Your Strokes: Mike Widell Forehand

Eagerness, hands and eyes, yes, but technique? This month in Your Strokes we take a look at the forehand of Mike Widell from Chicago, an avid player and an early subscriber to Tennisplayer. When I look at video of players one of the things you can usually sense is their feeling about the game, and I get a great feeling from the video Mike sent in. He loves tennis and you can see that in his face and his eagerness to hit. After looking at two videos he sent in, I concluded he had pretty darn good hands and eyes--he seemed to put the sweet spot on more balls than not. So that was the good news. Then we get to his forehand technique....Well, the best we can say here is that--hopefully--it's all about to really improve. The key positions are similar regardless of level. In looking at the strokes of our subscribers for Your Strokes some themes are already pretty clear. There are some common, basic problems. These are in the key movements/positions: the preparation, the hitting arm, the contact point, and the finish. Together the positions form a dynamic model defining the shape of the stroke. Obviously the...