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Home » Analysis

Measuring the height of the toss and contact point of Tour Professionals

A unique visualization of the measurement of ball throw height and contact point height is shown below.

It can take time to win a point against Nadal

If we look at the impact points of the ball (Ball Impacts) we see that they are neatly distributed all over the field, but mostly ...

A 30 meter running investment to hit forehands

In this rally against Bautista-Agut, Rafa wants to dominate as usual with his forehand.

Nadal’s running speed backwards

If you want to run around a longline return of your opponent as a server, the push-off impulse and the first 1-2 m have to ...

Forehand Topspin Volley Swing Path

The swing path for this topspin volley starts around head height. The racquet moves back and down before moving steeply up to contact. The contact ...

Different Body Volley Solutions

In the following clip you will see Berdych at the net working on his volleys and adjusting to many different shots hit at him. We ...

Two-handed Backhand Topspin Volley

The topspin volley is used in match play as a transition shot from the baseline to the net when players face high slow balls. The ...

Forehand Topspin Volley

The topspin volley is used in match play as a transition shot from the baseline to the net when players face high slow balls. The ...

Forehand Half Volley

The forehand half volley requires a very short backswing and a low preparation. The racquet head remains parallel to the net to assure solid contact ...

Backhand Half Volley

A one handed backhand volley is a nice addition to the game of a two-handed player. The same goes for a one handed half volley. ...

Backhand Topspin Volley Swing Path

The swing path of this topspin Backhand volley starts about head height. The lowest point of the swing is about hip height. You can clearly ...

High Finishing Forehand Volley

In this analysis we see a player hitting a high volley. Contact is in front of the body around shoulder level. There is very litle ...

Backhand Half Volley Swing Path

Just as with the forehand half volley, the backhand half volley uses a very compact backswing. The racquet drops on the backswing and then moves ...

One-handed Backhand Volley from the Side

In this technical demonstration we see a player hitting a medium high backhand voley. In this type of volley the player makes contact with the ...

The Forehand Half Volley Swing Path

The half volley uses a very short backswing starting very close to the ground. The racquet moves down and then up and forwards through contact. ...

Classic Overhead Front View

A basic overhead moving backwards is part of the standard skills needed to play tennis. The player has to turn and start the backswing as ...

The Backhand Drop Volley Swing Path

As with every slice shot, the swing starts above the contact point with the racquet head above the wrist and descends stepply to contact. There ...

Pure Perfection: Contact Point of Dimitrovs Backhand Volley

Let's take a look at super slow motion footage of a high backhand volley executed by Dimitrov.

The Drop Volley Swing Path

The swing path of the forehand drop volley is similar to other drop shot swings, weather in the air or after the bounce. The swing ...

A Perfect Split step and Low Forehand Volley

Sam Stosur shows us what a fluid split step should look like and how to execute an outstanding low forehand volley. Sam moves quickly towards ...

The Forehand Building Volley

The animation shows the path of the racquet on a building forehand, a first volley as the player approaches the net. On these type of ...

Attacking a Short Ball – a Perfect Execution

This slow-motion clip demonstrates several important points about the approach shot and the volley. Berdych detects a short ball and moves quickly diagonally forward gaining ...

Return Two handed BH blocked Front

The faster the serve, the less time to recae and return it. Therefore, the player has to shorten the swing both on the backswing and ...

Return FH Back

In women and junior tennis the return can be one of the weakest shots in the point. A good returner will take advantage of this ...

Return FH Front

Here you will have a chance to take a closer look at a return of a week serve. The player has time to step into ...

Return FH Side

This is a good example of a return of a weak serve. The side view will show us clearly how the player takes advantage of ...

Return FH Slice

Sometimes the best way to return a fast serve is by blocking it back with slice. Here is a good example of how to do ...

Backhand Return – Full Stretched

As the speed of the serve increases the return has become one of the most important strokes of the game. Sometimes, the only thing a ...

Attacking Forehand Return Side View

This is a good example of a return with a full swing, one used to attack a weak serve. The side view shows cleary how ...

One Handed Backhand Slice Return Front

A slice return is a control shot very similar to a vollley. The player uses a compacto swing to block the ball safely back. Let's ...

One Handed Blocked Backhand Return Body Front

One of the most effective serves is the body-serve, which forces the player to move sideways away from the ball to return. This return requires ...

Thiem Defensive Forehand Return (Ad Court)

The forehand from the lateral position occurs in competition tennis in special situations. One of these situations, for example, is a ball that flies relatively ...

One Handed Topspin Blocked Backhand Return Front

Returning a very fast requires a very compacto swing. The player barely has time to turn the torso and set the racquet head behind the ...

Federer’s Offensive Backhand Slice Return (Ad Court)

The forehand from the lateral position occurs in competition tennis in special situations. One of these situations, for example, is a ball that flies relatively ...

Two handed backhand Return back

Returning a very fast serve requires a very compact swing. The player barely has time to turn the torso and set the racquet head behind ...

Return Two Handed BH Front

The slice serve will make the ball rotate sideways and curve. In order to accomplish this, the player has to hit the side of the ...

Different Paths to the Same Goal – A Serve Comparison

Even professional players show differences in their serving motion. Take a look at the difference between Murray's, Dimitrov.s and Raonic's serves

Tossing hand and path of the toss until impact

The unbelievable range of movement variations is particularly evident on serve. In this article, we first look at the variation in Nadal and Dimitrov, at ...

Swing Path Comparison of Flat, Slice and Kick Serves.

When you compare swing path of the flat, slice and kick serves, you will see that the slice and flat serve have similar swing paths ...

Mastering the Tennis Serve: A Comprehensive Breakdown of the Technique

Learn the different phases of the tennis serve, from preparation to follow-through. Mastering this technically demanding shot is crucial for success.

Bird’s Eye View of a Player’s Spin Serve: Key Technical Elements Explained

This video showcases a bird's eye view of a player's spin serve, highlighting key technical elements. Watch as the racquet-head moves from left to right ...

Serve Flat (Back view)

The back view of the flat serve provides a great angle to observe the toss in relation to the body and the racquet path behind ...

Wawrinka’s Toss

Our animation shows exactly the path of the ball on Stan's toss for a second serve.

Thiem’s Serve

In this beautiful photo series, we get the chance to admire Dominik Thiem’s serve. Thiem uses a platform stance, that is he does not step ...

The Serve: Timing the toss

A fluid and flowing pendulum motion generally ensures a smooth ball toss. The speed of the backswing greatly determines, the ideal height and timing of ...

Kick Serve (Back view)

A kick serve allows the player to spin the ball forwards akin to a topspin groundstroke. The spin allows the player to hit higher over ...

Swing Path vs. Technical Details

There is a difference if you look at a stroke from a technical perspective of just focus on the swing path of the racquet head. ...

Drive Forehand Swing Path

The player takes the racquet back through a shoulder rotation. The racquet head lags a bit pointing forwards. As the racquet moves upwards and forwards ...

Slice Open Stance Forehand Swing Path

The swing path of a forehand slice is very similar to a forehand volley except much longer. As the player takes the racquet back, the ...

Forehand Closed Stance (back view)

The forehand from the lateral position occurs in competition tennis in special situations. One of these situations, for example, is a ball that flies relatively ...

Delay and explode: Perfect visualization of the contact point

From this bird's-eye view, you can see the exact contact point in front of the body and the stretching-shortening cycle (lagging) in the transition from ...

With a Crossover-Step into the perfect forehand closed stance position

The forehand from the lateral position occurs in competition tennis in special situations. One of these situations, for example, is a shorter ball that flies ...

High Defensive One Handed Topspin Backhand

The path of the ball is a resutl of the angle of the swing, the racquet head at contact and the speed of the racquet. ...

One-handed Off-the Bounce Backhand (Side view)

Sometimes during a point the player will not have time to move back and will have to hit a ball right of the bounce. This ...

One-handed Backhand Slice Lob (Sideview)

A good lob is an essential tool for any tennis player. A defensive lob at the right time or an offensive lob when unexpected can ...

One-handed Topspin Backhand Lob (Sideview)

When at the net in doubles angle the short lobs and hit deep lobs through the middle or at the opponent’s feet. A good topspin ...

One-handed Topspin Backhand at Shoulder Level (Sideview)

One of the most difficult shots to hit for a player with a one-handed backhand is high bouncing ball. This shot requires the player to ...

One-handed Backhand Topspin Lob Backing up (Sideview)

When the opponent's ball is coming high and deep it is sometimes necessary to back up and hit a defensive shot back. However, the tactical ...

Two-handed Backhand High Contact Point (Front view)

In the front view we can clearly see that even on a high contact backhand the wrists and forearms play an important role as the ...

One-Handed Topspin Backhand

In this demonstration, our player hits a one-handed topspin backhand. The camera follows from the back allowing us to see in more detail how the ...

The Open Racquet Head in the Backhand Lob (Swing Path)

An interesting trayectory of the racquet head on a slice backhand lob. The racquet moves down to the ball and consinues moving down even after ...

Two-Handed Topspin Backhand Swing Path

In this clip the player backs up far behind the baseline and hits a high defensife topspin shot. The racquet path drops quickly from a ...

One-Handed Topspin Backhand with a Closed Stance (Bird View)

In this demonstration we see a player hitting a one handed topspin backhand. The bird view perspective allows us to see a clear circular swing, ...

One-handed Backhand Slice with a Closed Stance (Backview)

A common misconception about the slice is that the racquet cuts under the ball. As you will see in this analysis, at contact the strings ...

One-handed Backhand Slice with a Closed Stance (Frontview)

The front view of this one handed backhand slice allows us to see how the body stays sideways through the shot and how the arms ...

One-handed Backhand Slice with a Closed Stance (Side view)

From this side view we get a close look at the racquet path and racquet-head position throughout the swing on this one handed slice backhand. ...

Low One-handed Backhand with a Closed Stance (Back View)

In this demonstration, we force our player to hit a low topspin backhand. In order to do this effectively, our player will have to lower ...

One-handed Backhand Slice, Low with a Closed Stance (Back view)

In this video we can observe a player hitting a low one-handed backhand slice from the back. In order to hit this shot effectively the ...

One-handed Backhand with a Closed Stance (Front View)

In this demonstration, our player hits a one-handed topspin backhand. The camera follows from the front allowing us to in more detail how the player ...

One-handed Backhand Slice Approach with a Closed Stance (Front view)

The player hits a one-handed slice approach. From the front view you can clearly see how he uses the cross-over step (carioca step) to force ...

One-handed Backhand Approach

In this demonstration, our player hits a one-handed topspin backhand, approaching the net. In order to hit this shot effectively the player has to hit ...

Two-handed backhand with an open stance (Back view)

More and more players are using an open stance to hit the ball. What used to be an exclusivity of the forehand is now more ...

One-handed Backhand with a Closed Stance (Back View)

In this demonstration, our player hits a one-handed topspin backhand. The camera follows from the back allowing us to see in more detail how the ...

Two-handed Backhand with a Closed Stance (Back view)

More and more in modern tennis players are hitting their backhands with an open stance, especially those with a two-handed backhand. However, when the player ...

One-handed Backhand Backing Up

In this video we will analyze a one-handed backhand where the player has to back up. From this frontal camera angle we can clearly see ...

Two-handed Backhand with a Closed Stance, Defensive (Front view)

At times players will have to back up to defend against a high deep shot from the opponent, especially on clay. Ideally the player will ...

One-handed Backhand with a Closed Stance (Side View)

In this demonstration, our player hits a one-handed topspin backhand. The camera follows from the side allowing us to see in more detail exactly where ...

Two-handed backhand dropshot disguised (Back view)

Here we see a nice example of a two handed player disguising a one-handed drop shot. The player sets up as if driving through the ...

One-handed Backhand Slice with a Closed Stance (Birdview)

Here we see a player hitting a one handed slice backhand. The camera is straight over him and allows us to observe the angle of ...

Two-handed Backhand Drop Shot Disguised (Bird view)

This bird view of a disguised drop shot allows us to take a close look at the moment the player changes the swing from a ...

One-handed Backhand Slice Approach (Back view)

This video of the one-handed slice backhand approach from the back show clearly how the racquet head moves high to low and across the body. ...

Two-handed Backhand Drop Shot Disguised (Front View)

A drop shot at the right time is a wonderful way of disrupting the opponent's rhythm. An effective drop shot will have some slice to ...

From a caterpillar to a butterfly – two-handed backhand

In this analysis, we superimposed the same player on a two-handed backhand in three age groups - 10, 11 and 13.

Anticipate the volley

One volley in the wrong place and it can be over in a promising attacking situation. That's the danger against defensive artists like Andy Murray.

Rafa Nadals Massive Angle Shot

How to play wear down an opponent like Rafael Nadal

To "play off" your opponent simply means to move him and wear him down. So, first of all, not to look for the quick point, ...

A Close Look at Roger’s Footwork on a Wide and Deep Forehand

Strokes are built from the ground up. If you do not have an outstanding base of support, hitting in balance becomes impossible. Let’s take a ...

Thiem Ripping a One-Handed Backhand

If you are looking to imitate a one-handed backhand, Dominik Thiem is the perfect model. Here are a few things to observe.

Djokovic Unleashing his Forehand

This is a great example of a player using his whole body to hit a closed-stance forehand. In this series Novak loads his body by ...

The Split Step

You don't have to stick your neck out too far to say that the split step is the most important step combination in tennis. It ...

The Sneak Attack

This clip is a great example of a sneak attack, that is, a situation when a player decides to approach the net only after he/she ...

Taking Time Away from the Opponent

David Ferrer runs around the backhand and hits a forcing return crosscourt. As he sees his opponent in trouble, David moves forward but does not ...

Wawrinka Showing how to Cover a Passing Shot

The players have no choice: Dominic Thiem can barely defend against Wawrinka’s forehand. Wawrinka sees the opportunity to attack. He hits a nice slice backhand ...

How to open the court with an excellent wide serve

Here we can see Maria Sharapova against Lucie Safarova opening the court with a wide kick serve. The serve creates many options for the next ...

Aim High volleys at the net player

The rule in doubles is to hit high volleys at the player closest to you and low volleys at the player farthest from you.

Use the I Formation to Pressure the Returner

The I formation allows the net player to stand much closer to the centre of the court before the start of the point. It also ...

Running to a Short Ball– Keep the Racquet in Front

When running to a short ball it is very important to keep the racquet in front of the body, close to contact.

World-class Doubles in Action – Move with your Partner

One of the reason why some double teams climb in the rankings is their ability to recognize different situations on the court and quickly change ...

Safety Zone or not?

It is interesting to observe how much distance players cover in a long rally. Here is an example. This is the last point between Sabine ...

Rafa’s high defensive shot with great angle and massive topspin

Seconds after having the advantage during the point, the player finds himself on the defensive. Tennis is a game in which players are constantly changing ...

Top Player analysis – rapid fluctuations between offense and defense – Nadal vs Nishikori

This rally between Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori during the Mutua Madrid Open is a great example of the rapid fluctuations between offense and defense ...

Wawrinka Showing how to Cover a Passing Shot

The players have no choice: Dominic Thiem can barely defend against Wawrinka's forehand. Wawrinka sees the opportunity to attack. He hits a nice slice backhand ...

Shot Selection – Not Always Optimal

For each shot, a player has to choose the best alternative from a whole bag of possible alternatives and then be able to execute the ...

Dominic Thiem – Check-Mate

Like in the game of chess, where a a series of moves can end a game, tennis players can also win points through well executed ...

Recovering the court after approach shots

When the opponent hits the tape, it is easy to start bickering about one's bad luck. However, with a little foresight a ball that hits ...

Roger Federer digs deep when needed

Defensive shots and footwork patterns are just as important in world-class tennis as their offensive counterparts. Roger Federer demonstrates how he is not only capable ...

High Performance Movement: Sliding on clay – Maintaining center of gravity

Former ATP-Pro Bjoern Phau shows here in this backhand on the run the demands placed on the feet of a player.

Playing a drop-shot and moving into the court

Here we see a drop-shot situation in a match between Jeremy Chardy and Janko Tipsarevic. Chardy hits a drop-shot and moves well into the court ...

Guaranteed Success – Wide kick serve

Based on official statistics, the second serves to the ad court have the highest success quota. Samantha Stosur has definitely one of the best wide ...

Opening the court with the serve and having options for the next shot

Here we can see Maria Sharapova against Lucie Safarova opening the court with a wide kick serve. The serve creates many options for the next ...

Dominic Thiem – The right shot selection after a full speed sprint.

In this video analysis of the match between the NextGen rising star (in 2016) Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka at the Mutua Madrid Open, one ...

Tommy Haas – A Smart Winner

Tommy Haas show us a great example of a winner in which most risk factors were neutralized, a winner played with minimal risk and with ...

Offensive Game Situation – Gulbis approach and drop shot

During a point, everything can change in a fraction of a second, from offense to defense and back to offense. In this match between Gulbis ...

Pros Matchplay – How Rafa uses the court

Do not Change a Winning Tactic: Once you find something that works, stay with it. Here for example we see one of <a href="http://www.rafaelnadal.com/" target="_blank" ...

Serve and volley situation from Youzhny

Here in the video we see a great example of a serve and volley situation from Youzhny, who serves to the "T" from the ad ...

Doubles – Play Both Back to Return if you are Having Trouble Keeping the Return Low and Crosscourt

One of the most important goals in doubles is to make the opponents play. Therefore, making a large percentage of returns is essential. Whenever you ...

When at the Net Focus on The Opponents

When you are at the net and your partner is back, keep your eyes on your opponents. Do not follow the ball back and forth. ...

Aim at the T when Putting a High Volley Away

One of the most important goals in doubles is to make the opponents play. Therefore, making a large percentage of returns is essential. Whenever you ...

Fight for your Position at the Net during a Crosscourt Rally

When playing one up and one back the players at the net should be in constant motion trying to poach or to defend against a ...

MOVE-FORWARD-AT-THE-NET-AS-YOUR-PARTNER-SERVES

Move Forward at the Net as your Partner Serves

When you are at the net and your partner is serving, make sure you move forward as you hear the serve. This will get you ...

Change your net position to defense

Within a doubles rally the net player will often have to back up quickly to give himself more time to react in case the opponents ...

Cover the middle when partner hits down the line

Any time your partner hits down the line and you are at the net you need to move towards the centre of the court and ...

The Player Diagonal to the Shot Covers the Middle

A big misconception in doubles is that the player with the forehand volley covers the middle. In reality the type of stroke does not play ...

Use lobs to keep the opponent off the net

In this point we see two important tactical concepts. First, we see the returner following her return to the net. It is usually a good ...

When in Doubt Aim at the Feet

In doubles you want to be the team hitting down so aiming low at the opponent’s feet should be an on going tactic. This exchange ...