TennisOne Lesson

The Loop Forehand, Part 1

By Monty Basnyat, TennisONE Associate Editor

Question

I have a loopy backswing on my forehand racquet take back. I use a semi-western grip to get lots of topspin on the ball. The problem I am running into is when I am faced with an opponent who mixes up the spin and pace on the ball. I seem to frame the ball a lot and not find my range or rhythm. My friends tell me I should eliminate my loopy backswing. I don't want to do that because the loopy backswing gives me a lot of pace and topspin. What should I do?

Answer

Click here to see animation of loop forehand.

Not to worry. Most loopers have problems with opponents who topspin on one side and keep the ball low with slices on the other. By knowing when to loop and when to take it straight back, you'll find your range and rhythm.

In Part 1 of this lesson lets start off with the what, who, why and how of the loopy forehand. Once you understand it, then we can go into detail in Part 2 of the lesson on when and how to make adjustments so it becomes easier for you to time certain types of balls.

Classic Style--Racquet Straight Back

There are primarily two ways to set your racquet back. One is the conventional straight back method , while the other is done by making a loop. To the left, you can see the classic take-back as demonstrated by our TennisONE editor, John Yandell. If you want to see John's complete lesson, click here. The other method is the loop backswing.

If you watch Chang, Agassi, Hingis and Muster closely, you will notice this loopy backswing. The style of the loopy backswing may vary from player to player depending on what type of surface they grew up on, but the general bio-mechanics are all the same. For instance, a European player who grew up on a slower surface like clay may have a slightly bigger loop than for a player who grew up playing fast hard courts. Some may start the loop with the elbow and while others may start it with the tip of the racquet.

The loopy backswing is primarily done to get more racquet speed by way of momentum. Since the racquet is going up first and then down and then up and through towards the ball, the racquet will have a lot more head speed than just taking it straight back and forward. This basically means, you can hit through the ball faster without having to muscle your swing in order to get more pace and spin.

Modern Style--Loopy Backswing

The loopy backswing on the forehand is done by taking the racquet back with a semi-circle motion rather than the conventional straight back method.

My opponent has hit the ball and it is coming towards me. With a good shoulder turn I am in the process of setting my racquet back. Pay particular attention on where the racquet head is at this moment. If I were to take my racquet straight back, it would probably be at the same height as my hips. With my looping take-back, notice the head of the racquet slightly above my shoulder.

Here, you can see the ball in the frame. By this time, my racquet head and my hand has already been set below the height of the ball. This is extremely important to get plenty of topspin on the ball. By getting under the ball, I can brush up towards it and make contact. To visualize this, imagine brushing the trunk of a horse up rather than down.

Here, with a slight upward flick of the wrist, I am finishing my follow through (top edge of the racquet going up). The key is to use the wrist to generate extra racquet head speed. It's important to time the flick of the wrist. Usually on a slower surface(clay or slow hard courts), you want to start the subtle flick just before the connection. On faster surfaces add the wrist just after the connection because the ball tends to skid and stay lower than on slower surface.(keep in mind the wrist flick may vary from player to player due to how they grip the racquet, strength of the player and the length and the size of the racquet). If the wrist is flicked up too early, you will frame the ball and while flicking it too late will not increase enough racquet head speed to generate sufficient amount of topspin. The timing is crucial and will take some practice time and concentration to master. My advice is to spend sometime with the ball machine or a teaching pro to get it down.

Click here to see animation of loop forehand.

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