We have discussed the first and second defensive power forehands. In this lesson, we present a third defensive power forehand. Like the first and second defensive forehands, it is only defensive in that the takeback and contraction stages are omitted. In this forehand, the elbow is held close to the body, and the racquet is rotated early, as in the first defensive forehand.

This forehand is useful when your opponent has shanked a slow ball near the net and also when you are surprised in a baseline rally and are unable to execute the takeback and contraction stages of your forehand. It is also useful for hitting passing shots in tense moments when a topspin or high deep ball is not needed. It is primarily effective when the ball is low, unlike the second defensive forehand, which can be used on a high or low ball.

The slow-motion animation below demonstrates how powerful this forehand really is. Becky is tossing a ball from off court that is very slow and low. With minimal effort, the ball can be driven deep with good speed and without a complex motion.

The above animation is a condensed version of a QuickTime video. It provides a closer look at the forehand and is also easier to download. For convenience, we include the QuickTime video as well. However, it might require a long time to download on a dial-up modem (it is approximately 400K).

QuickTime Version

In Part II, we will examine the stages of the third defensive forehand with still photography and rollovers to get a closer look at its execution.