, while

rotating the shoulders.

A full shoulder rotation is what gets

the hips turned giving you a good

source of control and power.

3# SHOULDER TURN



Super important! And something I

see very little from players. Here’s

what it looks like in simple

terms. The nondominant hand (left

for right handed players) set in front

of your body helps track, balance &

facilitate the shoulder rotation.

Yet again, basic yet gold! We see junior & professional players use it

without fail but getting adults to add this is a little bit trickier and takes some

convincing!

4# HITTING THE BALL OUT IN FRONT



When I was a kid my coach used to

have me point at the ball out in front

and when it was close enough to catch

it, is when I had to hit it. This helped

develop the correct habit of hitting

the ball out in front of the body.


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Hitting the ball out in front allows for a nice full extension through the

ball. With long extensions you’re able to hit deep balls.

In tennis, you

always want

deep balls in the

court – not short

ones

Out in front Extension

5# THE EXTENTION



6# FINISH



Lastly, keep it simple. Finish above the

opposite shoulder At the end of that shot

you should be able to kiss your bicep.

Now you’ve got hopefully clean contact

with a ball out in front a beautiful long

extension and a deep ball in your

opponent's side of the court. What more

could you ask for?

As you progress you’ll move into more funky grips, topspin, windshield

wiper finishes, open stance and maybe even kick serves. But for now, keep

the game simple and learn the forehand technique well.



Tennis is already one of the

most athletically challenging

sports out there. It’s also called

a lifetime sport – for a reason.



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Rhonda Costa is the Tennis Director at

Costa del Tennis, a tennis company

based in the Canary Islands. Rhonda

lives in Spain, where she and the other

half of Costa del Tennis, Janaina,

continue to receive players from all

over the world, who return time and

again forging new friendships.



Sports

The forehand