TennisOne Lessons

Finish a point with a Solid Overhead

Tom Downs

I see a lot of club players at all levels set up great points only to miss a relatively easy overhead. That may be because for most of us, the overhead has to be one of the least practiced shots in tennis. Yet overheads are practiced a lot by the pro players and that's because so much of today’s professional game is about coming forward and ending points at the net. I believe club players, like juniors, should spend a great deal of time practicing this very important shot. It should be a crucial part of every player’s arsenal.

Players can't always expect to hit winners from the back of the court or hit volley winners at the net. I often call approach shots and first volleys set up shots. These set up shots give a player a chance to finish a point with a few options. One of these options is the overhead. Let’s take a closer look at the important essentials of the overhead.

Grip and Racquet Setting

At the club level, when attempting an overhead, I see players using all sorts of grips ranging from continental to eastern and at the lower levels, even the occasional semi western. I understand that pro players may use grips somewhere within the parameters of continental, but a true continental grip (base knuckle of the index finger needs to be on bevel two) is the only grip to master the overhead with for club level players.

Click photo: When approaching the net, a player must change their grip to continental, if it is not already set. For the overhead, a great unit turn is essential. This means the hands and feet work together. The hands will be raised high as the shoulders and feet turn sideways. A lot of club players take the racquet back independently of the body with very little body turn. Some players take the racquet straight back into the slot, or as we see in the video here, some have a slight delay with the racquet pointing up.

When setting the racquet, the important thing to remember is that the racquet is set with a great unit turn. This means that players need to take their hands up together and must get them up high as they turn their shoulders, at the same time, their feet should also turn sideways. I like players to have turned so that their bodies are positioned past parallel to the side fence, or so that their belly buttons are pointing toward the corner where the side fence and back fence meet.

Another way of explaining the unit turn is that the hands and the feet work together. Some professional players take the racquet straight back into the slot while others have a slight delay with the racquet up before getting the racquet into the slot. Both are correct, as this is a personal choice. However, many club players take the racquet back independently of the rest of the body with hardly any or very little turn. As a result, because of this lack of body rotation going up and into the ball, they lose a lot of power. They also tend to be very front forward at contact.

Body Weight and the Non-Dominant Hand

Click photo: Nishikori does a tremendous job getting his non-dominant hand pointing toward the ball like a radar. His finger tips point straight up toward the sky when fully extended and at contact, his left arm is tucking across his stomach. His non-dominant hand does not pull down too quickly, which is an issue for many club players.

After turning and setting the racquet, the weight needs to be loaded onto the outside leg. The non-dominant hand will point towards the ball like a radar. I like the fingertips of the non-dominant hand to be pointing straight up to the sky, which to me, indicates that the non-dominant side of the body is extended. During contact, the non-dominant arm should be positioned across the stomach, and should then naturally continue to finish on the non-dominant side of the body.

As with the serve, the non-dominant hand cannot be pulling down too quickly. I see a lot of club players use their non-dominant hand incorrectly and as a result, the body collapses and pulls down during the hit.

Footwork

It's important not set your feet too early, and to take those small adjustment steps to set your feet under the ball, especially in windy conditions. Often times, I find players set their feet too far behind the ball. Once set, it is important to launch up and into the ball. In other words, go up and "get the ball" rather than wait for it. I cannot tell you how many times I see a player set up perfectly to hit a punishing overhead, only to wait for the ball to come down too low and shank it. Go up after the ball and make contact off the ground.

On overheads which are hit off of lobs that are not too deep, try moving back a little and then move forward. Once you are under the ball, then launch up into it making contact off the ground.

Click photo: Gasquet's right foot and body turn sideways as he moves back for this deep lob. His left foot will crossover in front of his right foot and he will launch off of his right leg and land on his left. For a lefty, it is the opposite. Gasquet has judged the flight of the ball extremely well and can therefore time his launch off of his right leg.

We use the scissor kick when moving back to hit an overhead off deep lob. Here, the player must split step and turn sideways. The players outside foot will turn so that it is positioned parallel to the net and will step back first, followed by a crossover step putting the inside foot in front of the outside foot. Usually one crossover step is all a player will need, unless they started very close to the net and are moving back to track down a deep lob by the opposition.

As with any other shot, ball judgment is extremely important, you must time the launch off the loaded outside leg. This will happen when you feel as though you are under the ball. Players must always remember to launch off of the outside leg and land on the inside leg.

Contact

There’s a lot of talk among tennis people about when a player should make contact. I believe that contact should be made at 12 o'clock, just as a player would for a first serve.

Notice, I didn't say that for a serve, a player should toss at 12. They should toss at 1 o'clock and due to gravitational forces; the ball will drift left (for a right handed player).

The player must make contact at 12 even when a player goes back for a deep lob, and wants to add slice to the overhead. Here one should swing up and around the outside part of the ball yet still make contact at 12 o'clock. I believe in adding more slice when going back for deep lobs and for a lob closer to the net when a player can really pop it. The key is to hit the left part of the ball.

I tell my players to think about smashing a tomato on these types of overheads, so that they hit through the ball. Obviously, in both cases mentioned, pronation is extremely important. And yes, when slicing serves and overheads, there is pronation.

When to Let it Bounce

When the oppositon hits an extremely high lob, and by high, I mean higher than the light poles on an outdoor court, it is okay to let the ball bounce and hit the overhead. The player must get behind the ball and then get his body weight going into the shot.

If the high lob lands deep in the court, it is wise to add slice to the overhead and and to hit it deep crosscourt or deep down the middle. If the lob lands around the service line or shorter, hit the back of the ball more and flatten it out.

It is also wise to let the ball bounceif the sun is a factor, or under extremely windy conditions. Other than these occurrences, I am not a big fan of letting high lobs bounce. Either hit an overhead out of the air or a swinging volley. These are better options because they don't give the opponent as much time to recover.

Click photo

Click photo
Judging by the suns reflections on the court, del Porto has decided to let this high lob hit into the sun bounce. He wisely adds slice to the shot and hits it inside out, as he has made contact from behind the baseline.
Raonic let this lob bounce perhaps because the wind or sun may have been a factor, or because the lob was hit so high Since he is positioned inside the court, he could hit a more offensive overhead than del Porto.  

When playing indoors, since the ball is not being allowed to hit the roof, I hardly ever see overheads hit off of the bounce. The only time this should happen is off of a high lob that the player may lose sight of in the lights. But remember, an important rule that my coaches told me — never assume a ball will be out. Always go back for high deep lobs even if you think they may be out, regardless of the conditions.

Drills

Shadow the scissor kick to get the movement engrained and then practice it by having a coach feed you deep lobs. Practice the footwork and remember to focus on getting the feeling of jumping off of the outside leg and landing on the inside leg.

To work on consistently getting under the ball, put the racquet down and have a coach feed you different kinds of lobs. You need to set your feet under the ball and catch the ball at 12 o'clock in your hitting hand.

Think of the non-dominant hand as a radar. The non-dominant hand should be extended, which means that your fingertips should be pointing straight up toward the sky.

Click photo: Judging the flight of the ball is extremely important in your quest to bettering your overhead. A great drill is to put the racquet down and have a coach feed you a lob. Catch the ball in your dominant hand. To do this, you will need to make sure that you are positioned under the ball and not too far behind it

My favorite drill to use with the serve and overhead is to get the non-dominant hand extended and leave it fully extended as you hit. For those of you that consistently pull down and regularly miss overheads into the net, this drill is for you. This exercise will help you to get the feeling of what it’s like to stay up and not collapse through the contact zone.

Click photo: I am a big believer in practicing the scissor kick movement by first shadow drilling it. Shadow drills are a great way to engrain movements. Getting comfortable with the scissor kick overhead isn't easy but by focusing on the important aspects of it, yours will be guaranteed to improve. 

Another exercise with the non-dominant hand, for those that tend to collapse or pull down too soon, is to have the non-dominant hand stay up fully extended with the fingertips pointing toward the sky, and hold it in this position for the count of 3 and then bring it down slowly across your stomach.

To hit the overhead successfully, fully commit to the shot. This means focus on doing the essentials as outlined in this article. If your goal is to progress to the next level, I strongly recommend you think about and focus on finishing points rather than relying on errors from the opposition or hitting winners outright from the baseline.

Coming forwards and ending points at net with the overhead is something that the pros relish. If you want to reach your potential as a player, take a tip from the world’s best players and add a solid, reliable overhead to your game.

 

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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.