Sometimes a student has good technical fundamentals but for whatever reason just can’t hit the ball with power. Such was the case with Justin — a 3.5 player in his 40s from Utah. Justin came to me with a very specific goal: he wanted to beat his longtime nemesis who had a worse-looking game but never lost.
Unlike many students, Justin actually used his body well, had a good contact position, and prepared early. So what was holding him back?
Neither he nor I could tell during our warmup hit. But after watching slow motion video of his forehand, we discovered that at the very last moment before contact Justin tightened his entire arm — bicep, forearm, wrist, and fingers — in an effort to exert a last-second dose of power on the ball and steer it to his intended target. Unfortunately, the result of this tension is less control and less power, not more — because flexing your muscles actually slows down the racquet!
My goal for Justin was simple: get him to relax! I worked him through a series of drills that helped him release tension until, finally, he was playing loose — for the first time in his tennis-playing life.
The happy result was more accuracy and power on his stroke with far less effort.
And yes — within a month Justin started beating his longtime rival.
