The Forehand groundstroke
The grip
The most conventional grip is called the Eastern forehand grip (shaking hands grip). This can be effectively found by placing your playing hand flat on the strings and by sliding your hand down the side of the racket until you reach the grip or alternatively this can be found by placing the racket flat on the ground and simply pick it up with your playing hand.
The swing
The first part of the swing is to create a strong shoulder (approx 90 degree) turn by rotating your upper body and by using your non playing arm to point at the approaching ball. This shoulder turn must be made before the ball has bounced and not after it has bounced as you will not have time and room to execute the correct swing.
We try to encourage topspin on the forehand, so to create this spin you need to bring your racket from below the level of the ball (low) brush/glance the back of the ball and finish with the racket over your opposite shoulder (high) with the butt of the racket pointing where you want the ball to go. From contact point, a good tip is to imagine you are hitting a string of 10 tennis balls in a row to ensure the ball stays on the strings for optimum time to create the spin and direction (control).
Contact point
Just in front of and out to the side of your body and arm straight but not locked. Played open stance or closed stance depending on the height and speed of the ball.
