Your Strokes: Jon Chen Forehand

Advanced elements that came close to a forming a great stroke. When John first contacted me, he said that he was a 4.5 level player who hit with top juniors in Taiwan on a regular basis. However, he was very eager to improve his forehand, which he said took too much energy to generate pace. We met up a few weeks ago and I let the camera roll, always curious about what I would find. At first glance it was clear that John was a remarkable athlete. I later found out that he had had years of advanced training in the martial arts, and was currently competing in marathons, with race times under 4 hours. These physical gifts, combined with certain elements of technique, had taken his game to a high level. But as I watched him hit forehands, it was clear that something was off. He was hitting the ball hard, and I could see advanced elements in - the double bend hitting structure, excellent prepartion, acceleration through the ball. But as i watched I became convinced he should have been hitting the ball even harder, and also with less effort. A model forehand takeback. Before the miracle of...