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Mastering Basic Tennis Techniques

Now that you have a very basic grip of the game, you’ll want to get a few basic techniques down before tackling an opponent. Some tennis facilities have areas where you can either hit balls against a board or wall or have a machine serve balls to you across a tennis court. Set yourself up in one of these practice areas and work on these four basic things before taking on your first game. And remember; start slow and easy and warm up before all strenuous exercise:

    •   Gripping then racquet – Hold the racquet in the opposite hand to your strong hand (left hand if you’re right handed, right if you’re left). Turn the racquet until its face is perpendicular to the ground. Grip the racquet toward the base end with your free hand and wrap your fingers, leaving them slightly apart, around the grip. The V between your thumb and forefinger should sit directly on top of the grip.

    •   Serving the ball – There’s nothing that says you can’t score your points right off the serve so good technique with your first shot may be the key to success with tennis. Try practicing this: Stand about a foot behind the baseline (don’t step over the line – that’s a foul). Hold the ball in one hand and toss it into the air while you bring the racquet straight back over your shoulder. Drive the racquet through the ball as it falls. The racquet should be facing slightly downwards when it connects with the ball.

    •   The Forehand ground stroke – Rotate your grip on the racquet so the point of the V between thumb and forefinger is aligned with the first bump (corner) of the grip (to the right if you’re right handed and left if you’re left). Hitting the ball forward from your strong side is called a forehand stroke and is the most basic of shots. To be successful in tennis, you want to hit a controlled stroke and deliver enough power so the ball goes where you aim it into your opponent’s side of the court. To do this with a forehand shot, start from a face-forward, feet-shoulder-width-apart, knees-slightly-bent stance. As the ball comes to you, rotate your shoulders back to your strong side swinging the racquet back while you do. Swing the racquet forward to strike the ball, pivoting your feet. Drive your body through the stroke to add power to the shot. In a good forehand stroke, the racquet continues on an arc after striking the ball and ends up out over your weak-side shoulder.

    •   The Backhand ground stroke – When a serve or volley comes at your weak side you need to return the ball with a backhand shot. Rotate your grip opposite to the rotation for a forehand stroke. Start from a similar stance as with a forehand but bring the racquet across the weak side of your body, turning your hips perpendicular to the ball. For more control in a backhand, grip the racquet with both hands. To ensure power in the backhand, pivot your torso through the stroke. In a good backhand stroke, the racquet ends up high over your strong-side shoulder.



This is an update to a longer article about Tennis. Click here to go back to the full article, Tennis: How the Pros Play

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