Tomaz, this is the most important video of ALL times. I hope every tennis player see it - the struggle will end right there. Thanks again. Kroling, walking , running analogy is great
Well said, Vladimir, I hope more players realize the important of this idea as they recognize themselves in my exaggerated examples. ;) Tennis is primarily a game of control and placement but most of what a typical tennis enthusiast is exposed to are Tennis TV highlights which point out only the "highlights" of the match which may be 15% of the whole match. The other 85% is the consistent placement of the ball in the right place. Not to mention that at club level tennis shots are much slower and therefore consistency is even more important.
Years ago back when I was coaching in Germany, they had a slogan for what Tomaz is describing. They called it "shooting the ball" or "he shoots", etc. like a gun--bam (translated from German I don't remember what they called it in German). A player who at once explodes the racket into the ball out of nervousness or anxiousness or just simply trying to duplicate what they think the pros are doing. This is a great video dealing with concept that not often mentioned. Feel Tennis is best instruction out there.
Hi Tomaz. I'm from Singapore (Shaheed, your former pupil while you were working here, was a student in my class for a semester! He was quite a witty and sharp student in the classroom, and I imagine he was the same on the tennis court. The last update I had about him was that he followed in your footsteps and became a tennis coach too!) I've followed your videos for many years, and they always reliably gave a fresh perspective on how to understand what issues I had in my game. This one however was extremely timely because my forehand has deserted me especially recently. And the problem I always felt but could never express, was what you have done so well in this video. That by trying to hit 'harder' I will instead lose any ability to consistently and efficiently transfer whatever power I was generating to the ball (it gets dumped into the net, falls short, is shanked, etc.). The more I play tennis, the more I become aware of the strange 'contradictions' involved in mastering it. Something that you clearly understand and have managed to successfully convey through a honing of your own unique style and craft as a tennis instructor. Thanks so much for your work and all the best!
Thanks for the feedback, Jeremy! Yes, tennis is a very interesting and complex sport especially since the mental state affects our performance so much.
Thank you coach Thomas, now that's explained why my backhand is more consistent than my FH. because I can't whack with my BH. So many forehands errors when getting too excited.
Great instruction. I've had beginner adults who would whack the ball. This idea of a controlled rhythm is something I've not considered which I should in my instruction and also in my game.
Contact being the end of the swing has to be one of the biggest limitations to players technical and playing outcome improvement I've experienced It really manifests itself on serve practice the most I attempt to make returning to a good ready position into a split step as the end of a swing/serve It gets a much better result WRT players improvement 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 It has occurred to me that this video has been created to address one of Tomaz's student who just flat out refused to listen or take heed of his instruction This is a great conceptual video to teach people how to approach their tennis improvement
Very good material. Only in the last months i discovered the advantage to find your controlled rythm which excludes totally firing the stroke. As i play in amateur competitions most of the opponents don't hit constantly so it is up to me to settle in my own rythm. Extremely useful the advice to finish slow, too!
I have been trying to work on and off for a year now to control and slow down the strokes. Have the habit to whack the ball especially on the serve. As Tomaz says "it's a lottery". Apply this along with his lesson of starting the stroke and preparation early and one can finish 80% of all tennis learnings right there. Thanks Tomaz. A great lesson. Also liked your comment of people only watching the highlights and trying to replicate it. So true.
This video is fire!! Lol But seriously, this is so helpful, helped me figure out why my forehand is usually inconsistent. Thank you so much for this great video!!!
In my eyes this is also heavily connected to tension in the upper body. So you should also maintain the tension and the movement in the upper and your shoulder because this helps the arm to continue the movement. Does that make sense to you?
Thomas could you please explain something to me - should you always aim to make contact with the ball at the sweet spot on the racquet? To obtain topspin or slice on groundstrokes I have been 'picturing' brushing quite a wide area of the racquet face across the back of the ball. By necessity this means not hitting the first contact point on the sweet spot. I am not sure if this is correct technique, or if i misundestanding? Your opinion would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
You can picture that the ball travels over a larger area of the racket but that's just a mental image. If you watch a super slow motion of a contact with the ball then you see that the ball bounces off the strings way before it can travel much along them. ;) So what matters more is that you feel the slice or topspin and that you don't frame the ball.
@@feeltennis Thanks Thomas - very good of you to help. I hit three or four ball towards the end of a match last week directly on the sweetspot by 'accident'; I realised they still had plenty of topspin and were not just a flat shot. I think I have been trying to do something with a mental image that is wrong - resulting in inconsistency and weak shots. I need to go back through your video's. Thank you once again.
Thank you so much for the video... I'm ex softball player and having a very difficult time with my forehand form... particularly catching my racquet. Are there any tools you can recommend or something I can from home to practice catching my racquet??
Yes, guiding is similar to pushing. I don't want to use the word pushing because it's associated with tension in the body, but "guiding" is more of a fine feel based move. The expression is to keep the ball on the racket as long as possible but it's just a feel. In reality the ball is on the strings between 0.004 - 0.007 seconds, so it's just a split second, one way or another.
Always love your videos, Tomaz. Question on this one is how you factor racquet head acceleration into this lesson? I tend to teach a "slow-medium-fast" tempo to the swing, with acceleration into the ball strike. Would you disagree and consider that whacking?
Hi Tim, quite a few ways to look at it. First, keep in mind I make videos with a recreational adult tennis player in mind, 3.0 to 4.0 is where the majority are. So they don't need to do much racket head acceleration, they can't then hit the ball clean. Secondly, racket head will accelerate naturally as much as you want to hit the ball fast. If you want a faster ball, your body will produce the movement naturally. Thirdly, the acceleration needs to be gradual, so even at higher levels you can't just fire the stroke from 0 speed to maximum speed suddenly, it will be jerky. So you fire the stroke towards the END of it (it means in the last 20% before contact), most of the stroke is still gradual building of energy. See this video: ua-cam.com/video/hdqHZovedUw/v-deo.html
Hi Tomaz, brilliant as always. This video answered a question that's been nagging me. (I've done your online courses) Generally, I hit the ball slower/controlled and I have consistent shot. Some times I want to hit a ball with more pace just to mix things up (and it’s fun😊). How do I hit with more pace in some situations, or should I just forget about that?
Try to think of the follow theough as something that happens naturally, not something that you force to happen. Usually during the follow-through the ball has already left your racquet, so it can't have an impact on your topspin potential. Topspin is a combination of racquet head path towards the ball before contact, contact point and racquet head speed. From my personal experience, a cleaner contact is more important than hitting with 500-1000 more rpms on your balls. Especially at lower levels. A lot of people focus so much on racquet head speed, insane topspin and wrist lag, that they end up with terrible contacts. Keep it as smooth controlled and clean as possible, and as you get more comfortable add layers with more topspin.
I would, it does well what it's supposed to do - feed you nice balls and being very practical and easy to use. Here's my review: ua-cam.com/video/NLoJim35pSk/v-deo.html
Tomaz, this is the most important video of ALL times. I hope every tennis player see it - the struggle will end right there. Thanks again. Kroling, walking , running analogy is great
Well said, Vladimir, I hope more players realize the important of this idea as they recognize themselves in my exaggerated examples. ;) Tennis is primarily a game of control and placement but most of what a typical tennis enthusiast is exposed to are Tennis TV highlights which point out only the "highlights" of the match which may be 15% of the whole match. The other 85% is the consistent placement of the ball in the right place. Not to mention that at club level tennis shots are much slower and therefore consistency is even more important.
so true
Years ago back when I was coaching in Germany, they had a slogan for what Tomaz is describing. They called it "shooting the ball" or "he shoots", etc. like a gun--bam (translated from German I don't remember what they called it in German). A player who at once explodes the racket into the ball out of nervousness or anxiousness or just simply trying to duplicate what they think the pros are doing. This is a great video dealing with concept that not often mentioned. Feel Tennis is best instruction out there.
Hi Tomaz. I'm from Singapore (Shaheed, your former pupil while you were working here, was a student in my class for a semester! He was quite a witty and sharp student in the classroom, and I imagine he was the same on the tennis court. The last update I had about him was that he followed in your footsteps and became a tennis coach too!)
I've followed your videos for many years, and they always reliably gave a fresh perspective on how to understand what issues I had in my game. This one however was extremely timely because my forehand has deserted me especially recently. And the problem I always felt but could never express, was what you have done so well in this video. That by trying to hit 'harder' I will instead lose any ability to consistently and efficiently transfer whatever power I was generating to the ball (it gets dumped into the net, falls short, is shanked, etc.). The more I play tennis, the more I become aware of the strange 'contradictions' involved in mastering it.
Something that you clearly understand and have managed to successfully convey through a honing of your own unique style and craft as a tennis instructor.
Thanks so much for your work and all the best!
Thanks for the feedback, Jeremy! Yes, tennis is a very interesting and complex sport especially since the mental state affects our performance so much.
Awesome. Ya staying present through the whole stroke
Thank you coach Thomas, now that's explained why my backhand is more consistent than my FH. because I can't whack with my BH. So many forehands errors when getting too excited.
I’ve been waiting for a stroke consistency video! Much thanks Thomaz!
Bardzo dobra podejście poprzez nawiązanie do mindsetu i wyobrażania jakie masz gracz w głowie. Mózg decyduje o wszystkim.
Great instruction. I've had beginner adults who would whack the ball. This idea of a controlled rhythm is something I've not considered which I should in my instruction and also in my game.
Thank you very much for your lesson, Tomaz. You are the best!
Contact being the end of the swing has to be one of the biggest limitations to players technical and playing outcome improvement I've experienced
It really manifests itself on serve practice the most
I attempt to make returning to a good ready position into a split step as the end of a swing/serve
It gets a much better result WRT players improvement
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It has occurred to me that this video has been created to address one of Tomaz's student who just flat out refused to listen or take heed of his instruction
This is a great conceptual video to teach people how to approach their tennis improvement
Very good material. Only in the last months i discovered the advantage to find your controlled rythm which excludes totally firing the stroke. As i play in amateur competitions most of the opponents don't hit constantly so it is up to me to settle in my own rythm.
Extremely useful the advice to finish slow, too!
I have been trying to work on and off for a year now to control and slow down the strokes. Have the habit to whack the ball especially on the serve. As Tomaz says "it's a lottery".
Apply this along with his lesson of starting the stroke and preparation early and one can finish 80% of all tennis learnings right there.
Thanks Tomaz. A great lesson. Also liked your comment of people only watching the highlights and trying to replicate it. So true.
Much appreciated, thanks for all the comments!
Great explanation
Thanks!
Thanks a lot for your helpful, to the point and useful tips and teachings.
You're very welcome!
thanks a lot Tomaz...like always..best coach
Thomaz you are the best. I am a kind 2…. Ive never understand what’s the deal with my termination before… 🙈🙏🙏👊✌️🙌
Thanks a lot from France, its very usefull and very well explained, slowly :)
Thanks a lot, again for another valuable lesson! :) !
Very useful lesson ❤
This video is fire!! Lol But seriously, this is so helpful, helped me figure out why my forehand is usually inconsistent. Thank you so much for this great video!!!
Happy to help, and thanks for your feedback!
Great 🎾 lesson 👍🙏
Thank you sir great lessons
Thank you Thomas ❤️👍🏻🎾 super important tecnique lesson 👏🏻
Thank you for the video as I struggle with this! Not having complete control of your follow through is a surefire way to lose most matches you play ;)
Beautiful technique on the swing, coach - much to learn and emulate. On an unrelated note, what model of shoe are you wearing? Really like them!
Vroom not BOOM! Great instruction.
great video, as always!
In my eyes this is also heavily connected to tension in the upper body. So you should also maintain the tension and the movement in the upper and your shoulder because this helps the arm to continue the movement. Does that make sense to you?
Thomas could you please explain something to me - should you always aim to make contact with the ball at the sweet spot on the racquet? To obtain topspin or slice on groundstrokes I have been 'picturing' brushing quite a wide area of the racquet face across the back of the ball. By necessity this means not hitting the first contact point on the sweet spot. I am not sure if this is correct technique, or if i misundestanding? Your opinion would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.
You can picture that the ball travels over a larger area of the racket but that's just a mental image. If you watch a super slow motion of a contact with the ball then you see that the ball bounces off the strings way before it can travel much along them. ;) So what matters more is that you feel the slice or topspin and that you don't frame the ball.
@@feeltennis Thanks Thomas - very good of you to help. I hit three or four ball towards the end of a match last week directly on the sweetspot by 'accident'; I realised they still had plenty of topspin and were not just a flat shot. I think I have been trying to do something with a mental image that is wrong - resulting in inconsistency and weak shots. I need to go back through your video's. Thank you once again.
Thank you so much for the video... I'm ex softball player and having a very difficult time with my forehand form... particularly catching my racquet. Are there any tools you can recommend or something I can from home to practice catching my racquet??
Guiding the ball sounds similar to pushing the ball across? Does pushing mean the ball stays for longer than needed on the racket?
Yes, guiding is similar to pushing. I don't want to use the word pushing because it's associated with tension in the body, but "guiding" is more of a fine feel based move. The expression is to keep the ball on the racket as long as possible but it's just a feel. In reality the ball is on the strings between 0.004 - 0.007 seconds, so it's just a split second, one way or another.
Good lesson. I have a curiosity question: your dampener appears to have an unusual shape--may I ask what type of dampener it is? Thank you...
Just a matching Volkl dampener for the Volkl racket...
@@feeltennis , thank you.
Always love your videos, Tomaz. Question on this one is how you factor racquet head acceleration into this lesson? I tend to teach a "slow-medium-fast" tempo to the swing, with acceleration into the ball strike. Would you disagree and consider that whacking?
Hi Tim, quite a few ways to look at it. First, keep in mind I make videos with a recreational adult tennis player in mind, 3.0 to 4.0 is where the majority are. So they don't need to do much racket head acceleration, they can't then hit the ball clean. Secondly, racket head will accelerate naturally as much as you want to hit the ball fast. If you want a faster ball, your body will produce the movement naturally. Thirdly, the acceleration needs to be gradual, so even at higher levels you can't just fire the stroke from 0 speed to maximum speed suddenly, it will be jerky. So you fire the stroke towards the END of it (it means in the last 20% before contact), most of the stroke is still gradual building of energy. See this video: ua-cam.com/video/hdqHZovedUw/v-deo.html
Hi Tomaz, brilliant as always. This video answered a question that's been nagging me. (I've done your online courses) Generally, I hit the ball slower/controlled and I have consistent shot. Some times I want to hit a ball with more pace just to mix things up (and it’s fun😊). How do I hit with more pace in some situations, or should I just forget about that?
To get more pace rotate your body faster, don't do it with the arm. Focus on the core and upper body and rotate faster.
@@feeltennis Thank you!
But what about top spin? Can we produce enough top spin with a slow follow through ?
Try to think of the follow theough as something that happens naturally, not something that you force to happen. Usually during the follow-through the ball has already left your racquet, so it can't have an impact on your topspin potential. Topspin is a combination of racquet head path towards the ball before contact, contact point and racquet head speed. From my personal experience, a cleaner contact is more important than hitting with 500-1000 more rpms on your balls. Especially at lower levels. A lot of people focus so much on racquet head speed, insane topspin and wrist lag, that they end up with terrible contacts. Keep it as smooth controlled and clean as possible, and as you get more comfortable add layers with more topspin.
@@Editor_Hound thank you so much for the detailed explanation. Great lessons that improved my play!
Would you recommend the slinger bag @Thomaz ?
I would, it does well what it's supposed to do - feed you nice balls and being very practical and easy to use. Here's my review: ua-cam.com/video/NLoJim35pSk/v-deo.html
Thank you Tomaz!
Note to self: it ain't over 'til it's over.
Is it the same concept when hitting balls on the rise?
Even more so, hitting on the rise has to be more of a controlled shot as the ball is bringing a lot of speed into the racket already.
bene
Opelka fires every shot and he loses from all the unforced errors.
👏👏👏👏
excellent, awesome advice!!!
Thanks!