Timing Your Tennis Forehand Right - 10 Drills To Help You Hit Clean Forehands

You hit the ball well in a lesson or clinic but when you play "real" matches you have a hard time timing the tennis ball well.
No two tennis balls will be the same - the combination of different height, speed, spin, width and depth will give you a unique incoming ball every time. And you have to adjust your forehand accordingly.
Here are 10 drills going from slower and "easier" to faster and more advanced on how to improve you forehand timing.
0:00 Intro
0:26 Why you have issues timing the ball right
2:12 How to time the rally ball right (as a rule of thumb)
2:52 Options for how you can adjust to different balls
3:28 Welcome Mo, 4-time All American!
3:46 Drill 1
5:11 Drill 2
5:48 Drill 3
6:28 Drill 4
7:51 Drill 5
9:14 Drill 6
9:53 Drill 7
10:50 Drill 8
12:54 Drill 9
13:40 Drill 10
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[@LetsBuildThatApp]

Mo has excellent cardio!

[@miketang7533]

Mo is a good athlete, good tennis 🎾 player. Great 🎾 tips

[@guiltyspark3823]

This is a very "timely" video for me. I recently had a former top 30 WTA player and 19 time Grand Slam competitor tell me that I need to work on my timing. 😅😅Great stuff as always, I've never seen someone use a bounce feed to put action on the ball. PS- Would love a video that focuses on Forehand Spacing as well as that's something I'm also working on.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Hhhhmmm, weird, that coach must have known what she's talking about :-) And yes, spacing is on the "to film" list!

[@NicoleK71]

Has she made a spacing video yet?

[@guyjensen690]

At 75 I am always looking to improve my forehand so I can play competitively with the younger guys in my league(early to mid 60s😂) that have excellent forehands. This is by far the best and most helpful video I have watched in years! Thank you, yes I have subscribed.👍

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Awesome that is great to hear!

[@ImAWiseguy123]

Well done Mo

[@leemurray9315]

Great work Coach!

[@boblawrence37]

Terrific lesson on speeding up or slowing the swing, with the same contact point, depending on the incoming ball. Thanks

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

You're welcome!

[@alexnef5620]

Ich bin immer wieder erstaunt wie variationenreich dieses Spiel doch ist. Das ist so spannend und macht so viel Spass. Vielen Dank für dein coaching. Es ist grossartig und hilft mir mein Spiel zu verbessern🤗🤩👍

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Hi Alex, das Freut mich riesig! Viel spass weiter Behm Trainieren

[@julianc.227]

Danke Meike. Richtig guter Kanal- top content. Keep it up.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Auf alle Fälle :)

[@catherinebush2387]

That was so fantastic. I just had a drill with a group of 4.0, 4.75 players and watching this helps so much with how to check my timing. It is especially helpful against those players that hit the chip forehand and back hand shots and the hard low topspin shots that land so deep in the court. Thank you. I would pay you instead of my instructor if I could (LOL) 😂😂🥰🥰

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Make sure he doesn't hear that :-)

[@nathanmiller6051]

Wow! that video was awesome! this is the real deal! so many great lessons and drills valuable information indeed! Thank You 🙏 so much

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

You're so welcome! And, as usual, thank you for your very kind words and support!

[@rucas10]

For the past ten years I have been my Mother's Caregiver. I didn't go on vacation again, go out at night, but I do nothing more than my obligation and I would do exactly the same thing again. For most of my life it was my Mother who took care of me, it was my turn to repay all the love she gave me. She was hospitalized for 15 days and came home to spend the last days of her long life (96 years) in the comfort of her home, with her children and grandchildren, with dignity, comfort, tranquility and lots of love. I take the opportunity to leave a very beautiful quote from Guy Maupassant: "We love our mother without knowing it, and we only realize how deeply rooted that love is in the final separation" I shared this story basically to say why I haven't seen and commented on many of your videos and that I particularly like.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you for your support!

[@CoachDaisha]

Good video Coach!

[@marcelopuyol249]

Excellent video !!! As well as being very useful for club players, it's a joy to watch you hit that one-handed backhand and volleys. Thank you very much. Greetings from Argentina.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Glad you enjoyed it! I guess I'm still "old school" (at least that's what the kids call me these days)

[@helenwang6375]

very helpful！ Thank you so much!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

You're welcome!

[@fanyang5563]

Thanks for so many details, this is the best tennis video

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Glad you liked it!

[@sergiosimbula]

So funny because I actually love that last drill! Now do it to with my more advanced players. Also variations where one player tries to hit high heavy topspin and the other can't step outside the court (in that case I let them at max have one (the outside leg be aloud to step back behind the court). I also do rally games where two couples battle eachother to hit as many balls back and forth in 1 minute (taking the balls early isode the court while reducing some speed and remaining the high percentage shots, will lead to the highest score).

[@nancycm]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

You're welcome!

[@hugoperalta1715]

Great video!!! it´s up!!!!

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@bournejason66]

Great lesson. First time seeing someone feed the ball like that.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Definitely takes some practice to feed it like that but it's a pretty common technique to feed on tour.

[@followme9330]

Best person

[@johnkimgretzky]

Do you have any video for dealing with the high ball for one-handed backhand swing on the spot? Unfortunately, I cannot find any exact proper reference. I think only YOU can handle it. Thank you so much for your kindness.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

I don't have a video yet but it's on my list to film in the next few weeks. I had actually already started filming it but the battery of my mic died :( So stay tuned, high backhands coming up!

[@jasonloeb331]

Feel tennis had a great drill where had had a semi circle in front of the baseline and you had to intercept the ball each time inside the semi circle. Had to make swing adjustments (cutting down backswing) depending on speeds at the end of the day the racket must meet the ball in front of you in the semi circle.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Interesting! Gotta look that up!

[@CoachDaisha]

Real Talk on the Pinch Drill! Recognize the ball and adjust accordingly!

[@Better_Call_Raul]

09:15 Wow. Bouncing the ball down hard at the service line and producing a topspin feed at the opposite baseline. How does that work?? Will have to find a partner to feed me topspin like that but first I gotta explain to him how the feed works. 😆😆

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

It's a little weird but the ball takes on a ton of topspin (don't ask me to give you the physics behind it, no clue :-)

[@Better_Call_Raul]

08:56 "All the time in the world..." Yes, that is exactly the "easy" ball I struggle with. HIGH SLOW ball that lands deep. I have no problem getting back several feet behind the baseline and I am in perfect position to hit it. But then I have to wait, wait, wait until the darn ball comes down to waist level. I should be making solid contact with this ball every time but I mishit it many more times. I do okay with drop feeds and am thinking this high slow ball is similar to a drop feed -- just be patient and wait with both hands in unit turn position and then release the left hand and let it rip when it comes down to waist level. But this high slow one gives me more trouble than a drop feed. Is it a mental thing where the long waiting throws off concentration? I do okay with drop feeds.

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Could be concentration and/or the by now confidence because you're so worried about these kind of balls. Do you have a ball machine available or a partner who can feed you those, just so that you get tons of practice and don't have to wait for a match to work on them.

[@Better_Call_Raul]

@@MeikeBabelTennis I don't have a ball machine and my current partners just want to play points. But these are good options. Another option is to stand behind the baseline and self-feed a high slow ball. Theoretically, it should not be much different and any more difficult than a drop feed. Just have to wait a second longer for ball to drop to waist level. I should be making solid contact with this high deep slow ball almost every time but I mishit it more times than I should.

[@tonyaquinoxx]

Can you explain why the two-handed backhand is not more powerful than the one-handed forehand? Did you study physics?

[@petrtamler4484]

I would say that Molly dosn't do uniturn, she rotates her body as whole unit not making the rotation in lumbar region, of course she is young and fast , but not making the best of her otherwise beautiful mobility ?

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

Maybe that's another thing that she can improve. Even players of that level have things to work on.

[@jguy8306]

After watching this. i think i love Moe...LOL

[@ronmorgan8214]

nostalgia

[@chul-sukma3362]

Mars

[@TheDrakulie]

I don't like these drop feed drills. its not realistic, no opponent will hit to you like those nice drop feed balls that situp and saids hit me.🤣

[@MeikeBabelTennis]

That's not the point of the drop feeds. Your brain needs time to process the multitude of little details when you learn a new skill. And the hand feeds slow it down enough so you can process. That's why you do them at the beginning of the progression and that's why there is a progression. Think about it as learning a new language. You go very slow and start simple and the better you get the faster you can speak and use more complex sentences.

[@TheDrakulie]

@@MeikeBabelTennis then when do you start using the new technique in realistic ball like in the match situation ? do you ever do that with your students ? because i never seen pros teach that, they just say, now go and use it in the match.