Beginner forehand topspin

The suggestion that a few coaching sessions would be helpful is a good piece of information.

Shadow strokes can really help your technique improve faster as well. If you know what an okay stroke looks like and practice shadow strokes in front of a mirror it really can help your stroke improve a lot faster. It would also be useful to have a good level player or a coach check if what you are practicing as a shadow stroke is actually good.

Shadow strokes won't solve all the problems of developing a good stroke because you don't have to adjust to the incoming ball. But they can help bypass the issue of "two different philosophies" that Lightzy correctly covered.

If you use shadow strokes to get decent mechanics into the muscle memory, you can learn to do a stroke where you use your body and your arm how you ultimately will want to.

In an "ideal" stroke the arm does bend at the elbow a certain amount. But it does not have to be a lot. Like your arm doesn't have to go from almost straight to very bent. And on smaller strokes the movement at the elbow joint can be small. But if your stroke is done with a relaxed arm movement, it will help the stroke and the elbow will bend, at least a little, during the stoke....just from having the arm relaxed.

This video has a little bit of okay information about the FH stroke:

IMO basic forehand don't start with a straight hand, as said in this video ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axGJPJJkw4k
however there are multiple ways to do the same thing ... but as most of the people has told you earlier , mastering the basic forehand is a cornerstone of fundamentals and no amount of discussion or watching videos is going to get you there unless you get proper coaching ... believe me there are moving parts than it looks on the video and its more complicated than it seems .. if one has to put it together by themselves ... best find a good coach ...

Looks like Jeff is hitting slightly later in Carl's video and YangYang in monster's video seems to meet the ball earlier.

Is my old man eyes correct?

Don't mean to be sexist , but in general women will take the ball earlier than men because of the more prevalent style of play that is taught to women , the general belief is that they will be able to use the incoming power and play with speed instead of taking the ball later and generating their own power .. however more and more there are players coming up who are leaning towards generating their own power ... e.g. compare the older version of Kasumi Ishikawa with the more recent version after the change from Tenergy to Hurricane on the forehand , or even between Liu Shiwen and Sun Yingsha ...

Originally Posted by OldschoolPenholder

Looks like Jeff is hitting slightly later in Carl's video and YangYang in monster's video seems to meet the ball earlier.

Is my old man eyes correct?

Timing of when to hit the ball sounds like a nice discussion. I think a famous statement from JO Waldner was something about him saying that to really master the sport you need to be good at all three distances. And then he explained that what he meant by distance was:

1) taking the ball on the rise.
2) taking the ball at the top of the bounce (the peak height).
3) taking the ball as it is falling.

However, I have a feeling none of that information is for a beginner wanting to improve his stroke.

I personally don’t love the strokes from Ping Skills. But they give a decent view of a more than acceptable stroke with some technical details that can help you understand what you are trying for. And they let you see the stroke faster, slower and at different angles.

So a person who doesn’t have access to coaching and wanted to improve his her strokes with the practice of shadow strokes, that specific video would help the person see in the mirror if the stroke was okay.


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Some good advice posted above. Others mentioned ping skills, but here is one of their topspin training videos that is pretty good for beginners and more focused on the basic stroke vs. the counter - it reviews the basic foot position, bat position, and shows fairly compact stroke to start getting the feel of things.

And, for a beginner who is asking for a beginner FH topspin stroke, I would usually think of that as the fundamentals. And the fundamentals would be a FH counterhit.

A true beginner may not even be able to see that there is a difference between the FH counterhit and the FH topspin aside from the size of the stroke. So, drive topspin vs loop/brush topspin (heavier topspin) is often not distinguished at that level. I have even heard many players close to intermediate level who hit drives and thought they were looping.

But, again, if a video gives the beginner the idea of the form of the stroke and then he does shadow strokes in front of the mirror and uses the mirror to help him get a stroke with decent form, then shifting from smaller to larger swing or from drive contact to brush contact becomes easier to work on since the form of the stroke doesn’t really change much from a drive to a loop.

Beginner = start with the fundamentals.


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Originally Posted by hillwalker

If you don't mind, can I add to this thread and ask another question.

I've heard that it can be good to practice your forehand while holding a tennis ball or similar object under your armpit, to force you to swing with your elbow and forearm and not your shoulder (I've also heard of people tying their elbow to their belt with elastic for the same effect?). I tried this, and it was actually an excellent as a footwork drill, as you can't hit backhands and you can't extend or retract your arm, so you *have* to move for every shot.

However you end up playing with "t-rex" arms as your elbow has to be held closely to your body so you don't drop the tennis ball. So I thought it would be fun to try this with a balloon, and try hitting forehands with a balloon held between your elbow and body, which would give you more space but still force you to fix your elbow. Is this completely insane, or could it be helpful?

Do you understand what the ball is for? Do you know why you would want to be able to swing with the only part of the arm moving being the forearm (elbow joint)?

I do think a larger ball like an 8” or 10” ball (like a baby’s toy lady bug ball) would work fine. Just curious if you know what I be isolation of the forearm would give you when you re-add the full stroke.


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Originally Posted by UpSideDownCarl

Do you understand what the ball is for? Do you know why you would want to be able to swing with the only part of the arm moving being the forearm (elbow joint)?

I do think a larger ball like an 8” or 10” ball (like a baby’s toy lady bug ball) would work fine. Just curious if you know what I be isolation of the forearm would give you when you re-add the full stroke.

(Now to be clear I am a beginner, and I'm just trying to sort through random advice from the internet and other amateur players in my club)

What I understand, is that the tennis-ball-under-the-armpit forces you to hit the ball by turning your hips, and snapping your forearm, and isolating those motions so you can concentrate on them, and then go on to incorporate them better into a full stroke? The forearm snap is to increase the racket speed and spin. The hip rotation is for efficient power from the legs and core.

I know as a basement player, I often tried to hit a powerful shot by whacking at the ball with a straight arm, no hip rotation, and just a big wrench at the shoulder. Hello strained rotator cuff.

That is pretty good. Those are most of the reasons and all the important ones.

The only thing I would add. When you have a stroke where you have the habit of keeping the angle of the elbow fixed, it is very hard to change that and add the forearm snap that gives you that acceleration and spin.

So, yeah, a ball that was 8” or 10” from a store that sells balls for babies or young kids would work well. Much better than a balloon.


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When I got home I checked and my 10" ball is a good size for what you are talking about.