Rec and Sports

How to Play Tennis – Forehand

The forehand is the easiest shot to learn in tennis for beginners, however, many beginners tend to have wrong form when hitting. Using the wrong form can lead to a very fast plateau in a beginners game.

Using the proper grip is the first step is hitting a forehand. What type of player are you? Do you prefer to put a lot of top spin on the ball? Do you like coming to the net and volleying? There are three mainly used grips in tennis; the eastern, half-western and western. Each grip has its advantages and disadvantages but I prefer to use the eastern. The eastern grip is popular because it’s easy to switch from a forehand grip to a backhand grip as well as a volley grip.

Position yourself so that your legs are a shoulder length apart. You can choose to have an open stance or closed stance, however, choosing either or does not matter as both are okay for hitting forehands. The open stance is where your shoulders are parallel to the court and your legs are a shoulder length apart. Closed stance is where your shoulders are perpendicular to the court and your feet are pointing sideways and away from net.

Your shoulders should be turned right after you know the ball is coming towards the forehand side. Your body position should be about an arms length away from the ball and your legs should be slightly bent. Now you’re ready to hit the ball.

At this point, your feet should be shoulder length apart, your shoulders should be squared to the tennis ball (facing perpendicular to the net) and your racket should be cocked back. When making contact with the ball swing at and up at the ball around waist level. Swing up and through the ball, your racket should be across your body above your opposite shoulder when following through correctly. Swinging up and across creates top-spin on the ball. These are the basic steps for hitting a correct forehand and the first steps for learning how to play tennis.