Timing and the Release
of the Swing

Don Brosseau

As a player do you understand the difference between rhythm and timing? Most players don't, yet learning to play with timing is critical to taking your game to the next level.

In my first article (Click Here) we looked at the first principle of good timing: "knowing" where your racket head is in relation to the ball--most importantly at contact. The second principle is knowing when to release your forward swing. This means knowing how to time the release at slightly different moments to find the contact point on the wide variety of balls competitively players actually face.

The majority of all players don't play with "timing" in this sense. Instead they play with "rhythm." They release their swings at the same time on every ball, usually about the time of the ball bounce on the court. This is why most players do much better when they play against opponents who hit the ball at an even speed--or when they hit with teaching pros.

But the quality of balls players must deal with in matches vary over a huge range. There are harder, faster balls, slower balls, deeper balls, shorter balls, balls with different depths, arcs, spins and angles. Unfortunately most players are unaware of the subtle differences in the release of the swing that are required to time all these variations. Because of this they never work specifically on timing in practice.

This may also be due to the erroneous belief that timing is an innate talent that cannot be improved. While it is true that a lucky few are born with natural timing, it is also true that the rest of the tennis population can substantially improve timing skills by understanding and then practicing timing techniques.

This article will help you learn the difference between rhythm and timing. It will help you develop the critical differences in the timing of your release. We'll do this through a series of original drills I have created for my high level junior players. But these drills can make a tremendous difference for players at all levels.

Working hard at these drills will help you take your timing to a much higher level. The result will be a major improvement in your consistency, and especially, in the quality of the ball you produce.

Basic Principles

As we saw in the first article, I divide the swing into two phases, the unit turn and then the release. The release includes completing the remainder of the backswing, allowing the racket head to drop, and the forward swing. The question is, after you have made your unit turn, when do you "pull the trigger" and complete the swing?

Most players will reach the unit turn at about the time of the ball bounce and then begin the release. In fact you frequently see the pros in this same position. As the ball bounces, the left arm is fully stretched across the body and the racket is at about the top of the backswing. You can see this for yourself if you look through the rear views in the Stroke Archive on balls around the center of the court, or balls that do not force the player on time.

This timing will work on balls at a certain depth and speed. But if the ball is faster, heavier and/or deeper, the release must start earlier. Conversely if the ball is shorter and slower, the release must be slightly delayed.

On a fast deep ball, waiting to release your swing will make your contact consistently late. It can result in a hurried and tense swing that will rob you of precision and power. It may force you to play a faster, riskier shot. Now your opponent is dictating your response rather than the other way around.

The problem is exactly the same on slower and/or shorter balls. In this case you want to release your swing after the ball bounces. The timing of every shot in tennis is different, but most players swing as if they are all the same.

The point may seem obvious. The deeper/faster ball will arrive sooner than the slower/shorter ball, so of course you should release your swing earlier. But the reality is that most players never adjust their swing to the pace and depth of the ball. They continue to release the racket at the same time regardless of how fast or how slow the ball is approaching them.

Accomplished players make slight adjustments on almost every ball. Watch Federer's release in the animation on these two hard, difficult balls. In both cases the release is well before the bounce. On the second ball, which is even faster and deeper than the first, the release is clearly sooner. You can see this by looking at where the arms and racket are positioned at the moment of the bounce.

By timing these balls differently, Federer can reach the contact point on two very difficult shots.

How do players develop their ability to time the release in this way? By using their eyes to track the ball and gage the incoming ball's various characteristics--speed, spin, depth, spin, height, placement, then using that information to dictate when they release their swing. By focusing on the flight of the ball, top players develop the relationship between the incoming ball and the racket head. This in turn allows them to line up their swing specifically for the exact shot they are hitting.

I can not stress enough the importance of using your eyes to track the ball using the information obtained to determine when to pull the trigger. The drills outlined below are designed to help you improve your tracking ability and base your timing on the actual characteristics of the individual ball you are about to hit.

The Drills

Simply understanding the importance of releasing your swing at different times may help you to better time your shots. But to really master your timing, you will need to work specifically on the skill. To do this I have created several drills that I use with my students to improve this all-important element in great ball striking.

In the first drill, I tell my students that no matter what kind of ball I feed to them, they must hit the ball back at the same speed. I then hit them balls of varying speed and depth. The only way to successfully perform this drill is to time the release of your swing to the type of ball you are receiving.

Here is how it works. Assume I ask you to hit all of your shots at 35 miles per hour. The first ball I feed you is a medium-paced ball that lands just a few feet past the service line and you hit it back at 35 miles per hour. On the second feed, I hit you a ball with a similar speed but bouncing much deeper in your court. If you time the ball properly by releasing your swing earlier than you did on the first ball, you will be able to swing your racket smoothly at the proper speed to produce another shot at 35 miles per hour.

But if you wait too long to release your shot, you will have to quicken up the racket at the last moment before contact. The result is that your shot will be faster. This drill takes intense focus, but it's the most basic drill for teaching players how to release their swings at different times depending upon the incoming ball. It really makes you feel the differences in the timing.

Out of the Air

I use two other drills in which the player hits the ball out of the air. These are particularly effective breaking the habit of releasing the swing only when the ball bounces.

To help my players learn the feeling of releasing the swing earlier on fast balls, I start by bringing them up just behind the service line and feeding them balls that they must contact in the air between their waist and knees. The student has to hit the balls out of the air with a normal groundstroke swing. But the contact point is lower than a swinging volley.

In a real match I wouldn't want them to hit this shot off a ball that is that low, but doing so in this drill has real value in helping them learn how to release their swing earlier. Players will find it easiest to perform this drill with their forehands, but you can do the same drill with the two handed backhand.

Because the pupil is so much closer to the net and is hitting the ball out of the air, he or she must release the swing earlier to hit the ball at all. To do this the player must pick up the ball much earlier off the feed. So the intensity of the player's focus is naturally increased.

Again, as we saw in the first article, the swing can be divided into two parts: the unit turn and the release and forward swing. The better the player, the smoother the transition, a transition which becomes virtually seemless at higher levels. But knowing when to make this transition is the key to matching up the racket head with the ball, what we called "connecting to the pocket" in the first article.

This drill really helps the player feel the two parts of the swing. They learn to make an immediate unit turn, and then to release the swing and come forward to the ball. I generally encourage them to do the swing in the two parts at first, pausing slightly after the unit turn. The feel for the racket head is naturally increased because making contact in front is much more difficult with less time.

In the second variation of this drill, I move the player back behind the baseline and have him or her do the same thing--hit the ball out of the air before it bounces using a normal groundstoke swing. The feeder should hit a deep ball but with only a little arc. Again, this creates a contact point somewhere between the knees and the chest.

Obviously the feed is "unrealistic" because the ball would bounce well past the baseline. But since the ball is coming quite fast, the player is again forced to use his or her eyes to track the ball more closely. To deal with the extra pace of the ball, making contact at the right time in front of the body becomes critical. The result is a big improvement in the player's ability to time the swing to the pace of the oncoming ball.

I find this second drill is particularly effective when I have the player hit the ball back out of the air but ask them to maintain a constant, slower speed on their return shots. Hitting at a slower speed shot forces the player to start the swing even earlier because, the player must start forward sooner to hit the ball in front.

As in other areas of the game, high speed shots can sometimes disguise the truth--players don't really feel what they are doing. Performing this drill at a slower speed really helps the player develop the feel of the racket head and a very precise release.

A further progression in this drill is to then feed the student a mixture of balls, some in the air and some that bounce - with the student again striving to maintain the same pace on all shots. Remember, the feeder is maintaining a constant pace on the feeds, so it is the swing of the player that will determine the speed of the return.

This looks easy when executed by someone who has developed their timing but not for players who haven't. Think of the teaching pro who routinely returns the student's balls at a constant speed and height despite the inconsistency of the balls the pupil is hitting to them. Or think of Andre Agassi making it look so easy when he consistently takes deep, hard balls on the rise.

The next progression of this drill is for the feeder to vary both the depth and speed of the feed and then ask the player to do the same. To do this the coach calls out the speed or depth that the player should use on the return after while the fed ball is in the air. To execute this drill, the player must truly have good feel for preparing the racket head for the shot and the ability to time the ball based on its incoming characteristics as opposed to just hitting off the bounce.

Finally, have both players move into no man's and try to play full swinging strokes without being rushed. Be sure to focus on hitting balls different speeds, depths and directions. It's even better if your partner yells out the shot you must hit as his ball crosses the net to you. Remember to emphasize the delineation between the unit turn or preparation and the actual swing.

Angela's Asteroids

A final great drill is what I call "Angela's Asteroids." I actually devised it to help one of my players, Angela Kulikov, reduce the size of her backswing and the use of her wrist on her forehand, both common mistakes for younger players who have to deal with high balls. Why call it Angela's Asteroids? You guessed it, from the classic video game in which asteroids come at you faster and faster.

Angela starts by hitting forehands in her normal strike zone at a normal pace. Then we accelerate the feed, firing the second ball just as the first ball bounces on her side. I do this using a special dual tower ball machine, but a good feeder can do it manually as well.

This drill immediately forces the player to dispense with any extraneous motion. Doing this drill you sometimes see a world class forehand emerge before your eyes.

I now use it with all my players. Once a little proficiency is achieved, you can take the speed of the feed up and make it even faster. This drill creates tremendous focus. It forces players to connect the racket head to the oncoming ball. After the Asteroid Drill, finding the pocket on balls hit at regular intervals usually becomes much easier and more consistent.

Preparation

So far we have seen how speed, spin, depth, and height are critical to the timing of the release. But what do they mean for your preparation? What if your opponent hits a heavier ball that bounces higher and forces you to play the ball at your shoulders or above? What if you are forced to or want to try to play the ball on the rise? Different types of balls can effect your preparation as well as your release.

For example on the high, heavier ball, you have to turn further, sometimes with your back turned far more to the net. This allows you to get further inside of the flight path of the ball. The most pronounced example is when you are hitting your forehand inside out.

Why is this important? As the contact point goes up it becomes more difficult to swing the racket through the ball towards the target. To do this you need to turn your body so that your shoulders are aligned more with the direction of the shot.

With less turn, as the arm goes higher it will tend to wrap around the body too soon, moving away from the intended target line. If you want to hit that high ball with some sting, you have to recognize it early and then get to the inside of the flight path with more turn.

On the Rise

If you are hitting the ball on the rise, the ball will have lift as it rises off the court and this reduces the amount of lift you have to impart to the ball with your swing. When you hit on the rise, you will therefore swing with a slightly flatter arc compared to a higher ball that is at its peak or dropping.

Great players do this intuitively. But most of us need more awareness of what we are trying to do to develop the same skill. I help players feel the difference by doing a drill in that combines two very different balls. This first ball is deeper and faster. This is followed by a second shorter slower ball. The second ball forces players to come forward and hit the ball earlier to prevent it from taking a second bounce. The lower trajectory on the second shot keeps the player from dropping the racket too far below the ball and keeps the arc of the swing plane relatively flat.

Again the pattern of the drill forces the player to feel what the differences in the shots are actually like. This in turn can translate into actual play when the conscious decision is to hit the ball on the way up.

So that's it for our second timing article. The point of all the drills is to help you feel how certain concepts actually work on the court. But once you have developed some feeling in the drills, you need to get out of your own way, focus on the ball, and let the shots happen automatically. Good tennis strokes are just too complicated for us to do "on purpose" or "deliberately." The one thing you can do deliberately is recognize when your opponent's strokes lack some or all of these elements we've explored--and attack accordingly.

I hope you will try these drills out and use them to help develop your own sense of the racket head and timing. Go out and have some fun with it! And please let me know in the Forum (Click Here) what you think of the drills and how you made out.

Note: Special thanks to Tennisplayer.net Contributing Editor Ed Weiss for working closely with Don in developing these articles! And extra special thanks to Angela Kulikov, Lestter Yeh, and Daniel Weingarten for the fantastic job demonstrating the drills.