The Spheres Of The Tennis Swing

In order to simplify a backhand or a forehand groundstroke, I often teach what I term "The Spheres of The Swing" which is another way of saying keep the racquet on one side of the body.

Often, a student will come to me and say he or she is late on most hits. Usually, what I see is that the student has taken the racquet back beyond the perpendicular (pointing at the back fence) and around behind their derrieres or rear end. If, as a professional teacher, you can see your student's racquet behind their butt, the racquet has gone back too far.

Rick Macci, one of the leading teacher's in the country, describes "tapping the dog" on the forehand as one way to stop the student from taking the racquet back too far. I use it as a tool to keep the racquet on the forehand side of the body throughout the stroke. If you look at the link below, Roger Federer hits the "tap the dog" position, which is palm facing down around hip height, at 0.48 seconds in the video. From there, he almost pulls his hand forward while extending his arm, which puts the racquet into the perpendicular to the net and back screen position just before the racquet head begins to move forward.

Remember this: If a student goes back too far on the backswing and behind their back into the other sphere, chances are they are going to be late making contact. Also, if the swing forward starts behind their back, their swing tends to be more circular, with a centrifugal force and focus, around their hips and bodies, rather than with a linear focus toward their objective and through the ball's path. Keep it simple and keep the racquet on the forehand side of the body while hitting a forehand and vice versa for the backhand.