Maria Sharapova power shot illustration

There are spectators who might find it hilarious when players on the court are really shouting at a high pitch or probably squeaking as they compete. But sometimes the reason for some of them to have such expressions could be a beneficial one to their shots.

When one shouts while exerting force it could attribute more power as it facilitates the point of explosiveness. Note that every shot that Maria Sharapova made is accompanied with a shout and perhaps serves as a strategic one to disrupt the player too.

But look at Maria Sharapova's serves and forehand especially the serves they are quick and powerful that the opponent could not return them.

Tennis Footwork and Forehand technique

Sometimes as a tennis player, we may be very focus on the grips, the swings and whether is our power of our forehand strong enough and etc. One important aspect of the game is actually our footwork. Before we go into footwork there are two points which we need to remember when hitting with our forehand technique:

1. We need to know that the ideal zone for most players when hitting the ball will be between 2-3 feet to the side of your body and the point of contact of the ball.

2. It is also essential that you make contact with the ball when it is in front of you, for the obvious reason because you will be able to swing enough to generate the speed and power.

To perform the above two points, we need to achieve good footwork. The footwork will gives us the placing where we can comfortably hit the ball with the swing we want. The word is comfortably and with nimble movements on the court this gives us the confidence to hit the ball to where we want to. To train footwork, it requires the timing and the speed to see where the ball is coming from. This will be discussed again in the next post.

Notable techniques at the Australia Open

Looking back at the Australia Open, especially at the final between Serene Williams who had won her fifth Australia Open title and Justine Henin the former World No. 1. There is much to learn from the match. One thing in particular is the strong forehand technique of Serene Williams. It was fast and powerful that the opponent could not run to return it. 

However, besides that behind those power and speed, there was an element of intelligent forehand technique. She saw where the opponent is standing and knowing that point, she encompasses it with power and speed and shot back accurately at the other side of the court. There was little time for the opponent to react to that. Justine Henin played smart too one when she managed to trick the champion and won by a lob which she did not seems to expect it at the moment.


For the final of the men's match between the two top quality players World No. 1 and many times grand slam champion Roger Federer and Andy Murray, one important thing about the game is that Roger Federer just keep on returning and serving real well that Andy does not have any space to score. To do that in fact Roger Federer has lots of stamina in the match. He just leave no air for Andy to breathe so how can he have the time to think to counter or use his wits in the game? Very interesting matches at the Australia Open indeed.

The powerful tennis forehand technique in action

I was looking for a good example illustrating the most powerful weapon of Ivanovic which if you noticed is her strong tennis forehand technique. Opponents are aware of it and they are are preparing themselves for it but, it seems too strong and too fast for them.


One can watch from the video how she swings her arm fast and accurately allow the ball to follow through. Somewhere in the middle of the video there is a slow motion of how she execute her forehand and that deserves a close look on a good forehand technique.

Tennis Forehand technique

Next part in the forehand technique will actually see a forward swing of the racket that should be from low to high. You should contact the ball perpendicular to its flight and around waist height. Follow through by driving the racket forward. It should end above your shoulders where this picture didn't shows that. I will source for another picture to show that perhaps in the next post. Your body should be facing the direction of your shot. Quickly return to the centre of the court and in the ready position for the next shot.

Tennis forehand open stance

Here is a picture that clearly shows how a tennis open forehand stance looks like. Notice that your left arm should be outstretched and pointing at the ball. Drive your racket forward, starting from your legs, then the hips, shoulders, arm and wrist. This technique as I have mentioned you need some time to get the accuracy to hit ball. More practice will help perfect it.

Tennis forehand technique

The forehand is the next thing that is the most fundamental in tennis. It is the most basic and most used shot in tennis once get it right you are able to hit with consistency and power. Start from the ready position and just your opponent initiates his or her forward swing do a split step. As you push off, prepare to hit the ball by rotating your shoulders away from the ball. I remembered that we used to pick a lot of balls while practicing this in the start than trying to hit the balls. This technique is the basic but requires effort and time in order to play tennis.