The Forehand

Out and around, NOT up and down..... That’s the mantra of the correct forehand stroke. Most players keep the ball too close to themselves, thus cutting the distance down between them and the ball. Just as the baseball player wants to hit the ball at full extension, so does the racquetball player.

Grip: The proper grip of the forehand is to have your hand on the racquet at 2 o'clock (lefties reverse this). This allows the racquet head to be flat at the point of impact. If you do not have this grip, you would have to rotate your wrist to meet the ball flat. The only other alternative with another grip is to alter your swing. Ah, there's the problem, altering your swing or footwork. Instead of that, hit out and around. This allows you to "snap" your forearm and wrist, increasing racquet head speed. Remember, you hit harder with a whip than you do with a board.

Practice the Drop & Hit: Go near the sidewall at the receiving line and practice forehands. Tip: Don't move your feet so you can work on balance. Hold your pose after you hit harder so your weight will be evenly distributed.

Set-up & Hit: Tap the ball to yourself and kill it on one bounce off the front wall. This gives you practice moving to the ball, and maintaining proper footwork.

Advanced Pinch Drill: Pinch to the front right corner with your forehand and work on moving your feet to put your body in the proper position to accomplish this drill.

The Backhand

The best way to think about a backhand is for right-handers to visualize themselves as a switch hitter and bat left-handed (Lefties visualize batting right-handed). Now, take your non-racquet hand off the grip of the racquet and you have the starting position for the backhand stroke. Another old trick is to visualize throwing a Frisbee (well, I guess it's not that old because Frisbees haven't been around that long). That elbow extension is what creates a perfect backhand. A number of years ago, the old coach was asked to comment on a filming of stroke mechanics. I was amazed to see that when the film was run backwards, the forehand in reverse looked exactly like the backhand. There is no mystery about the backhand stroke except that it is often difficult to reverse the brain process.

Starting Position - Like the forehand, students should set-up with good racquet height and depth. The lead shoulder should be slightly lower than the rear shoulder and the shoulders should turn level when swinging, not up and down. The flatter a player hits the ball, the more control they will have.

Practicing - Drop the ball with an underhand toss, turn away toward the back left corner and then turn into the ball. Make sure you stand around the receiving line for this drill and stay about six feet away from the sidewall. The key phrase here, like the forehand stroke, is out and around, not up and down. I recommend practicing sets of 10 and charting your success. Use those percentages as a gauge of your improvement. Strive to reach 80% good shots in each set. A good shot would be one that is hit low and down the line. Things that make practice easy to be hard - if the ball hits that sidewall, the contact point is too far back (away from the front wall). If the ball goes cross-court, then it was hit too far forward (toward the front wall). If the ball skips, the shoulders were tilted down and if the ball is hit high then the shoulders were tilt up too high. If the ball goes straight in and comes straight back (a good shot) then the shoulders were level and the ball was contacted at the inner thigh of the front leg. Like the forehand, out and around, not up and down. Did I say that before? That's because a player can't say it too much. Try this and happy kill shots will be part of your game.