Forehand contact point

Wrighty67 · Sep 26, 2022

HI all

I have been working on my contact quality recently aswell as where I make contact with the ball - due to the fairly high level of dust in my shed I am blessed/cursed with a lot of ball marks on my rubber when using my robot
- see pic.

Given I am reading that the optimum place for contact for a topspin FH is towards the top quarter of the blade (3/3) I was really surprised to see how far away I am from this placement.

It is quite challenging to move the contact point as in order to do so it feels as though I am too far away from the ball - although I am obviously not.

I am keen to hear any thoughts on this and if you have considered or looked at where you make contact?

Cheers

Peter

Dominikk85 · Sep 26, 2022

I'm not an expert but I think in the middle is fine but you should work on making the mark pattern smaller.

I have seen some videos of pro rackets and basically it was all worn out at like a tennis ball sized spot.

Easier said than done of course.

Attitude · Sep 26, 2022

Yeah i do the same and check it every now and then, especially if i hit a stroke and the ball miss or flew different than i expected.
actually this is common practise as even pros do this if they hit the ball and it felt weird. Somekind of qualitycontrol for your own strokes.

DukeGaGa · Sep 26, 2022

Get a rebound board, that'll help you with your consistency a lot. With forehand drive, I can manage to hit the ball in roughly a 3x3cm circle, about 1/3 the way to the top of the blade.

Wrighty67 · Sep 26, 2022

DukeGaGa said:
Get a rebound board, that'll help you with your consistency a lot. With forehand drive, I can manage to hit the ball in roughly a 3x3cm circle, about 1/3 the way to the top of the blade.

Interesting - thx.

How do you adjust the contact - move further away physically?

DukeGaGa · Sep 27, 2022

Wrighty67 said:
Interesting - thx.

How do you adjust the contact - move further away physically?

Not really, the rebound board is all about consistency on your part, so if you can hit say 200 in a roll, you’ll definitely be hitting on roughly the same position on your paddle.

IB66 · Sep 27, 2022

I was thinking how you could adjust to get an impact point a little more towards the end of the blade, the last 3rd, maybe give yourself a little more room, but I think it's more of a case of hitting balls!!
How to ensure you are hitting the right spot ??
if you have a spare rubber protector, then cut it to the desired length / shape, place it on the rubber and hit balls, now your clear / clean impact zone is smaller. you'll soon know if you hit the rubber protector!!! never tried it but I would think that balls will have no spin, fly long or just slip off of the bat.
Personally I don't think you need to alter your stroke (unless you are working on something else with a coach etc). with the rubber protector in place you are really playing with a smaller bat!!! I think that you will adjust quicker than you may have thought!!!!
Let us know how you get on and good luck!!!

Wrighty67 · Sep 27, 2022

IB66 said:
I was thinking how you could adjust to get an impact point a little more towards the end of the blade, the last 3rd, maybe give yourself a little more room, but I think it's more of a case of hitting balls!!
How to ensure you are hitting the right spot ??
if you have a spare rubber protector, then cut it to the desired length / shape, place it on the rubber and hit balls, now your clear / clean impact zone is smaller. you'll soon know if you hit the rubber protector!!! never tried it but I would think that balls will have no spin, fly long or just slip off of the bat.
Personally I don't think you need to alter your stroke (unless you are working on something else with a coach etc). with the rubber protector in place you are really playing with a smaller bat!!! I think that you will adjust quicker than you may have thought!!!!
Let us know how you get on and good luck!!!

Thanks, that’s an inspired idea - I’ll try it!

Wrighty67 · Sep 27, 2022

DukeGaGa said:
Not really, the rebound board is all about consistency on your part, so if you can hit say 200 in a roll, you’ll definitely be hitting on roughly the same position on your paddle.

Thanks Duke. Did you make yours and if so what base board did you use?

Manto76 · Sep 27, 2022

A friend who played at a very high level 30 years ago had a great way of training his impact zone. Similar to the idea suggested by IB66, but what he did, on a spare bat, was he cut the rubbers (both FH and BH) to about the size of a coffee cup and stuck them where he wanted his impact (ie. just above the middle of the blade, pretty much as you've described). The rest of the blade was bare. That way he could tell if he missed 'the zone' (as the ball would strike bare wood), but if he did hit the zone he could carry on with the drill until he missed.

Lycanthrope · Sep 27, 2022

I just wonder how long can you stand that kind of training? You could only do that during coaching sessions but not at games with others. Without substantial training and playing, it is very hard to get any improvement.

I think an all wood racket with small sweet spot is more helpful. The quality of shots is totally different from different contact points.

But other than rackets with small sweet spot, a large sweet spot is an advantage of some rackets. If you don't feel the really difference of the shot quality from different contact points with your racket, it not worth training it.

Wrighty67 · Sep 27, 2022

Manto76 said:
A friend who played at a very high level 30 years ago had a great way of training his impact zone. Similar to the idea suggested by IB66, but what he did, on a spare bat, was he cut the rubbers (both FH and BH) to about the size of a coffee cup and stuck them where he wanted his impact (ie. just above the middle of the blade, pretty much as you've described). The rest of the blade was bare. That way he could tell if he missed 'the zone' (as the ball would strike bare wood), but if he did hit the zone he could carry on with the drill until he missed.

Nice!

that's such a cool concept.

Thanks.

strangeloops · Sep 27, 2022

While I agree that it is important to hit with a smaller area, these marks do seem to concentrate a bit too close to the handle. If you tend to have long strokes you could try making your strokes a bit shorter and maybe add a bit more wrist. This could force you to contact further away from the handle, because it is harder to get good speed with a short stroke when the contact is close to the handle. A quick, snappy stroke can also make it easier to hit more consistently on the rubber, since it gives you more time to adjust to the ball.

WingTT · Sep 27, 2022

Learn to keep looking at the ball and to adjust your positioning by bouncing off the ball of your feet in your low stance. If you are short, long or old sighted make sure you are wearing the right prescription. You can't hit what you can't see.

DukeGaGa · Sep 30, 2022

Wrighty67 said:
Thanks Duke. Did you make yours and if so what base board did you use?

Meant to reply the other day but forgot. I bought mine on TaoBao and shipped it to the states, at the time it was pretty cheap to do so, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that now, the shipping fee has increased a looooot 😂

Forehand contact point

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