Strokes and Technical Videos
Most videos online are about the technical side of the game. My videos are broken down into various aspects: technical, mental, tactical, drills, etc. On this page I am mainly providing an ongoing, growing library of videos regarding the technical side. In many ways I try and provide what I teach players of all levels and in many cases things that you will not find discussed on line usually. Much of this comes from working with college players but also young and adult students I have.
Slices, Chops shots and more
CHOP SHOT/SQUASH SHOT: I go into detail in how to hit a chop shot or what some call a squash shot forehand. I generally refer to it as a “get out of jail free card.” You will learn front and side view (with some graphic video analysis) what the racquet head is doing on various shots and the arm mechanics, etc. I will demonstrate how to hit it on the run, or stepping into it, hitting open stance, closed stand, out wide, behind you, etc.
Forehand Slice: Slices off both sides are woefully underutilized these days. Many players have weak slices, often due to having two handed backhands, and a commensurate weak volley. In this video I discuss a few uses of the forehand slice but mainly how to effectively hit a penetrating slice with accuracy. If you are hitting a forehand on defense, it should not provide a weak shot for your opponent to take the offense. In short, your defense should be an offense or at least not allowing your opponent the luxury of offense.
Backhand slice. Like the forehand slice, the backhand is underutilized and underpracticed leaving most players with a weak slice which can be taken advantage of. In fact I coach all of my players to attack and move forward when they catch their opponent reaching for a slice because so often the slice is weak, floats and they can move in and pick it off. For example a lot of players with two hand backhands and who are not as quick or not as balanced as they should be are susceptible to having their slices taken advantage of. And there are always two sides to the coin. I coach my players to attack people with weak slices when they get them out on the corners but conversely I want my players to have very good slices so they are not taken advantage of and in fact have the ability to hit aggressive shots even when on defense. This prevents their opponents from taking the offense.
In this video I demonstrate numerous types of backhand slices: traditional slice with a little bit of lift, a knife or what is called a penetrating slice or offense of slice, and then when I called inside out or a fade typically down the line. I show you it from different views–from the side, from behind with a side breeze and from the back into the side breeze. I also show how to use the back fence to help with your slice.
Serve
Serve Fluidity Drill with a toss and hit throwing exercise. I developed this routine many years ago and it is a challenge for most but fun enough they keep trying. You can even have a contest with numerous players of all levels…and I mean all levels. Collegiate and elite players will get a kick out of it.
When doing videos, it is very common these days with the programs to compare footage of players with other players. Here is Graham’s 1-hander (at age 11) compared to Federer and his forehand compared to David Ferrer’s. Graham wanted a 1-hander at age 8 because your’s truly has one. For those of you thinking of switching or if you players want to, it was very natural for Graham but regardless he hit 5000 backhands off a ball machine in a week before he owned hitting it or cemented the motion from various locations and off both feet (open, closed, moving back or forward etc)–see the video (see the video on the home page if you are interested. I teach all my players how to hit their 1-handers, (or two handers, forehands and vollies for that matter) off various feet, positions, heights, on the run etc. So 5000 balls was not that many. I have switched juniors, adults and even accomplished collegiate players to one handers for various reasons so it can be done at all phases in the game and stages in life.
These videos show nearly identical footwork, prep and release that can encourage youth they too can expect to work hard to get those results. (You can click on the play button and pause it at any increment to see moves in detail). My future videos, whether technical, tactical, even demonstrating doubles communication, doubles movement, PRPR between-point-management, footwork oriented, etc. will have narrative or description associated with them. In these, I am only giving brief comments.
Notice that Graham has the tip up and good should turn prior to taking the “intending to hit” step on the left foot. What I mean by this, and what many players taking lessons do not realize is the front foot (in this case Graham’s or Federer’s right foot) does not take the final move until everything is loaded (racket back and tip up, shoulders turned and weight loaded on the left foot). You can freeze frame it in that position if you like and then they step in with the right and Let ‘er Rip. Also not fully realized is that at impact the one hander’s chest/shoulders should be pretty perpendicular or “on side” and then only upon the follow through (and not always) does it rotate as they recover and move to the center. Actually having the shoulders “separate” as I call it causes significant whip in the swing. Too many club players rotate their entire torso with the swing losing power or forcing the shot. I would be akin to a baseball player swinging with straight arms instead of the proper kinetic chain.
Here Graham (age 11) and Ferrer have significant foot speed in prepping for the forehand. Often today, experts in biomechanics and national coaches have noted that players more or less glide to the ball without a lot of steps. I call it a dance or rhythm. But in this case, as in many cases, it is appropriate and sets up some serious loading and rotation. Notice here too, as I noted in the backhand, it is the outside foot always (the right foot in this case) that is the “intending to hit” step from which the driving energy comes for either open stance (in this video) or the closed stance as well. To many players, especially at the club level, think, or have been errantly taught, that the closed stance left foot forward (for a righty) coincides with taking the racket back. Nope. The initial move on the “uni-turn” is the racket partly back with the right foot pivoting and then the left comes later for closed stance with the racket moving further back in a “pre-stretch” whipping move then to come accelerating forward when the left foot transfers the weight. Open stance, like here, the right foot is the prep and the driving foot all in one.
Notice also the arms are far from the body and the tips not so high or “cocked.” Many are taught to cock the wrist severely and the elbow is low but this creates too many hitches and time delay in getting to the ball for most people.
Oh, and one thing I find very commonly in teaching players is that so many step with their toes or balls of their feet when stepping into groundstrokes closed stance, overheads, and vollies. Try transferring your weight as you walk on only your toes or balls of your feet. You can’t do it very well. Tennis really has a lot of heel to toe movement which transfers our weight. This picture of Fed is an exaggeration but it gets the point across.
The Basket Drill: The second drill is a basket drill which gives the player feedback (Graham and Joy in this case) on keeping the arm away from the body. Too often peoples’ elbows are like Chicken wings and too close to their body. Having the arm out reasonably so allows for faster rotation and getting into contact position faster and more efficiently. The player circles around the basket with the arm back and ready then runs to the ball. You can alter the distance running to incorporate cardio work as well.
The music is Let It Rip by Mike and Bob Bryan (yes the #1 ATP dubs team plays great music in addition to great dubs). This is the same song I use for the intro to my podcast (The Coach Steve Clark PhD Show) that Wayne Bryan introduces. Wayne was my first guest and has been a great support over the years.