Your Strokes:
Ching Lee: Forehand

Analyzed by Jeff Counts

We looked last month at Ching Lee's serve, and this month we will take a look at his forehand. On the right you can see a front view of Ching's forehand, and from this angle we can immediately see just how advanced and "modern" his forehand looks.

The double bend hitting structure, the semi-western grip, the butt cap of the racket initially pointing at the ball, torso rotation, the windshield wiper finish - it's all here.

If I hadn't spent so many hours studying the pro level wiper motion, I would probably be unable to help Ching. Luckily the work I did in writing my article on the windshield wiper forehand (Click Here) prepared me to see what was happening in his stroke.

The main insight is that Ching is not driving through the ball as well as the pros do. Not nearly as well. But before we see the problems with this abbreviated wiper motion, let's start off with the the hitting structure and torso rotation. And there is plenty to like here.

Using Coria as a comparative model, notice how Ching's body is perfectly positioned coming into the ball. His arm is in a perfect "double bend" hitting structure, with his upper arm and forearm angled at a 45 degree angle. The wrist is laid back, causing the butt cap of the racket to face the incoming ball. And his shoulders are opening to the net. Comparing Ching to Coria here, we see an almost mirror image. The only difference I see is that Coria's elbow is further away from his body, which will allow him to hit the ball a bit farther to the side--something I encouraged Ching to model. We see more on why this is so important below.

Ching looks almost identical to Coria here. Elbow tucked in towards the waist, wrist laid fully back, torso open 45 degrees to the ball.

On contact, Ching has maintained his double bend hitting structure wonderfully, and also rotated his torso into the ball. His shoulders are now facing the net. The contact point is in front, with the racket angled slightly below the wrist, which will help him generate topspin. Notice as well how Ching's eyes are zeroed on the ball. Again, comparing this frame to Coria we see an almost mirror image. The only difference is again Ching's elbow. notice how it is almost crossing in front of his torso.

The Contact Point: Double bend intact. Shoulders facing the net. Racket angled slightly below the hand.

Now we can see how Ching starts to differ considerably from the pro model. In my previous article on the wiper finish, I suggested that top players drive through the ball using their right shoulder. The shoulder joint can do two things: it can push the hand forward and it can rotate. This dual shoulder action - which drives the double bend through the ball - leads to the hard "heavy" ball that top players hit with their forehands.

Now compare Ching's wiper motion to Coria's. In Ching's case, his wrist and forearm are the driving forces of the motion. The position of the elbow makes it difficult or impossible for his torso to drive the motion in the same way we see with Coria.

While the wrist and forearm can rotate quickly, they do not, in isolation, allow you to generate maximum ball speed and weight. In contrast, watch how Coria uses his torso and shoulder joint to drive the hand and racket through and up the ball. His wrist stays back through contact so that power can go from body to ball. Most importantly, notice the clear forward extension. This degree of extension is missing in Ching's.

Now let's look at Ching just after contact, and compare him again to Coria. Notice how Ching's strings are angled away from the net, while Coria's strings face the net flat on. This indicates that Ching has started to come across the ball too quickly, rather than drive forward, like Coria does.

After contact, Coria's racket face still faces the net. His upper arm has lifted upward to push through the ball. Ching has come across, not through the ball. Notice the angle of his racket face.

Comparing their finishes, we can see that Coria's arm is extended all the way across his body. His chin overlooks his shoulder and his hand is on the opposited side of body, well to the left of his left shoulder. This indicates a full, powerful, wiper finish. Ching, however, has a very abbreviated finish. While Coria's chin is overlooking his shoulder, Ching's shoulder is to the right of his chin. And Ching's entire arm is not nearly as far across his body as Coria's. These different finishes are real indicators of what drives their respective wiper motions. In Ching's case, it's wrist and forearm. In Coria's case it is his shoulder, driving the double bend all the way across his body.

Coria's finish is driven by torso rotation and his shoulder joint driving the double bend. Ching uses his forearm and wrist to drive the ball.

When I do pro comparison's for players, I always compare them from several angles. Certain angles reveal aspects of the stroke better than others, so I find it extremely helpful to compare a stroke from different angles to get a full picture of what is going on. So let's look at Ching from a side angle, and I think it will show, even more clearly, how his wiper motion is being driven by the wrong "engine," so to speak.

From a side angle, I think the dynamics of Ching's wiper motion become even clearer. His forearm and wrist rotate very quickly through the ball, but he is getting almost no forward movement through contact. If you focus on his right shoulder, you can see how it is completely out of the equation.

With pro finishes, the wrist and forearm motions are always in synch with the larger torso and shoulder motions. The wrist and forearm can really aid in the wiping motion, but by themselves they offer limited power, and do not contribute to forward extension through contact.

If you want to hit a heavy, hard ball, you must incorporate your body's more powerful sources of energy - which come from the torso and shoulder driving the double bend.

Let's compare a still frame of Coria's finish to that of Ching's to further examine these wiper motions. In my previous wiper article, I mentioned that pros finish with what I call a "box" finish. This finish is characterized by the upper arm being parallel to the ground and the forearm being parallel to the ground. In addition, the forearm is well in front of the body. This finish comes from the shoulder and torso driving the double bend through and over the ball. Below, notice how Coria is in a perfect "box" position. His upper arm and forearm are completely parallel to the ground. His forearm is well in front of his body. Ching, in contrast, has no "box" finish. His forearm is facing straight up and is in tight to the body, and his upper arm is not parallel to the ground.

Coria's finish is driven by torso rotation and his shoulder joint driving the double bend. Ching uses primarily his forearm and wrist.

Ching's forehand approximates the pro model in key ways. He has the hitting structure down. He comes into the ball beautifully, and his has a wiper finish. But he could be hitting the ball so much harder and cleaner if he could drive the ball more with his body and less with his wrist and forearm. To do this he has to adjust his elbow position so the shoulder can get behind the double bend structure. My opinion after working with him is that incoporating a more powerfully wiper finish will come rather quickly. If he can model the "box" finish, and get the feeling of driving the wiper motion from a different power source, his forehand will jump to a new level.

Beyond simply trying to help Ching with his forehand, I think this article raises two general issues that all players shoudl understand. For one, we can see how what happens AFTER contact is a very clear indicator of what has happened at the critical moment of contact itself. Many people argue that after the ball has the left the strings, the rest is irrelevant. But in the physical realm, cause lead to effect, and if a finish doesn't look like the pro model, this is an indicator of what has happened in the crucial interaction just before, during, and just after contact.

A second point to ponder is the notion of "racket head speed". From forearm and wrist rotation, Ching is getting plenty of racket head speed. But racket head speed does not translate into power if it is not moving in the right direction for the right distance and duration. I find the analogy of boxing to be helpful here. A jab in boxing is very quick and fast., but it isn't anything close to a knockout punch. That type of punch incorporates much more power from the torso and shoulder. I am currently working with Ching to make his forehand more of a "knockout punch" than a jab, and would love to revisit his forehand in a few months, to see if we've suceeded in adding a more powerful and explosive finish to what is already an advanced, "pro like" forehand.