Why hip rotation kills your forehands

Welcome to Revolutionary Motion! In this video, we show you the number one reason for a loss of directional control on the forehand. Learn to use your body rotation correctly and understand the kinetic chain in order to improve the precision and consistency of your groundstrokes. Happy playing,
Kata and Clemens
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[@aleksandarbabich]

You recognize the need to prevent hips overrotation before the contact, as it disconnects arm from the rest of the body, but it is impossible not to rotate at all if the entire kinetic chain is coming from the ground. Ground is the base and leg push through hips initiates shoulders and arm swing. Keeping the heel down longer can be corrective technique though.

[@dunkky23]

bam! i think video instruction is a bit mislead. there's difference between hip engagement vs hip rotation. you have to fire hip when contact is made but make sure not to over-rotate. rotation is product of momentum and weight shift. if you tried to hold it back, all you doing is killing the energy you built up. after contact is made let body momentum takes its course. don't hold it back.

[@jackspradlin4183]

fire those hips, this guy is lost !!!@ Watch slow motion back view pros, hips are square at contact, not sideways !@@dunkky23

[@yongli4304]

The weight transfer from right leg to the left leg requires the hip to rotate slightly to initiate the shoulder rotation. But at the point of contact, it's the shoulder rotation that brings the right hip further forward to finish the body turn. In table tennis, the modern forehand looping is played with mostly open stance due to the faster pace switching between forehand and backhand, and the Chinese national team training emphasizes a lot on the hip rotation to bring more power to the forehand.

[@FL-xc1wk]

Kinetic chain is never from the ground up. Popular misconception

[@TproTennis]

Well said 💯🎾

[@revolutionarymotion4161]

Thank you! :)

[@johnamatiello8759]

Good video, however you still rotate your hips on contact in the videos where you show the correct way. Your hips are square (aligned with the baseline) at ball contact. which is correct, but you have rotated your hips, you have just not over rotated the hips as you show in the incorrect shots.

[@LarzB]

You're half right half wrong. Look at any slow motion video of Federer and you'll see that before contact the forward swing motion of the racket is initiated grond up with drive from the legs towards the hip rotation which also rotates the upper body, the torso turns further with the arm swinging along and then the arm and then the wrist. It's a kinetic chain where each chain before has to start and also stop at a certain moment to give that momentum forward to the next chain. And that is what you probably wat to address, there are people who keep rotating with everything and as such the momentum is not put forward to the next chain which reduces power and the movement becomes unstable and unpredictable. So you're video should be called "stop rotating your hips at the right timing"

[@quangtube]

yep, rotate hip before contact to drive the shoulder, arm...after that arm, shoulder drive upper body...that is more accurate.

[@stpetetennispro2012]

I agree. Just look at how much hip rotation Alcarez has on his blistering forehand. Initiating the hip is what helps cause the natural lag in the wrist and relaxation of the forearm. I believe the problem is early or simply overrotation of the hips.

[@LarzB]

@@stpetetennispro2012 exactly. It's about the right timing for the kinetic chain. Each chain has to move and stop moving at the right moment to create whipping momentum. Just like a whip, the movement at the base is smaller and stops and it's transferred all the way to the tip. The base is the feet press against the ground and everything between the feet and the contract point in your racket is the whip. Each muscle adds a part of additional power and gives the received power + is own power forward in the chain.

[@stpetetennispro2012]

@@LarzB 🎉 Brilliant!!!

[@capcommz1672]

probably one of the sorriest tennis videos I have ever seen...get a real job, pay your taxes in the US, stop trolling public tennis courts. I'm going to stop clicking on every youtube tennis video that pops up.

[@Nerdzombiedisco]

Nadal: Turn your hips into the shot. Me (a Jr, at the Nadal Academy): OK

[@ReidVV]

You want simple solution to your lesson? Practice aiming your front foot toes forward on both forehand and backhand. This allows the hips to rotate forward freely. Don't believe me? Turn your front foot parallel to the net and try rotating your hips forward. Then point your front foot toes to the net and swing again while paying attention to your hips rotation. Big difference, right? How you step into your shots matters. Teach that.

[@joeyyy2762]

No over-rotation does not mean no active rotation

[@wegtennis8740]

As your hips clearly rotate during your swing, it seems you are talking more about whether or not one moves the back foot?

[@speedymr]

The title of the video is confusing. Hip rotation is important. The video title should be bringing the leg with the swing same time, something like this.

[@pawelfronczyk1579]

Your demonstration is so bad, please find something else then tennis to talk about, hip rotation happens naturally when you swing your racquet forward then your right hip rotates.

[@patrikberglund5717]

You are correct

[@progressivedemagogue8480]

Yes that’s what he says

[@nikol7951]

On your demonstration of your slow motion section starting at 3:37, your hips are not completely still. They properly move from 3:37 to 3:41, and then they relatively stop at 3:41 (with your hips now facing the net) for your upper body and arm to properly come through at contact. As you yourself demonstrate, your hips should move, but not over-rotate.

[@ql3670]

Yeah, I think saying hips "completly still" is a bit of an exaggration, but hips indeed should rotate less than shoulders. In the coiling phase, both the shoulders and the hips rotate backwards, but the shoulders rotate more. Then in the uncoiling phase, both of them rotate forwards, but again the shoulders rotate more. Other people call this the hip-shoulder separation.

[@TheTennisDaddy]

If you’re disagreeing with this video you’re simply not understanding what he’s saying

[@nicolasX2602]

good tip. you have a very peculiar forehand!!!

[@revolutionarymotion4161]

Thanks, Clemens just has an extreme western grip and very long limbs which makes the forehand look a bit odd. It works though ;)

[@kevinzahri78]

Great advice. Many tennis coaching videos on YT by bigger channels give the opposite and incorrect advice.

[@honkeyness9427]

Thank you! It is such terrible advice to rotate hips into shot (it’s actually the opposite - hips counterbalance torso rotation).

[@johnaronson5974]

I just had a session yesterday and the instructor gave me the same forehand advice..I have been rotating my hips...but now I will work on a not doing that.

[@georgebuzea5800]

If most amator players will forget what ever they know about their forehand, learn and perfect this motion first, will benefit consistency, accuracy and hitting more thru the ball, then learn to use the hip for effortless power. I’m sure most of us amator players (to whom this video is intended to) are over rotating the hip and kill the effortless power

[@gsaikiran2023]

I think all he is saying is, hip rotation happens as a consequence of upper body rotation ( I know without a slight rotation in hip, the upper body does not rotate, but remember you are in coiled state) so you uncoil by rotating upper body then your arms move once stroke happens, by this time your hips have rotated but not fully, then your right leg follows due to lot of forward motion. So this leg moving forward should not be done consciously. So your body should be so loose that after upper body rotates it induces a lag in the arm , then arm is pulled forward to follow upper body, hip is rotated now, it should be such a forward motion that pulled your leg (or else you would fall in the front) if are able to plant your right leg that means your upper body is not putting in lot of momentum into the ball.

[@revolutionarymotion4161]

Sounds like you understood us at least 90% correctly :)

[@topspin1715]

Thank you. I have this problem. Trying to get on my tippy toes as I uncoil helps prevent overrotation of hip and the right leg stepping forward. Hopefully this is not a bad way of fixing this problem.

[@ruggerosale]

Great instruction 👍 Exactly what I’m struggling with…

[@ozziiik]

You are wrong in this instruction!

[@profsacin]

I wouldn't call that hip rotation. Maybe back foot coming around which is a rare issue.

[@revolutionarymotion4161]

Semantics I guess but we see a lot of players with this issue in our area... We're glad though that it doesn't seem to be a common issue around you :)

[@rexc6522]

Thanks for the video. It’s good to see your video breaks down the small details on the forehand, which I don’t see too many other KZbin channels do. Small details matter. Keep it up. Will you consider doing one for two handed backhand?

[@revolutionarymotion4161]

Thanks for the encouragement! We will put the two handed backhand video on the list ;)

[@andreasciscio7514]

Thank you for the video very important. Any tips you can give of what kind of exercise one can do to try to avoid early hip rotation. If this defect is unfortunately ingrained in one’s habit, what can be done to correct it please

[@topspin1715]

I have been trying to get on my tippy toes as I uncoil, this forces me to keep the legs grounded and thus preventing right hip from pulling the back leg forward aka taking a big step forward. But I do not know if this advice is a good option so I am hoping Clemens replies.