Form

A tennis form is an idealized series of movements that complete the whole stroke – from start to finish.

This ideal form happens only when two conditions are met:

1. The incoming ball is approaching at ideal height, speed, spin, and distance so that the player is able to move their body in a very comfortable way. In other words, the body moves biomechanically optimally.
2. The outgoing ball hit by the player is hit fairly low above the net, with the average amount of topspin and with moderate speed.

Form is what you so far believe is correct tennis technique, and it is what you see being taught on every tennis instructional website, DVD, and book.

You are led to believe that in order to hit the ball well you need to move your body parts (hips, shoulders, arms, hands, etc.) in the exact same way that the pros do – and do that on every single shot.

Again, what you’re being taught is tennis form (the idealized stroke mechanics) – which is correct only for a small percentage of situations in tennis.

So, the main difference between tennis form and tennis technique is that the form is always the same, while the technique adapts to the situation.

The tennis form doesn’t take into account the type of incoming ball:

• Where does it bounce related to the player, and is it falling or rising when hit?
• More flat, more spin, or hit with slice?
• Fast or slow?
• What is the trajectory – high, low?
• Going away from the player or coming into the body?

The form doesn’t take into account the type of outgoing ball – meaning the ball the player wants to play:

• Low or high trajectory?
• Fast or slow?
• Flat, topspin, or slice?
• Changing direction or not?

The form also doesn’t take into account the conditions the player is in:

• Is the player standing or moving?
• If moving, are they moving toward the ball, away from the ball, forward or backward?
• Do they have time, or are they under time pressure?

The form also doesn’t take into account outside conditions, such as wind and court surface – and yet both affect the ball trajectory before and after the bounce.

As you can see, the tennis form is a rigid and very simplified way of presenting a tennis stroke. It does not adjust to the situation although every ball is different and every situation is different.

That’s why it’s hugely detrimental to your game if you’re obsessed with perfect tennis form and if you do not understand how tennis is a game where one needs to adjust in infinite possible ways to the type of incoming ball, the type of ball you want to send away, your position while hitting the ball, and many other conditions.

The perfect tennis form, which you may have defined as technique until now, works only for one type of incoming ball and one type of outgoing ball. It fails to work when it needs to adapt – which in reality is in every shot in tennis.

Why learn tennis form if technique needs to adapt most of the time? The main purpose of learning the proper tennis form of all strokes is to:

Learn to control the ball

If you put two tennis beginners on court who have never taken any lessons and have no theoretical idea on how to control the ball, then most likely they cannot exchange 4 balls in a row, let alone have fun rallying with each other.

Tennis is an extremely demanding sport and very deceiving when you look at two players who can play well – it looks fairly simple. The reality, as you probably know, is much more complex.

Therefore, the player needs to learn how to move his body – learn the form – in order to control the ball and be able to play.

(Note: There are millions of tennis players around the world who have not taken any tennis lessons ever and can play tennis really well. That’s because they understand the basic principles of how to control the ball, and they have excellent ball judgment skills, hand-eye coordination, body coordination, feel for the ball, and good footwork.

Most of these played another sport where balls are involved (soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc.) for many years and have developed good motor skills that are then transferred to the game of tennis.)

There are 5 ball controls in tennis – direction, depth, height, spin, and speed. By learning proper form, we will discover that this helps us control the ball better.

The problem arises when you believe that form determines the ball’s flight rather than that your intention on how you want to hit the ball (trajectory).

Learn to hit the ball biomechanically optimally

The goal is to develop the most controlled force with the least amount of effort.

Again, learning proper form only guides you toward more efficient biomechanics, but unless you develop good motor skills, then you won’t feel the forces and energies inside your body that generate force.

That’s why tennis players spend years developing such motor skills. The only way to actually bring the theoretical tennis form to life and become efficient is to feel your body and feel how you generate controlled force.