There are two variations on the high forehand, Type One and Type Two. We discuss Type One here and Type Two in another lesson.

These two high forehands are distinguished by how the shoulder and elbow are utilized. In the Type One high forehand illustrated by the Shockwave movie to the right, the elbow starts behind the body plane because the shoulder is used to draw the racquet into the takeback position. The action of the shoulder is that of standing at attention and pulling the shoulder back as if you were going to touch your elbows together. (See the shoulder exercise here.)

The height of the elbow depends on the height of the ball, but once this is estimated, it should remain stable. As seen in the video, the racquet is drawn back so that it lies parallel to the ground with the butt pointing forward toward the ball. The shoulder is then pulled forward, dragging the racquet forward by the butt as with the forehand. As the elbow crosses in front of the body plane (the contraction stage), the rotation follows (the degree of the rotation is determined by the degree to which you start with an open or closed stance).

Following the rotation stage, the acceleration stage begins with an upper arm rotation and forearm extension to flow the shot into the strike stage.

This forehand is excellent for knocking down the moon ball or changing the pace in a high ball rally.

A convenient tactic is to throw up a high ball yourself to see if your opponent does the same in self-defense. If so, you can interject the Type One high forehand at will, preferably when you are comfortable and not nervous.