Your Strokes: Chris Thurstone Forehand

[don_budge]

Honesty...is one of the best policies

Would love to get your thoughts on "Your Strokes: Chris Thurstone Forehand"!

"Players at all levels do need the ability to hit from multiple stances—neutral, semi-open, and at times fully open. But the potential benefit of that stance flexibility is often negated by the lack of a body turn when lower level players try to hit open on a regular basis.

The neutral stance is typically used in pro tennis when the ball is lower and/or shorter. For the average player this is also appropriate and usually more appropriate because the ball contact height rarely reaches shoulder level as is common in the pro game. (For more on the misunderstood role of contact height, Click Here.)

Full turn, neutral stance, power drive!

But the neutral stance has a more fundamental benefit. Stepping forward and across with the left foot makes it much easier and more natural to develop a feel for the full body turn which includes fully turning the hips. And this turn is critical to developing the left arm stretch.

For too many players the hips get stuck when the left foot stays completely on the left side. If you are trying to improve your turn, work with the neutral stance model in the animation of Federer, and hit balls initially that are in the center of your strike zone and not at the upper edges."-johnyandell

Yes...the left arm stretch. Nice article. Very nice. I have to be honest. I skimmed the article looking for something. I found it...it confirms what I have been teaching.

It's a two handed sport for good reason. It is not as obvious as it is in golf but it is two handed nonetheless. These couple of paragraphs are what the left arm stretch is all about to me. Positioning the body...turning the shoulders and thus the hips then therefore the feet. You are setting up the body to PULL...might as well use both sides of your body for the inherent power and control that it brings to the table. The explanation of the stances in relationship to the default positions for any given forehand are in my estimation correct.

One of the fundamental lessons in teaching a beginner the forehand, is to get them to take the racquet back with both hands ala Roger Federer in order that they might accomplish this all important move with the body and not just the arm. Engage the feet and the hips...one of the most important objectives of the backswing.

This is such a good article and therefore lesson, it inspires me to write so much more. But I think I will leave it at that...at least until I have read it thoroughly. What is more than that, I second all that klacr thoughtfully says to you...best wishes to you and your family and thank you for our little playground here on the website. Home away from home...imagine what it means to me so far away from home. I am, if nothing...thankful.

Being over here for so long, it is easy to forget all that is fundamentally American. You would be surprised how irrelevant things are if you are not around them all of the time. I could of easily forgotten that it is Thanksgiving Day today...with all of the food, football, parades and whatnot. The pomp and circumstance. But one thing that I will never forget to do...is to say a prayer for the Native Americans today and everyday for that matter. Today I will Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee...again.

[klacr]

John,

Great article. Your first sentence in this piece says it all.

I've taught numerous players at my club and in my area this left arm (for righties) stretch. Their preparation, timing and contact point all improved and this have a much better understanding of where in fact their "optimum" contact point needs to be.

This is still a uphill battle I'm working towards correcting for a large population of players in my area. Whether its San Francisco or Boca Raton, avid players seem to fail miserably at the execution opf the left arm stretch.

This arm stretch is also great because it can be taught to numerous levels of players. I've taught it to beginners and I've taught it to 4.5-5.0 tournament players who have thanked me for, in their words "the top secret move". I laugh and tell them it's far from a secret, just a great tool for a player looking and willing to make the slightest change.

The great thing is that when a players learns to use this stretch it has the tendency to fix several other components of the stroke naturally. The key word I always get my students to feel and be able to report back to me is "effortless". When a player starts to execute with the proper technique, I always ask how the stroke feels, more times than not, the first word that comes to their mind is "effortless". It's a beautiful word that is the result of a beautiful stroke.

Thanks John for another awesome and informative article. I'm wishing you, your family and tennisplayer.net staff a very happy Thanksgiving.

Tennisplayer.net is one thing that myself, my career, and my students are truly thankful for.

Sincerely,

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[johnyandell]

Would love to get your thoughts on "Your Strokes: Chris Thurstone Forehand"!