Every stroke has 3 basic - and obvious - parts. The Backswing, the acceleration, the follow-through.
When you watch the top tennis players they look like they hit the ball effortlessly. They hit the ball so clean and crisp and have large and smooth strokes. In this article I am going to talk about the backswing in particular.

The backswing plays a major part in how would you hit the ball, and most importantly how consistently you the ball.

The transition between the backswing and the acceleration phase is extremely critical. There should be no pause between the backswing and the acceleration forward. The racquet head should not stop moving.

Usually when people start learning to play tennis the stroke is jerky. Players wait too long before taking the racquet back, then quickly take the racquet back and flick the shot. This results in ‘muscling the shot’. Because the racquet stops and starts you use your muscles the whole time to generate any power. These players do not give the racquet a chance to do the work.

Also, if you take your racquet back too early, and you pause at the back of the swing the too long, you will find that you have a very jerky swing. You will also find that you try use your body to accelerate the racquet. This usually results in ’spinning out’ of the shot. The ball will usually have an ‘inside out’ flight path.

Give the racquet a chance to do the work. What does this mean? Ok, an example.

Lets pretend we are watching someone use an axe to cut some timber. What do picture people doing? Holding the axe right at the end, lifting the axe slowly and smoothly, there would be no pause between the back swing and the acceleration, then using the momentum from the backswing and body weight to accelerate the axe.

It would not be whippy, or jerky, there would be no pause. Why? Well in this case the axe head is too heavy to whip around – so it forces you to not stop and start it.

Tennis strokes are the same. If you every want to get the ‘feeling’ you can do one of 2 things.
•    hold two racquets in your hand and try your strokes. Forehand, backhand and serve
•    use a weight on your racquet. For example a dog toy ring. Put it over the handle and push it up to the throat.

The extra weight will force longer smoother strokes. These are also good techniques to warm your muscles up before a match.

Decades ago the technique was to prepare yourself early, take your racquet back, plant yourself for the shot and then accelerate through the shot. In today’s game, the technique is more like one single action.

The older technique was ‘straight back – straight through’.Back and forth on the same swing line. Now more modern technique has a loop at the back of the swing to ensure the racquet does not need to stop.

To achieve an effortless swing, Focus on the delaying the backswing to ensure there is no pause at the back of you stroke. You want the backswin to be slow and smooth. You will find your body can stay in position for longer, your stroke will become smoother, and you’ll gain more power.

This is applicable to forehands, backhands and the serve. On the serve, the acceleration phase starts when your racquet is down the middle of your back. Your backswing and the height of your ball toss are important in having a smoother serve.

Try these few tips and let me know how it goes.

Michael