any advice to control acceleration!?

Question

I'm very frustrated as I've been stuck doing the same excercises for the last two weeks with my coach and I always have the same problem. I don't seem to be pushing on the ball and controlling the acceleration when the racket hits the ball. He keeps telling me to put my weight forward and I'm trying really hard. any advice? any excercises you suggest I do to help with this?

funny how a question on licking someone's shoes gets 8 answers and a question like mine gets 0 answers.

Answer 1

I have coached many players over the years of all different skill levels. The first thing I notice with your question is you say I don't seem to be pushing on the ball and controlling the acceleration. This could mean two things 1. You are not hitting the ball with any pace. or 2. You are not controlling the acceleration of the racket through the stroke and are stopping your follow through after making contact with the ball. Make sure your coach shows you the proper grips for both your forehand and backhand. then be sure to keep the racket face nearly straight up and down as you brush up and through the back of the ball as you step forward toward the net with each shot. Lastly, make sure each one of your forehands follow completely through and wrap the racket around your shoulder. Most players early in their development are taught to catch the throat of their racket near their opposite shoulder with their free hand. The idea behind this is to learn how to hit the ball with a tight spin so it arcs over the net and bites down hard in your opponents court. When you get the feel for brushing the ball and stepping forward into your shot, you will be able to control the accelerations and give the ball considerable pace and spin. In tennis, we refer to this as giving your shot some weight or hitting a heavy ball. The more spin and pace you provide the heavier the shot is. So here are the steps 1. proper grip 2. make sure your racket face is nearly straight up and down through contact. 3. Step forward as much as possible into your shot while you are turned sideways. 4. Brush up and through the ball to provide spin and follow thorugh to your opposite shoulder. Have someone feed you balls from a basket and practise the shots till you get the feel for adding spin and pace. I could give you many more tips, but I want to keep things simple for now so you are not thinking about too many things at once. Good Luck!