Shoulder Adduction Unlocks the Tennis Forehand

[@kadivikram]

This is such an underrated concept, this is how you get power without hurting yourself

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Exactly. If you're doing it right, it's comfortable, and similarly, comfort is a great indication you're doing it right.

[@AANasseh]

Now, this is foundational teaching at its best! Now use this for finding the ideal hitting position and reverse engineering all footwork to get into that position! Great job!

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Thanks! That's exactly right.

[@Desire2WinDemo]

Just tried it today, this has significantly transformed my forehand with consistency. I was able to get a lot of pace without much backswing. The natural finish check point worked really well. Thank you coach!! Hope to see more lessons for one-handed backhand and serve as well!

[@jimpoole6037]

This should be mandatory teaching before ever hitting a ball, or a system of drills before hitting in practice or a match!! You surpassed all the “great” teachers in ten minutes! Congrats! I am a 73yo 4.5

[@monstertrucktennis]

Agreed. Only when the form is understood can racquet and ball be introduced (and eventually a court). Most rec players spend their entire tennis life trying to hit the ball in rather than swinging properly.😮

[@johnsmith-ls4rc]

I am suprised to say, this video is just what I needed. I must have allowed myself to get bogged down, while trying to improve my technique. Watched this yesterday and played some of my best tennis for ages this morning, just thinking about the contact point and swinging smoothly. Will be going through the other videos on your channel shortly. Thank you.

[@Plutarch6678]

I’ve never taken a forehand lesson from a guy standing in the woods, wearing jeans, and who doesn’t have a tennis racquet. But there’s a first for everything 😂

[@myldone]

Gold star comment!

[@marlowe1969ify]

Thankss

[@translatealexandru3426]

...but u never know,enlightenment comes in different 📦 package 📦

[@djordjekojicic]

This last "adduction" link is especially useful while playing mini tennis in warming up. Very nice analysis!

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Yes! Very, very true. During mini-tennis, you're essentially just practicing the end of your swing, because injecting velocity with the earlier links obviously wouldn't work.

[@artemivanec5240]

You cannot even imagine how it’s useful! Thank you for your videos, please do not stop making them!

[@adjihafizsjadzali7056]

I've been waiting for you to make a youtube channel been reading your writeups on the website. Very pleasantly surprised to see your video pops up on my tube. Good luck

[@LokiBrettHarrison-t9w]

You Sir are a genius. Your book and webpage are transformative and now a KZbin site.... (please please help by adding Fault Tolerant one handed backhand data.. Please

[@tbd9396]

This is fantastic. I've seen many videos online but they all missed this key point or they try to make some tricks which are not important at all. I see my forehand significantly improved (both power and consistency) once I implemented this adduction. Could you please also create a video for the mechanics for one-hand back hand?

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Amazing. So happy your forehand improved. The analagous contact motion on the one-handed backhand is scapular retraction. Twist forward into the shot and allow your upper-back to fire the racket through the hitting zone, the same way that, on the forehand, you twist forward such that your chest fires the racket through the hitting zone. I have made two videos on the one-hander, which you can watch, although I will be making more in the future. There are a few things I believe I can explain better, and a few more demos I want to do.

[@PaulVoorberg]

2:16 - Explanation 4:32 - Best illustration 6:27 - Master it to make more balls 7:11 - Shoulder adduction in non-ideal situations

[@colincloute]

This was just what I needed. I purchased your book a couple years ago and it helped me rebuild my forehand from an old school side on, drive from the legs thing that never quite worked for me, to a more open stance swing from the hips that's been going a lot better. But I guess either this part never quite clicked just from the text, or maybe I lost it somewhere along the way (I've tacked on a bunch of things since, for better or worse). I was mostly just focussing on the hips and keeping everything else loose, and I could hit some good shots but not as consistently as I'd like (not recently, anyway). I just had a hit after watching this, and it feels like things are falling into place properly now. As an aside, those of us already familiar with your work will know to value your instruction regardless of format. But if you did want to do a bit more with the channel, reach a few more people, the same content would probably go a little further if you were actually on a tennis court, and maybe hit a few balls at the end. Just a thought. Either way though, thanks for the video!

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Awesome, that's exactly the gap this video is designed to fill. This presentation is a new, more technical way of explaining the "Forehand Contact" section of the book. I wrote the book years ago, and I'm happy I started with Forehand Contact, because I still believe it's the most important section, but since then I've refined both my understanding of exactly what's happening through contact, and also the best way to deliver that explanation to other people. Really great to hear that it had the intended effect. As for your other comment - we've got videos planned where you'll see Alexa, me, and our students hitting with various analysis on top of it. Stay tuned!

[@cjd2555]

Just found your channel. You are saying some things that I have not heard anyone else in tennis say. And these things sound logical. I think your channel is going to take off.

[@monstertrucktennis]

Instant sub. Headed to website for more info. Thank you!

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Awesome. New article coming within the week!

[@mymotherfunkers]

Awesome! I watched all the 9 minutes abd it was always interesting and useful. Can't wait to try it.

[@brasileirosim5961]

There is a dude in a tennis club I played in the past who has an amazing forehand. I watched him in the warmup, playing in the box, standing almost frontal to the next, hitting this amazing effortlessly forehands, and I couldn’t tell why this forehand was great. Until I saw this video. He does exactly what you said. From the baseline he can hit a lot of winners as this would be the most natural thing in the world. In a club tournament he was a break down in the third set against me (I like to destroy my opponents with drop shots and lobs and so on), but he eventually won. Thanks for the video.

[@JorisFournel]

Thank you, you are spot on. The thing is, when I film myself without any ball, I can activate the shoudler abduction, but with the ball in, it diseappears: strings face to the left during most of the motion and at best will face the ground before the hit. Instead I generate pace with a shoulder movement like in bowling, going from high to low and low to high. This is incrypted in my muscle memory so bad. I have tried everything to correct it for years really, filming myself against the wall again and again. Coaches are not aware of this.

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

That's a very difficult habit to change. Alexa and I are developing a forehand program specifically to help people like you find the forehand they've always wanted. Here are three things you can try: 1. The wall drill (another video I've made) - find the position where you can create strength pressing into the wall. Set up to hit the tennis ball shortly after that point, and press into the ball the same way you were pressing into the wall. 2. Weighted shadow swing - swing a 2.5lb weight instead of your racket, making sure you swing it along the vector you're going to try and use through the ball. Switch between that and hitting. 3. Loop an elastic band around the net. Face away from the net, grab it with your hitting hand, and go to the position you're in just before your desired contact. Press through (pulling against the band), keeping the rest of the body stable. It's just not going to be easy. Building a new habit takes time. Hopefully these three drills can help cue you into the right feeling.

[@JorisFournel]

​@@FaultTolerantTennis Thank you very much. I will try those. I tried 3 in the past, with some results with shadow repetitions on the court before hitting. But then I was not sure the problem was this on my forehand, so I switched to other hypothesis and approaches, loosing a lot of time. Having a clear direction of improvement without any doubt is already an improvement for me. If it gets better I'll give you some feed back.

[@DoNotWatchYoutubeShorts]

Wow. That is a detail I never focused on. Thank you so much. Could you do a similar video on the key point of the kinetic chain regarding the Two handed Backhand?

[@watcher687]

I’d love to see a video explaining the same stuff for the one handed backhand ie the swing characteristics. Sounds like arm aBduction and external shoulder rotation this time.

[@BriceBriceBabyy]

exactly. abduction, not adduction.

[@18yearsoldnot]

I like how rublev probes… he makes this crazy claw with his hand at the end of his straight and sideways non hitting arm and then exhales with bweeahhhh. I think that extended non hitting arm also relates to your hopping on one leg drill.

[@patriciomora9663]

Don’t get fooled by the background! It is excellent tennis advice.

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Thanks. This is the first video I filmed. Production value will be significantly higher on future ones.

[@user-wt7qg1sd5v]

Question: is your next video gonna be “How to plant trees” but shot on a tennis court?😂

[@speedypete4987]

So basically we need 1) proprioception and 2) anticipation so that we know where our body is and we can anticipate where the ball is going to be and we connect with the ball at the optimum distance and position in space using our power of anticipation and with deliberate intention send it to where we want. Sounds easy : )

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Pretty much exactly right! Except for the "easy" part ;) As the ball comes in, your primary task is to move such that it'll be maximally comfortable to hit. In order to do that, you need a habituated awareness of where that actually is for your swing and your body.

[@triumph300hp]

Look forward to trying that!

[@Prosto.Dastan]

Finally I understand why it's hard to hit a good ball when you jammed, biomechanically.

[@chriseberly2231]

Coming here as a big fan of the blog and the book! Great videos so far! Have you ever done anything or would you consider doing anything about a "fault tolerant" backhand? :)

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Thanks. Most of the fundamentals apply equally on the backhand. Figure out where, in front of you, the swing is comfortable. Design your grip in such a way that your string angle is consistent through that zone, and then probe the ball into that zone. On the backhand, there's the 1-hander, the 2-hander, and then within the 2-hander there are off-hand and dominant-hand primary swings. It's harder to write about, because there's so much more variety. I'll ask Alexa exactly how she hits hers, and maybe write an in-depth article on that particular swing style, since she has one of the best I've ever seen.

[@chriseberly2231]

@@FaultTolerantTennis makes a ton of sense, thanks. Of course I'm still happy to read more posts about it.

[@joaoantunes1896]

I think its a isometric angle of shoulder and a pronation of the forarm

[@sonnyyombo2230]

Thank you

[@honkeyness9427]

Can you talk about the bad habit of raising the shoulder (shrugging) and it’s effect on this shoulder adduction?

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Hmm, I can't say I've really seen that on the forehand. I've seen it on the serve; people are thinking "up" so much they shrug, but not on the forehand. On the serve, the key is to remember what your throwing motion feels like without the racket, and then mimic that feeling with the racket.

[@treplay8846]

So wider shoulders, longer arms, torso length etc makes a difference

[@HoiWaiKwan]

Great video! This further explain what you wrote on the book and website about fault tolerant forehand! So is that we should let our elbow pass the hip before starting the shoulder adduction? Also, do u have any suggestion to help developing the proprioception of elbow passing the hip? Thanks!

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

Yeah, great question. The main thing is probing the ball into the right spot. Learning how to swing at the ball out in front of you, rather than letting it get on top of you. This will naturally force the better version of the swing. I might make a follow-up video showing exactly what I mean.

[@HoiWaiKwan]

​@@FaultTolerantTennis Thanks and really looking forward to your video explanation! Tried to play mini tennis using what u suggested, it really makes the stroke much more clean and more quality. So when we play rally in baseline, is that actually unit turn and acquiring power in kinetic chain are actually subordinate to making a clean contact point? Thanks!

[@kennessig2747]

One thing I’m beginning to notice is…. At contact … the arm should set you up so that through contact your hitting HAND is positioned in the exact same configuration as it would be if you were catching the ball without a racquet. When I get to and maintain the Catching POSITION. GOOD THINGS HAPPEN. THOUGHTS?

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

If that works for you, awesome, but the racket is long, so you shouldn't literally be catching the ball, as far as spacing goes. As far as your palm orientation, that will depend on your grip.

[@fabien3147]

thanks for this very interesting video, I was wondering, in the case you want the full power, how do you deal with the trunc uncoiling, do you contract the abs ?

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

I believe the medicine ball throw to be the best tool for learning to feel your stomach muscles on the forehand. If you're an adult, I'd use 10 lbs. Hold it with two hands, and try to keep it away from your body as you throw (don't just underhand-pendulum throw it with gravity). Perform a quick, explosive rotation of your torso towards your partner, and release the ball towards them. Your goal should be to perform the twist and release as quickly as possible - a fast and short motion, not slow and long. Don't start at max velocity, work up to it. On the forehand, you perform essentially the same motion, except that you're aiming this explosive torso rotation at the ball in space. I also teach people to exhale during this abdominal uncorking, because it helps brace the core, and improves the breathing/recovery rhythm after the shot.

[@igo2054]

interesting so essentially forehand is a horizontal kick serve with pronation

[@jonwj8622]

Would you say that a person with poor posture, one where the shoulders are more internally rotated at rest, would struggle with their ability to adduct as you show here?

[@guyrestivo]

I think that's a good question and you are correct..I come from golf mechanics but I believe to resolve this you would need to keep the raquet higher(before dropping) in the backswing to allow external shoulder rotation--otherwise you may get the rt elbow stuck behind the body and freezing the elbow which will cause much to early pronation

[@mirianbauto6023]

With no racket in the hand, all will be mere play of words.

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

I made a follow-up with the racket. Here you go! kzbin.info/www/bejne/a3zHhJZ6gN2Jias

[@praveenbhide]

Yes, I would be happy to watch a follow up video with a racquet in hand.

[@knotwilg3596]

Whatever the body does to achieve the goal should not be practiced in isolation, focusing on the body part's "part" in the whole play. You need to practice the swing path, with the racket and preferably with an incoming ball too, for timing purposes. You need a take back (modern or nextgen or even traditional), an upward swing path to impart topspin and meet the ball well in front, dominant shoulder slightly in front. The focus is on the take back and the contact point. The body parts will do what they need to do. If you train the body to do certain things without the whole context of hitting a ball, I don't think that will help at all with the actual stroke. At worst, people will make this "adduction" motion consciously at the detriment of their timing.

[@FaultTolerantTennis]

That a reasonable hypothesis, but in practice it couldn't be farther from the truth. The opposite is true. Focusing just on the "take back" and contact point as you've described leads most players to a whole host of inefficiencies in this part of the swing, whereas focusing on this ending motion piecewise causes the entire swing to sequence itself better.

[@knotwilg3596]

@@FaultTolerantTennis Well, we agree to disagree then :) Cheers!

[@hermtennis]

Just hit the ball and don't give one thought about all that scientific stuff. It happens naturally if you're hitting the ball correctly.

[@tijgertjekonijnwordopgegeten]

Ahh yes it happens naturally *IF* you hit the ball correctly. That if is a big part because unless you are very talented and work with good coaches and play 20 hours a week you're not hitting the ball correctly if you're not thinking about how you hit the ball. (FYI you only need to think about it when learning the technique not once you have already mastered it).

[@user-wt7qg1sd5v]

I have a crazy idea. Why not just do a video on a tennis courts? Hitting some balls to demonstrate?

[@varundev6027]

Nice lesson, but why'd you have to go to the forest to explain it?