STOP trying to follow through! (tennis technique)

That old man is quite good

The opposite hand is important here. A tip and technique regarding loading and unloading ... After you load your core, lead with the opposite hand. The opposite free hand, in general, tracks the ball but when you're ready to unload you simply bring the opposite hand up above the opposite shoulder close to the head ...you'll find that you must unload to complete this move because you can't pull the left hand up to left side (if right handed) above the shoulder and close to your head without first unloading. Try it and you will see first hand. Leading with the opposite hand also helps maintain good balance. Thanks for sharing

This is outstanding stuff!! Love this guy!

whoever that young( i really mean it) man at 1.19 , i am soo soo proud of you for your passion. pls accept my respects🙏🙏🙏

you helped millions of players get better? how did you determine that?

Very informative! Thanks Ian!

Great video, thanks a lot!

Video is great but too much is overkill - I like students to feel what they are doing, and not become robots and look so perfect and the ball is out and in the net during matches - nothing worse than having pretty strokes and it folds like a chair in matches. I think in the USA, the kids get so caught up in the look of the stroke, instead of working to hit the stroke 100 times in a row in practice, to find the racket speed u need to be consistent and powerful no matter what under real pressure. I say it all the time, no coach in the USA would have allowed Medvedev to have such a " big swing" because they don't understand the effectiveness is more important than the look of the stroke. All pro strokes are generated from a players frustration to put the ball in the court now! These guys and women refuse to miss intentionally and have a beast mentality to win and they practice like this. IGA the lioness is living proof!

Ian, I have been following your channel for many years. I think I purchased a few courses years ago. I have always had a problem with a ball to my backhand that I want to hit straight up the line. I know part of the problem is that I keep a closed stance, but even with an open stance, I hit my backhand cross-court. Any ideas? And good luck.

I agree. Most of the players I play with hit with their arm. Some have tennis elbow but don’t understand why.

Good advice. To improve contact point also would recommend keeping eye contact with the ball until as late as possible (ideally till it hits the racquet) - check out slow motion videos of the big folks on the tour. They are not just looking at the ball, but actually turning their head following the ball.

Wow I just tried a few ghost swings do what you explained and it clicked. Can’t wait to try it the next time I play.

Great advice

The points about relaxed swing is correct but this has very little to do with bigger muscles. The federer clip shows how little leg and hip is involved in producing power. Its about being lose and turning. Try the motion with a weight at the end of a piece of string. The motion needs fluidity not force. The title of the video is wholly misleading. Absolutely hit in front and allow the extension through by being relaxed in the swing. The full motion of the swing semi circle is what positions the hitting point out in front. If we dont aim out in front then the swing is interrupted and the arm comes into play and shortens the swing. Passive arm out and focus on the hitting point ala federer. Swing through it not to it.

Damn you really opened my eyes here. I think I was doing it unconsciously a bit but there is more to it if you really think about using your hips more it helps a lot.

Hi. What app or program do you utilize for your side-by-side video analysis? Thx

In this video I can say that Tennis is an art not just a sport,,, like dancing ,, music ,, made me loving Tennis more

You need to get sponsored by a video recoding/analytics/feedback app (Like Diadem).

Thanks!

I couldn't watch your video because there was a 2 and a half minute add!!

Atlast some insight in where work is needed !

I instantly felt like I was doing something wrong when you show the example of uncoiling and stretch first.
Just by doing a couple of shadow swings it feels much more effortless and I like the fact the shoulder can't be too far behind anymore.
Thank you very much

Hey Ian 🙋‍♂️!! I‘don‘t agree completely with you here. A player can lead with his body and still have a poor follow through?! So i don’t think, that this is always bad advice!!
Greetings from Germany!!

finally someone addressing the rookie issues I wasn't able to ask properly ouo

The most important thing in tennis shot=timing🤔🤔🤔!!
The Nr.1 thing amateurs learn the worst of all=timing😂😂😂😂😂😂

100% about coaches not using video. Our club has a great pro. In fact, he coached D2 tennis for 15yrs prior to coming to our club. His lessons are $120/hr., yet he doesn't use video. To me, this seems like a waste of money and time. As in, how will you ever know what your swing looks like as a baseline (before) and post lesson (after). Coaches, wake up!! If you don't have a camera/tripod, at the very least, use the student's phone to film their lessons.

So true

The guy in your vid would be be better to keep his left hand on the racquet longer in the turn. His wrist is loose & the racquet's 'flopping' about.

The concept you describe is the same as golf. A golfer should initiate the downswing with a turn of the hips, not the arms pulling down. The hips (large muscles) initiate the rotation, and the arms fall into the slot, a lag of the wrists is crested, and the wrists coming through out of the lag create the extra pop at impact. From there, the follow through is the result of the inertia created and continuing as you hit through the ball, not at the ball. This timing is difficult to teach to beginners, but your breakdown of three steps shows how it can be taught. Thank you for that.

Video is so important and you are so clear in your teachings. Thankyou

Really clear patient training ! Thanks!

I find that when I rotate my body to initiate the swing, my accuracy suffers. For example, I tend to pull the ball off the court in the direction of the rotation.

This is such a helpful video! I just started playing and struggle to follow through. I've noticed that sometimes when I'm not making myself do it and just playing with no pressure, I find myself following through naturally and correctly. I must be leading with my body those times. I'm going to use these techniques next time I play. Thank you for breaking it down so simply!!

Video in instruction. Yes. When I first got certified I immediately used my iPad with UBERSENSE app to analyze my players games. It was the best!
Then, the corporate hacks at Hudl bought out UBERSENSE and poof, no more access to UBERSENSE. I hate Hudl for that. I refuse to buy a membership to it.

Good tips!

Nice video. Would love to know your thoughts on the constraints led approach to teaching.

Thank you excellent vedio

yep great reminder to power with the body and steer with the arm. keeping arm loose also is key to getting racket head speed into the ball.

Hi Ian,

I agree with what you have said, I wanted to add something to it. Another cause of not being able to lead with your body is if you are too close to the ball for your contact point (based on your forehand grip). If one judges the ball with their hand instead of their strings at the contact point, they are too close to the ball. This prevents them from being able to turn forward and lead with their larger muscles.

I donot think the body moves first, followed by the arms. The body cannot follow-through. Its only the arms that follow through. The body is just the foundation to have a strong hit with the arm. Its like a boxer - the body is the foundation, throw the arms with the support of the biggest part of the body.

Loved your video

The grip and the intent of the shot determines how far out front to make contact.

Instead of saying 'forwards', I suggest you say 'around' as the correct technique is rotational, not linear. The kinetic chain is sequential rotational body part movements, driven from the ground up to the shoulders and then out to the racket head. Using the word 'forward' suggests linear motion, which, if attempted, only hampers the rotation. It is a myth that you can direct the ball towards the target by moving your body linearly towards your target - you don't see the pros trying to do this.

Ian, it is about the coaches. People lack the unit turn because they are self taught or they have a coach they simply don't listen.

Coach Ian I agree with everything you said, I started playing tennis again after an 25 year hiatus, due to injuries that made me disabled. I have been back at tennis for about 3 months and I record all my practices, and use your videos, and boy Coach Nicks videos to improve my game and performance. When I played tournaments and leagues in the 80s, and 90s video was a rare tool in teaching. Agassi’s coach N was using video back in the 80s, and his coaching produced at least 4 world champions Agassi, Samprass, Selles, Courier. The video coaching helped those world champs see their mistakes in live time and fix the problem instantly. Great job on the video my friend.

This is absolutely genius Ian, your videos along with total tennis dominations Kevin Garlington videos have drastically changed my game and have massively increased my knowledge of the sport. Thank you both so much for creating this wonderful content for us to see. God bless you both

videos are a good the best witness of a tennis player placement , movement and technic . The more you see yourself the more you tend to adjust all weaknesses. Your analysis of the ground strokes is 100% preparation is absolutely true and to the point. Nice presentation!

Great tips!!

Simply the best

I’m 54, athletic and started playing tennis 2 years ago and when I started I struggled just trying to keep the ball in play during rallies with my brother and during doubles matches I’d just botch up everything etc.
Now for the last six weeks Ive been fixing my forehand using video via my lobster and hitting 300-500 balls 4-5 times a week. I’ll video every other session and quickly see that there’s “another thing to fix”. I’m getting there tho and have seen Major improvement thanks to videos such as these.

Video yourself and grow!!!

I also just ordered the book.

Thx Ian!!!