Coach Simone | Forehand Topspin Groundstrokes

[@adamdonovan5633]

08:23 BINGO....the power source in this stroke-the acceleration- comes from the HIPS, NOT THE ARMS....thank you Tiger Woods!! Feels GREAT..And the left hand has a big role: tracking the path of the approaching ball. Also, "READY AT THE BOUNCE" means that you have finished your setup BY THE TIME THE BALL HITS THE GROUND ON YOUR SIDE. If you start your setup when the ball strikes the ground you're waaay late. Great clip.

[@JJreon51]

S/O to Bonita Springs, my hometown! and S/O to Simone, your content is great and the energy is fantastic, thank you for the instruction!

[@kristyragan9411]

Simone you do an excellent and very helpful breakdown of this topspin shot! I’ve been trying to get my muscle memory down. I was having trouble breaking the mechanics down so I could practice and repeat the shot. The video really gave me the steps to create a repeatable shot!

[@julieo3860]

Excellent! Answered my exact question. Increasing the power with which I hit the ball has been causing it to go out. I didn't know that the key was in how I am holding the paddle!! Thank you so much! Very concise explanation. Now to put this into practice!

[@wtang7]

Thank you very much for sharing the tips of the five step ground stroke. I find at step 4, my paddle tip is pointing at the target which gives me the direction of the ball.

[@mannyman502]

finally found a video that made the mechanics of the forehand drive make sense. it wasn't quite clicking before

[@JunesTarotJourney]

Great video! I was practicing in my house ( I have a long distance from my front door through an open hallway and down through the living room, where I have a ball machine); and it didn't take many tries to get the gist of it I'll keep practicing. Your very thorough lesson with each step shown and explained so well made it easy to follow. Thank you both so much! 💕😊💕

[@ThuyNguyen-fw8mq]

I have been following your pickleball videos (I subscribed your channel😊) As always, your instructions are excellent. The breakdown step by step is very helpful Thank you for sharing all these valuable instructions

[@RandomPerson-xg6uv]

Hey everyone, the forehand drive is for a third shot in this case. That gives me time to then go to my continental grip, which is what I use for everything else. The reason many players use a different grip is to generate more topspin. If you have a continental grip it’s still ok for a drive but it might be flatter. For me, I don’t get as much spin or control when I have a continental grip. I hope this helps!

[@mrbobevans]

I have never played pickleball so I am coming from a tennis background. In your post, you fail to mention the Eastern grip which is the shakehands grip and is usually the first grip taught to beginners. The continental grip is one bevel towards the knuckle if you start at the Eastern and the semi-western is one bevel away from the knuckle. Unless your name is John McEnroe, nobody uses a Continental forehand anymore. The Continental is the preferred grip for serving and volleying, however. It is also the the preferred grip for squash. The Eastern was/is the preferred grip for Steffi Graf, Pete Sampras, Ivan Lendl and Juan Martin Del Potro, Roger Federer uses what is called an Eastern Modified grip which is somewhere between Semi-western and Eastern. The vast majority of players on the tour use Semi-Western, which is better for low balls than Western and better for high balls than Eastern. Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic, use grips that are between Semi-Western and Western, but closer to Semi as they need to get the power from the semi. Bjorn Borg, Serena Willaims and Andy Murray use pure Semi-Western grips.The way I think that it easiest to get to Semi is to put you racket on the floor and then pick it up. Wah lah!, you are now in Semi-Western grip. My question is do pickleball players hold the racket in Eastern as the Eastern grip allows for a straighter, flatter shot than Semi-Western? Or is Continental preferred as it allows the player to avoid having to constantly change grips. Remember, McEnroe never had to change grips, he was always in Continental. As you can see, I am a semi-western guy (it is the grip I use), but several Eastern players (Sampras is my favorite) along with Federer and Edberg, and or course Continental McEnroe are the most fun to watch.

[@mrbobevans]

I love watching you play. I think if you were partnered with a good player, you can have some success in WTA doubles. How do you think the Bryan brothers would do in Pro Pickleball doubles? IMHO, I believe they would be tough to beat - Yates and Johns may be able to hang with them. They are retiring at the end of 2020. It would be great to see them play some pickleball doubles in 2021. Again, IMHO, especially in the men's game, we will see more power and less dinks in the future, especially as more and more players that retire from ATP tour gravitate to pickleball. As for Anna Leigh, she has a very tough decision in deciding to stay with pickleball or trying to make it on the WTA tour. If she goes to a top tennis academy, she could probably get to top 100 by the time she is 20. X factor is how tall will she get, most women on the tour are pretty tall - mom doesn't look too tall. There are shorter women who do very well; ie Kerber, Halep, and Ash Barty (took a year and a half off to play cricket). Being a tennis guy, I would love to see Anna Leigh out there on the WTA tout.

[@WorldChampInfinity]

@@mrbobevans Give pb a try. I believe continental is preferred in pb because of kitchen defense. When an opponent speeds up the play when you're at the net you are more likely going to have a backhand shot. It's a comfortable grip for a backhand. There's no time at the kitchen to switch grips.

[@ianmacdonald5278]

Great video. I think it is also good for return of serve, and especially the lob serve where you have to generate your own power back as there is very little residual from the serve.

[@QueenKattz]

LOVE Simone soooooo much !!!! GREAT teacher !!!!

[@tomchateau]

Fantastic video, great to see it all broken down so well. Just something I noticed though. At 3:05 Simone says that she makes contact in front of her right knee. Pretty sure she wanted to say in front of her left knee. I could be wrong, but if I follow the process, in front of the left knee makes sense. Keep the vids coming, really appreciated.

[@vitoberlingeri1879]

Well Done tip on the Forehand, much like a golf swing. Load and unload "transfer weight" and the finish is to follow through. Using the ground as power is key.

[@4youruable]

Simone, It looks like you hit the ball with a lot of topspin. What is the best brand of Pickleball paddle for Spin?

[@erbing]

Very well explained and helpful! I will try and hope it improves my swing...Thank You

[@brigittemercier9421]

Excellent. So excited about that video. Cannot wait to try it out. I wonder, do you change your grip afterwards.

[@rockerobertson4002]

I have a %100 tennis swing, and need to get this dam pickleball forehand working. Thanks Simone for this video. Every day, getting closer. Oh, and ditto for the backhand.

[@positivealessandra]

Hoooooo, Yes, Loved it... My new goal shot for 2020, HAY... Tks Simone, Phil, Maria and Chris

[@Ke875]

Great videos I love watching and learning from Your videos , thank you ,,

[@BadPickleball]

Very high quality stuff, thanks Simone and Eddie!

[@deeceeryan]

Simone - love this and will use it with my students. Question: are you suggesting always using a western grip, or do you have a tip for transitioning from continental grip in ready position to western when the opportunity arises? Thanks!

[@mahabkhatib9377]

Great video Simone, thanks!

[@ronkelly3545]

Great video as usual. Being an ex tennis player where you change grips for various shot, I was wondering if sometime you could address how or if this applies to pickleball. Including the two handed backhand. I'm fairly new to pickleball and have only seen the continental recommended.

[@sunsioux444]

simone mentions a semi-western grip here in this video but doesn’t explain it.

[@davidtedoni3647]

Great tip. If you watch your students you will see they really did not put much of a hip turn into the storke and mainly used their arm.

[@junesgirl22]

As an ex-tennis player, I noticed that too.

[@weinjohn]

Chad who is not in this video hits an awesome topspin drive. Catherine's drive is pretty good too. I saw this first hand at the courts this past weekend. I didn't realize that the peak performance camps were run by you and your husband. I dropped by to play pickleball and a woman loaned me a Prince racket signed by you. Small world.

[@robalston314]

Thank you Simone!!!

[@robertlimoges8560]

Two questions: 1.how to switch from CG to SWG consistently during play and 2. When to use this drive? Return of serve? Third shot? Caught at baseline?

[@badmiyagi]

Analytical minds think alike. I didn’t say ‘great minds’ since I teach it the same way. Lol! Very clear and concise to be result oriented and Simone explains each step by demonstrating what she says. Nicely done people!

[@194952ed]

Uma aula maravilhosa. Pena não ser legendada em português pra ajudar o Pickleball no Brasil.

[@keithpascucci8569]

I learn a lot watching this site but I have question I hope you can answer if I go outside the side line to hit a ball. Do I have reestablish my feet back on the court before I hit another ball

[@robertm5249]

I use the same semi western grip for every forehand - and I hit topspin on most of my shots that aren't dinks - even 3rd shot drops. Do you see a problem with this? it works well for me. I can slice from that grip also easily.

[@lorihennigh4260]

I like the new haircut. Thanks for all the videos. FYI I changed my paddle angle.

[@sunsioux444]

simone, you mentioned a semi-western grip here - can you please explain that in a comment or in an instruction video?

[@lennysheldon7685]

great channel!

[@thomasberger127]

Ready at the bounce: When you move from a closed stance to open, you move your right foot back. I notice when I change stances, I move my left foot forward. Does it matter?

[@jamescowling2824]

great video!

[@lisaloveless9878]

Can’t wait to try this out tomorrow. Thanks Simone!

[@jhors7777]

Thank you for posting this helpful video

[@candacebarker8567]

Could you show a close up shot of the semi western grip?

[@davidknapp4491]

Any preference for looping the stroke as opposed to pulling straight back in preparation for the ball strike?

[@meeplechat5046]

Since we start with a semi-continental grip, do you shift to a continental grip when you eventually need to go to your backhand?

[@johntresize2291]

Great breakdown of the topspin groundstroke. While it is recommended to step back with the right foot and turn before striking the ball, is it ok to step into the ball with the left foot thereby getting the ball on the rise and moving forward toward the net at the same time?

[@jimhickox5181]

John If you want to use a closed stance. With an open stance, which is the modern forehand in tennis, you gotta load with the right foot and push off of it.

[@jrptwo]

As a tennis player, I'll say that whether you step forward or back depends on where the ball is bouncing. It's easier to step forward, but if the ball is very deep, you may need to step back first with the right foot before stepping forward with the left.

[@williamstraehl9105]

Look closely, and you'll see at the point of contact, Simone's head is down, locked in on the ball hitting the paddle, ensuring she hit the sweet spot, more so than her students. It allows you to swing as hard as you want, while the topspin pulls the ball down at the end. Remember, it's a whiffle ball, and will slow down exponentially. This allows the spin to take over, and pull it down dramatically. Think of a bowling ball, where you get the big curve just before it reaches the pins.

[@soonlee9302]

I will try it! Thank you. Hope it’s work for me.

[@Nix27.]

Your videos are so helpful keep em coming 👍

[@ABSScott]

New to the sport… Thanks for the information!

[@johnmcclure4983]

Simone, I love your scientific, kinesiological breakdowns!

[@vitoberlingeri1879]

Simone with the grip that you are showing to use for the Forehand TopSpin stroke I am assuming that throughout the game you are changing your grip to accommodate that shot you want to hit or defend or are you keeping the same grip? Thanks and love the drills

[@mrbobevans]

Simone, you mention continental grip, but fail to mention Eastern Grip. In tennis, eastern grip is the shake hands grip and is the center of the bevels. Does pickleball have 8 bevels like tennis?

[@walliegirl2]

If you want to watch a perfect closed stance forehand, just watch some guy named Federer. I hear he was pretty good. Best way to know you are in semi-western is to put your paddle on the ground and pick it up , and you will be in semi-western. If you shake hands with the paddle, you are in eastern. If you are in the motion of using a hammer, you are in continental. McEnroe was in continental for all of his shots. Sampras was one of the last great eastern forehand players. Delpo plays with an eastern grip - great guy too bad he had so many injuries.

[@joshhasenohrl6243]

Simone - can I do this with a continental grip(CG) if I close the paddle? I’ve always used a CG so that’s what I’m used to. OR do you change people to an SWG?

[@djbradshaw247]

This is great. Im going to implement this for serving.

[@Moneywithswabi]

Would you use continental grip and half swing from mid court or use the same swing and grip as shown from baseline? Thanks for the video.

[@drumm24]

Sushant I know this is super late, but how hard you're griping the paddle has a direct effect on how far the ball goes, so if you're mid court, holding the paddle softer will allow you to use the same swing with less distance

[@jrptwo]

This is classic tennis closed stance forehand technique. One key is the hip turn. Notice Simone's hips turn and are facing the net at contact. Her advice to delay the turn may have misled the students to be a little late and not get the full turn by contact. If the right leg is too far back at contact, it locks the hips and they can't rotate enough. This technique is described perfectly by Tomaz of feeltennis.com in "7 Tips For Fixing A Tennis Forehand On Your Own (With A Ball Hopper)", a youtube video: To get the proper hip release, have the big toe of the right (back) foot pointing down into the ground. In other words, the bottom of the sneaker is facing the back fence. If the ball of the back foot does not lift up, the hips will remain locked and you get that lunging look seen in the students. Instead, release to the toe or release completely, letting the right leg step through. See Roger Federer in warm up videos--he just naturally steps through as he hits the closed stance forehand.

[@rwccampbell5997]

Simone, can you use the semi-western grip when serving to generate topspin? Any advice appreciated. Thank you.

[@redelfpickleballfundamentals]

For a righty player, your knuckles move toward Eastern grip to hit forehand topspin shot.

[@coreyap1]

Tennis players can utilize this video. Simone was a tennis coach. Same technique with a longer instrument.

[@mikefixac]

What's the purpose of this shot? Just curious.

[@gregbrust3930]

Where do you play in Bonita?

[@meyersd221]

Super video, a close up of the grip would be the bomb. 😁

[@chrishorton8460]

Thank you!! Very helpful!

[@durdicamac9662]

Simone, please make a video on the serve. There is so many videos on serve, but none is addressing ball release (serving from the hand) and starting the motion with feet or foot behind the side line, or middle line...so many players are doing it from the add side of the court. In tennis that is illegal...when you start the motion both feet must be inside the extensions of imaginary lines...Often in tennis there is foot fault with the heel of the back foot. Is it the same rule, or we just look at the point of contact in pickleball?

[@pahu47]

Same rules apply. Feet must be inside the sideline/center line

[@OpulentVisions2023]

Good technique, I was a table tennis player it make it easy for me

[@janiceroosevelt9331]

Wow! So good. Why didn’t the men step their back foot through. Simone really worked with the woman on that but they men did not step forward. Is there a reason?

[@tiffanyanderson5315]

Close up of grips would have been helpful and providing a left hand visual as well. 🙂

[@sue431]

Simone, what kind of paddle are you using? I love the look of it.

[@RandomPerson-xg6uv]

Sue Prince Response Pro

[@Ginzalili]

Check out Flawless Pickleball Academy on Facebook

[@MichaelAMcDermott]

NOTE the demonstration versus the actual strokes... When Simone does the demonstration, she steps BACKWARDS with her Right Leg, BUT, when she ACTUALLY hits the stroke, she steps FORWARDS with her Left Leg to hit the Shot. This is ONE of the most Fundamental Footwork Errors in Tennis and Pickleball. When we hit the stroke, we DO NOT want to move Backward with our Right Leg, then transition our direction and move forward with our Left Leg. What we WANT to do is to ONLY move forward with our Left Leg and, then, Drive THROUGH the Stroke, ONLY moving Forward. This is such a Fundamental Footwork Error that I see SO many players make. We, as humans, are designed to move Forwards. Therefore, and accordingly, ONLY move Forward through the stroke. Do NOT move Backwards, THEN, transition and reverse Direction to moving Forward when you hit the Stroke... How many times, have we seen someone moving Backwards to hit a Stroke, when the outcome and results of the Stroke were disastrous!!! When we move Backward before hitting a Stroke, our Balance is off, our Weight Transfer is not accomplished and, most often, we either hit a very weak, off pace Shot, OR, we pop the ball up when we hit it... Watch and notice...

[@jrptwo]

Exactly. The forward step with her left foot is actually setting up forward momentum which then transfers into angular momentum of the body, particularly the shoulders and hips. This is the classic tennis "unit turn."

[@Mr.Martini549]

Gosh, now I want to go hit some balls!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@randallkadish5663]

But if we use a semi-western grip for forehand topspin don't we have to use that grip for all shots, including backhands? After all, in pickleball I don't think we have the option of changing grips before each swing.

[@Squaredot01]

I could be wrong but I think this grip is mostly for drives from around the baseline. Once you start moving up you'd change your grip to the traditional continental.

[@randallkadish5663]

@@Squaredot01 Squaredot, Can we hit backspin with a Semi-western grip? Thanks so much.

[@Squaredot01]

@@randallkadish5663 No, you'd use a slice shot with a continental grip to produce a backspin shot.

[@randallkadish5663]

@@Squaredot01 It seems to me that if you are using a semi-western grip you are committing yourself to a forehand topspin, before your opponent hits his/her shot. Supposing you have to use a backhand? Supposing your opponent hits a low shot and you want to start your swing above the ball and hit a backspin shot? I am practicing hitting top- and backspin with a continental grip. Maybe I won't get quite as much topspin on my forehand, but I feel the continental grip gives me more options. Am I wrong? Thanks.

[@ktrock77]

Probably a matter of preference. You're right that if you commit to this semi-western grip for the forehand then you'll need a grip change for backhands. We're at or near the baseline in this instance so there's time for a grip change.

[@infomercialguy]

Simon you are awesome. And a hottie

[@dungha3837]

😄

[@mickeylau8177]

You have the angle wrong, that is not a 45° angle.

[@mahgismom]

You need a close up shot. Camera is too far away

[@nickboyle3349]

seems unlikely a person would use a tennis swing to play pickleball, 2 very different sports, strings and air filled balls probably doesn't transfer directly over, it being a new sport someone will come up with the ideal grip and technique, it is clear her background is in tennis

[@WorldChampInfinity]

I can't tell if you're trolling. It's not a new sport. A lot of pb players are very appreciative of this video. Simone is a very accomplished pb player. She has a very consistent forehand. So, however she hits a forehand is probably a good way of doing it.

[@direwolf525]

baseline is basically useless because mostly the players will focus is on the kitchen side because unlike tennis pickleball has no long rallies from the baseline...I think pickleball is a good sport for older people not for younger athletics

[@EyesOfTheInternet]

That's not semi-western, that's eastern.

[@a.cilciliberticpa4617]

You need a lefty student in every video

[@margiepargie1982]

It is not take the paddle back!! When she hits the ball her shoulders and hips turn and that forces the paddle back in the position. She should say turn your shoulders and hips not take the paddle back!!

[@rodolfolumbang4118]

Topspin is like nothing in pickleball🤷‍♂️

[@samschutz7255]

Pickleball is basically just tennis for old people