The Role of the Non-Dominant Hand in Tennis

Here is a little advice to help you improve the 2 most dominant shots in today’s tennis….serve and forehand.

Serve:
Allow your tossing hand to continue up towards the ball after you release it. This will keep you sideways longer enabling you to ‘load up’ for more power and control. Also try keeping the palm of your hand facing up to the sky, this will stop the hand from ‘flicking’ when you place (not throw) the ball.

On the follow through bring the tossing hand across in front of your body. This will enable your body to rotate quicker and with more control, just like an ice dancer who spins quicker when their arms are brought in to their body rather than away from the body.


Forehand:
Keep the non dominant hand on the throat of the racket for part of the backswing. This will facilitate a good shoulder turn as well as enabling you to line up for the shot. Imagine you are standing in the middle of a clock (12 o’clock directly ahead of you, 3 o’clock to the right (for right handers). Your non dominant hand should be at 2 or 3 o’clock (10 or 9 o’clock for lefties) when you set up to begin the forward swing.

Having trouble hitting for depth? Perhaps your problem is because you’re not hitting through the contact point enough. Catch the throat of the racquet on the follow through, not the handle. This will make you drive through the ball more after contact for more power and control.