Tennis tip: choke up on the forehand

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fabulous coach but sometimes even I can learn how to fine tune my coaching. The other day, I had the privilege of receiving an interesting tip on teaching forehands from esteemed coach Hector Henry. He saw my kids struggling to hit forehands and advised me to have the kids choke up in the racquet and put their fingers through the neck of it, he told me that it was easier for them to grip the racquet that way. He also pointed out that I should tell them to hit the ball over his head in order to get them to hit under the ball with topspin. I tried this suggestion with my kids and low and behold, they were able to connect with the ball, hit the ball out in front and over the net. Coach Henry told me that I should also then have them gradually move their hand down the racquet as they got more comfortable hitting the ball. This was way I had never considered actually telling my students though intuitively I knew beginner students had more success when they gripped the racquet higher up. 

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