Classic Strokes Tennis Lessons

In line with our "Classic Strokes" name, we teach simple repeatable classic tennis strokes that are as versatile, powerful, and effective as any of the more extreme types of strokes and grips that you may learn from others.

Our approach is also probably a bit different in that it teaches an overall process for hitting consistently good shots through consistently repeatable technique.  The process is also a lot simpler than you may think as it all starts with a good ready position.

From a consistent ready position, forehands and backhands are as simple as then making a full shoulder turn into a powerful backswing position while maintaining the same racquet angle as in the ready position.  Once in the backswing position, you are like a coiled spring ready to unleash all the power in your upper body, shoulders, core section, and legs into a strong consistent stroke that you can consistently repeat. 

You may already have noticed that I may have omitted mentioning something that might seem important: what should I be doing with my hands and my arms?

My answer is: as little as possible!  With a good ready position and a full shoulder turn, your hands and arms (and feet) will just follow your shoulder turn into a powerful backswing position.  Turning your shoulders back through the hitting position will then result in your hands and arms sweeping through the hitting position as if your hand is at the end of powerful pendulum as you unleash all the power - and control - from muscle groups much stronger than your arms and hands .

The more variations you may introduce with different arm angles and varying hand movements will result in you being further from your goal of having consistently repeatable strokes as you will essentially be doing something different on almost every shot.

One additional area of emphasis is very active footwork.  A lot can be happening on a tennis court with shot speed, trajectory, spin, and the effects of wind.  Good footwork (a video will open showing a footwork drill) allows you to continually adjust to what is happening and use your well grooved strokes in a consistent and effective way.

The highlighted link about footwork also shows a brief weight drill that shows how simple it is to hit a good tennis stroke.  As you will see, it is as natural as letting your fully extended arm just swing back and forth.

For more about our process, comments and pictures are below:

The classic ready position is in this picture.  Aside from having a racquet in your hands, it is the same as any active "sports stance" that would be used in a defensive position ready to react to an opponent or a ball in sports ranging from basketball, soccer, and volleyball.  The objective is to have great balance, be ready to be up on your toes, and to be able to quickly react to shots hit to either your forehand or backhand.  You should also return to the same position along the baseline in the center of the court after every shot.

This next picture shows a side view of the ready position where your grip arm is fully relaxed, essentially fully extended while hanging almost straight down, and maintaining the "wrist down, racquet up" hand and arm angle that you will want to maintain through the entire stroke for always ending up in a consistent hitting position as you drive through the ball on each shot.

This picture shows the full backswing position.  Notice that the hand and arm angle are the same as in the ready position.  Trust me, if you simply turn your shoulders your arm and hand will follow!

This is the forehand hitting position from behind.  Notice again that the hand and arm angle is exactly the same through the entire stroke.  This is the fundamental building block of having consistently repeatable strokes on every shot.  I also have unlimited capabilities for varying the shot in any way that I might like in either spin, ranging from using extreme topspin to hitting very flat, or trajectory ranging from low shots zinging across the net to very annoying loopy moonballs that will bounce over your opponents head through just changing the angle of the sweeping action through the ball.  You do not have to do anything different with your hands or arms to hit such a variety of shots.

The next picture is a view of a backhand from behind.  Notice that the hand and arm angle are still the same as in the ready position and in the forehand.  I can also hit an infinite variety of shots with the same technique with the backhand too ranging from topspin to slice and with varying trajectories as well.  You will also have the same hand and arm angle with a two handed backhand and the other hand on the racquet actually forces you to maintain the same angle.  My beginners have a much easier time with their backhands from the extra support of the other hand also being used to maintain the correct racquet angle and add to their power on each shot.

This is an interesting shot as it is the hitting position on a serve.  Note that the racquet angle relative to the hand and arm continues to be the same and is almost exactly the same as the picture of the forehand from behind that is two pictures above.  I can also hit any variation of serve that I might like with this position ranging from slice to flat and with varying topspin as well by just varying the hitting motion through the ball.

Now things are really beginning to get monotonous as this is the same hand and arm angle on a backhand volley.  Precise technique is even more essential with volleys given quick reaction times.  Playing tennis is not monotonous, however, as reacting to and hitting a wide variety of shots is lots of fun!