In this tip i2c Director, Richard Marklow shares the quick coaching tip that he estimates he’s used most in his coaching career! It’s about making sure that you keep the racket on the ball for as long as you can.
Richard says,
“When we’re coaching the forehand we talk about having a big back-swing and follow through for the stroke, but fundamentally the thing that all good forehands have in common is the strength of the contact zone as the racket passes the body. That’s the business end of the stoke.
As long as the racket is in a good position and comes through to make a good contact with the ball – and stays on the ball, then we’re going to get a good result down the other end. Too much on the back-swing, too much on the follow through and you’ll lose the quality around the contact zone.
It’s all about holding the racket on the line of the ball for as long as you can. Holding the ball on the racket. Even if you’ve got a bigger swing, the contact zone where you are keeping the racket on the ball, doesn’t change. Keep the racket on target for as long as you can and you’ll have good success with that technique.”
LEVEL 2: Other Drills we Recommend for Level 2 Coaches and Candidates
- MEMBER’S CONTENT Standard Lesson Structure Checklist
- How to Correct the Ball Toss on the Serve by Taking the Player’s Weight Off the Back Foot
- How to Build Cross Court Control to Improve Doubles Skills
- MEMBERS ONLY Tots Tennis: Floor Tennis! (video)
- Doubles Drill – Squeeze
- Ladders Drill for Mini-Tennis Groups (video)
- MEMBERS ONLY Tots Tennis: Introducing Games to Tots (video)
- Junior Tennis warm up: Throw & Catch ‘Chest Pass’
- i2c’s Doubles Drill – Double Dipper
- i2c’s Doubles Champions drill
LEVEL 3: Other Drills we Recommend for Level 3 Coaches and Candidates
- How to Develop Awareness of Space and Angles (video)
- How to Correct the Ball Toss on the Serve by Taking the Player’s Weight Off the Back Foot
- How to Build Cross Court Control to Improve Doubles Skills
- MEMBERS ONLY Tots Tennis: Floor Tennis! (video)
- Doubles Drill – Squeeze
- Ladders Drill for Mini-Tennis Groups (video)
- MEMBERS ONLY Tots Tennis: Introducing Games to Tots (video)
- Junior Tennis warm up: Throw & Catch ‘Chest Pass’
- i2c’s Doubles Drill – Double Dipper
- i2c’s Doubles Champions drill
LEVEL 4: Other Drills we Recommend for Level 4 Coaches and Candidates
- How to Develop Awareness of Space and Angles (video)
- How to Correct the Ball Toss on the Serve by Taking the Player’s Weight Off the Back Foot
- How to Build Cross Court Control to Improve Doubles Skills
- MEMBERS ONLY Tots Tennis: Floor Tennis! (video)
- Doubles Drill – Squeeze
- Ladders Drill for Mini-Tennis Groups (video)
- MEMBERS ONLY Tots Tennis: Introducing Games to Tots (video)
- Junior Tennis warm up: Throw & Catch ‘Chest Pass’
- i2c’s Doubles Drill – Double Dipper
- i2c’s Doubles Champions drill
See more of our Quick Coaching Tips:
- How to build confidence volleying at the net
- Top 5 Power Keywords (Video)
- How to Help Players Keep the Racket on the Ball (Video)
- Feeding progressions (video)
- How to Build Cross Court Control to Improve Doubles Skills
- Quick Fix! How to buy time to get back into a strong position (Video)
- Quick fixes to help you make a difference with your players
- i2c rate the most popular video apps used by coaches
- MEMBERS ONLY Quick Tips! Thinking about tactics during the match warm up! (Video)
- How to help your partner when INTERCEPTING IN DOUBLES (Video)
Note: Originally published Apr 13, 2016
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