The ball speed you produce is a combination of the incoming ball speed, the speed of the racquet at contact, how clean the contact is, where on the racquet the ball is struck (racquet-ball contact point (RBCP)), and the ability of the racquet to generate power.

Experiments show that it is very hard to make good use of the incoming ball speed unless it is slow. Assuming the incoming speed is below 15mph then the ability of the racquet to generate power is the next most important contributor to ball speed. This is called the apparent coefficient of restitution( ACOR). ACOR is a number between 0 and 1. The ball speed produced by the racquet in a perfect strike is (1+ACOR) times the racquet head speed at the RBCP. For many racquets ACOR=0.29. By weighting the racquet properly the ACOR can be raised to close to 0.60, almost double.

The racquet speed at the RBCP is produced to a large degree by a combination of hip rotation,Shoulder rotation and upper arm rotation, although other factors can contribute. Of the sources of acceleration, hip rotation is the most important and hardest to produce.

In the rollover animation below we illustrate two consecutive frames from a professional acceleration stage. Note the dramatic angle of advance of the racquet. Exercises to develop this skill we covered in the clinic.

Move cursor over the image to see transition

Acceleration requires strength - DON't get it in the gym!