Every stroke can be viewed as five stages, as we have said. The most important stage is the strike since this is where everything can go slightly wrong and result in a big mess. As you transition from the acceleration stage to the strike stage, there is a subtle action that cannot be seen on high-speed film, but it is crucial for high-quality contact. We call this the punch. It is the tail end of the acceleration stage and the initiation of the strike. Because this movement is so important for every stroke, we will spend several lessons on it. If you master the punch, you will rapidly develop a professional stroke.

We start the series with the forehand punch—western, eastern, and continental. In the video below, we illustrate the punch with four grip changes in succession, using a ball suspended on a string as an aid to this illustration. You can see that the punch is independent of the grip.

Forehand Punch

Click on photo to see video

The key to the punch is the shoulder. You can see that only a slight movement is needed to produce an extra burst of acceleration that is directed into the ball. This happens at the end of the acceleration stage and is a short impulse force that dramatically accelerates the racquet into the ball. Study the video (which we have staged to slow down the motion) to see where the burst comes from. Increasing the burst only slightly increases the ball speed greatly. The wrist and elbow joint are held fixed, and the motion is produced from the contraction of the shoulder forward, combined with an upper arm rotation. Synchronizing these two motions requires some experimentation.