The forehand drive
Forehand Drive: what good form looks like, and the 8 faults you can see on your own video
What good form looks like
A good drive is a sequence, not a swing. You turn your shoulders and hips early, before the ball bounces, with a compact takeaway. You load your back leg, then step and rotate: hips first, shoulders second, arm last. The paddle starts below the ball and travels low to high, contact out in front at about waist height near your front leg, and you finish high and across your body with your weight on the front foot. Most people think they swing too hard. Usually the real problem is that the body never turned, so swinging harder was the only lever left.
The fundamentals
- Turn your shoulders and hips early, before the ball bounces
- Compact takeaway, paddle staying inside your back hip
- Load your back leg, then step and rotate: hips, then shoulders, then arm
- Contact out in front at about waist height, near your front leg
- Swing low to high and finish high and across your body
- Relaxed grip, roughly four or five out of ten
The camera angle that shows the most
Film this shot from the side. Of the faults below, most reveal themselves in profile: weight transfer, swing path, contact position and balance are all things you see from the side and miss from anywhere else. Each fault below is tagged with the angle that reveals it, so you know what a single clip can and cannot show.
The 8 common faults
Each fault is named by multiple independent coaching sources, tagged for whether it shows up in your body or in the paddle, and mapped to the camera angle that reveals it. Green means the skeleton can see it. Read how to spot it, the fix, and one drill.
All arm, no rotation
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the frontSpot it
Your shoulders stay facing the net through the whole shot and only your arm moves. The ball has no weight on it no matter how hard you swing.
The fix
Turn your shoulders early with the paddle, then rotate hips first, shoulders second, arm last.
Drill it
Hold a ball and throw it down the court as far as you can, ten times. Then hit ten drives chasing that same feeling.
Hitting off your back foot
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
You finish leaning backward, the ball floats, and your weight is still on your back leg at contact.
The fix
Step with your front foot first, then rotate and swing. Finish with your weight on the front foot.
Drill it
Twenty drives where your back heel has to be off the ground at the finish. Film one from the side and check it.
Late contact
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
You feel jammed, the ball sails without dipping, and you swing across your body to catch up to it.
The fix
Take contact at or near your front leg, not beside your torso. Turn earlier and get your feet behind the ball.
Drill it
The front leg tap. Touch your front leg with your non-paddle hand right before you swing. Twenty reps.
Chopping down
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
Drives go into the net or fly long with no dip, and the ball never carries any shape.
The fix
Start the paddle below the ball and swing low to high, finishing above shoulder height.
Drill it
Twenty drives off a drop feed where the only thing that counts is finishing above your shoulder.
Backswing too big
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
Your paddle goes well behind your back hip and you are late on anything hit with pace.
The fix
Keep the takeaway inside your back hip. Imagine a wall a half step behind you.
Drill it
Twenty drives with an actual fence or wall a half step behind you.
Cut-off finish
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the sideSpot it
Your swing stops at or just after contact, and the ball has no pace even though the setup looked fine.
The fix
Finish high, paddle up toward shoulder or eye level and across your body.
Drill it
Twenty drives holding the finish for two seconds before you reset.
Squeezing the handle
In the paddle and handFilm from the frontSpot it
Your forearm tightens, you mishit balls off the frame, and your arm is tired after an hour.
The fix
Take the grip pressure down to about four or five out of ten, and relax your hand between shots.
Drill it
Twenty drives where you say your grip number out loud before each one.
No split step
Visible in the skeletonFilm from the frontSpot it
You get caught standing still, reaching for balls instead of moving to them, and hitting off balance.
The fix
Small split step as your opponent makes contact, then move your feet so the ball arrives in your strike zone.
Drill it
Have a partner feed twenty balls randomly left and right. Split step before every single one.
Reading about it is not the same as seeing it
You can know every fault on this page and still not know which ones are yours. That is the whole problem with technique: it is invisible from inside your own swing. Dinklix draws a pose skeleton on a ten-second clip of your forehand drive and names which of these your body is actually doing, in order, with one thing to start with.