| The Three Development Stages for the Forehand, Part III |
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The Professional Forehand The third stage in the development of the forehand we call the professional stage. This is where, if you have been doing your exercises, you should advance to the professional forehand. It directly builds on the progressive forehand by separating the rotation and acceleration stages. In addition to the stability provided by the progressive forehand, the professional forehand introduces significant power as a result of the exercises that you have been doing during the progressive stage. The Shockwave video below illustrates this forehand.
Below are QuickTime videos illustrating this forehand. The key component that must be integrated is the use of the shoulder to accelerate and control the racquet at high speeds. The increased ball speed arises from greater stability at high speeds combined with the unique manner of "ejecting" the racquet into the path of the ball at the latest possible point during the stroke.
Exercises that were initiated during the previous stages must be continued, and new exercises must be added. The development of the forehand proceeds in parallel with the development of the other standard strokes, and each stroke proceeds through the same three stages. It is not necessary that all strokes be in the same stage of development together. It is generally better to concentrate on making one stroke very good as soon as possible in order to facilitate and expedite the learning process.
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