Three Keys to Improving Your Overhead

Tom Downs

As a coach, I often see club level players play a great point only to miss what should be a finishing overhead. The players that I see miss overheads usually demonstrate one or more of the following: they are not in position, they don't go up after the ball, and they tend to be in an awkward position at contact.

It amazes me that this shot isn't practiced more regularly. In my playing days, I always enjoyed the challenge of ending at net with an overhead and I know that many of the world class doubles players I've coached over the years feel the same way. Lets take a detailed look at three key elements of this shot. I am sure that at least one of the three can help you improve your overhead.

Get Under the Ball

When you see the lob coming, the first key is to get under the ball and not too far behind it.

One of the pieces of advice I hear often from coaches is to get back behind the ball quickly. This can lead to confusion. We do not want the ball to get behind us but at the same time we have to get under the ball so that we can launch up and into it. If we get behind the ball, we will make contact too far away, and most likely the point of contact will be too low.

One of the best things I hear good coaches say is to be off the ground during contact, which forces players to challenge the ball by going up and into it once they're positioned nicely under the ball. As with the serve, you need to be tall at contact with your chin and shoulders up. This cannot happen if you get too far behind the incoming ball.

To get a feel for getting under the ball, put down your racquet and have your coach feed you a lob from his side of the court. Your job as a player is to get under the ball and catch it above your head either with both hands or with your hitting hand only. If you reach too far forwards and catch it, chances are you're too far behind the ball. This will give you the feeling of what it's like to get under the ball. Once you've got this feeling, go ahead and practice your overhead.

The Scissor Kick Footwork

Moving back for a deep lob that requires the use of the scissor kick is something many club players do incorrectly. Too often I see players move back facing the net and they struggle to get any power behind their overheads. I also see players reacting late to the ball, so as with all shots in tennis, ball judgment is extremely important in our quest to improve the overhead. The important elements regarding the scissor kick are to split step and then turn sideways so your feet are parallel to the net. Your inside leg will then crossover in front of your outside leg.

Depending on the depth of the opponent's lob determines how many crossover steps are required. Following this, the player will launch off of the outside leg, make contact while in the air, and then land on the inside leg. I always encourage players to load the inside part of their outside leg prior to launching. This allows them to really explode up and into the ball.

The best drill to work on this is to have a coach or practice partner feed you lobs that you have to really move back to get under. Start with your racquet touching the net then, when your coach feeds the ball,move back for the lob with the correct scissor kick footwork.

Timing and Synchronization

As is the case with all shots, timing is everything. By that I mean timing the ball with our eyes and feet so that we can get into position quickly. The hands must go up together at the same time the body turns. Getting both hands going up together is crucial so that at contact you can be in a great position to get tremendous energy going up and into your overhead.

I see players at all levels get their hands up together but fail to turn and as a result, their body position at contact is way to front on or open. Players must be slightly sideways at contact. I also see players collapsing at contact, which means their non dominant side has pulled down too quickly. This is most likely caused by players waiting too long for the ball as opposed to going up and getting it. Another cause can be the hitting arm getting too far ahead of the other arm during the swing, usually caused by the hands not going up together at the beginning of the swing.This can cause the non dominant arm to collapse to soon before contact.

The best drill I can recommend to improve timing and basic synchronization is to hit a lot of different kinds of overheads — some off of deep feeds and some off of short lobs and video your technique. Then compare it to a pro that has an efficient overhead.

My advice would be to take a look at some of the pros who possess a great overhead. While I will say that modeling is not technique, look at the basic fundamentals of the overheads of Federer, Nadal, and most of the top players, all of which can all finish at the net with an efficient overhead. After all, tennis is about being great at the basics.

Timing is everything. Youzhny (video above left) does a tremendous job of timing the ball with his eyes and positions himself nicely under the ball. In this instance, he is on his front foot and as a result of turning while both hands go up together. He has a great amount of energy going up and into the shot. He is tall at contact and he goes up and gets the ball rather than waiting for it.

Youzhny is one of many players who can hit competent and efficient overheads regardless of whether he needs to go back for a lob or get on his front foot. The timing and synchronization (second video) of his scissor kick overhead is exceptional. Because his technique is excellent and his timing impeccable, he executes with total conviction. For me, it's is a shot he has rehearsed over and over again in drilling as well as in point play and point situations.

Remember, emulate the pros and always learn from the best. 

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Tom Downs

Tom has and extensive coaching background, and has been a member of the Institute team for several years. He has served as our Head Staff Professional, and is currently the Traveling Coach for Institute players. He has traveled with several of our Tour players including Laura Granville and Carly Gullickson, who won the US Open Mixed Doubles title in 2009.

Tom has worked with junior and other professional players, including Sam Stosur and Rennae Stubbs, at all 4 Grand Slam events, as well as other major tournaments around the world. Tom graduated from the University of South Florida in 2005 with a degree in communications. As a successful junior player, Tom represented Australia, and was consistently ranked in the top 10 in all age groups in Australia. He played college tennis at South Carolina State University and was a member of their conference championship team in 2004.