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THE TENNIS FOREHAND
Contents
 * 1) The Tennis Forehand
 * 2) Describe Your Topic
 * 3) Forehand Preparation
 * 4) Hitting the Ball
 * 5) Variation
 * 6) Open Stance vs Closed Stance
 * 7) Injury
 * 8) Conclusion
 * 9) Links
 * 10) Source

Description of Topic
Although tennis is a sport that can be played for a lifetime, not everyone who plays modern tennis has a forehand stroke like Roger Federer. The forehand is the fundamental stroke of the game consisting of two phases, preparation and hitting the ball. Learning a proper forehand technique will enhance the game while lessening the chance of injury.

Forehand Preparation
During the preparation phase of the forehand stroke, the lower limbs are positioned in the most commonly used, open stance, whereby the player's feet and hips are parallel to the net (Reid et al., 2013). The open stance is typically used with the forehand for countering shots that are wide and deep in the court (Roetert et al., 2009). In preparing the forehand stroke, most right-handed players axially rotate the trunk ninety degrees from the baseline and bring the racquet head back. Shoulder rotation often precedes hip rotation to one hundred and ten degrees from the baseline. Therefore, there is a twenty to thirty degree shoulder to pelvis separation angle created (Reid et al., 2013). Some researchers believe that the trunk rotation is the key factor to generating greater racquet speed (Seeley et al., 2011). Once the preparatory backswing has been completed and the racquet head is positioned above the shoulders, the body can uncoil and release the stored energy created by this coiling. The uncoiling causes a kinetic chain, where a number of body segments must be coordinated in such a way to generate racquet speed at impact (Elliot, 2007). It is believed that efficient use of the kinetic chain, during the forehand swing will maximize the chance of a powerful shot while minimizing the chance of injury.

Hitting the Ball
The power of the stroke starts with proper foot placement and coiling of the trunk, shoulder, and arm. After the proper preparation phase, whereby the body has coiled and the racquet has been placed in correct backswing position, the player is ready to uncoil, segment by segment, dropping the racquet head below the waste, and swinging towards the ball from a low to a higher vertical position. Segmental rotations of the upper limb contribute to ball speed (Reid et al., 2013). The major contributors of racquet speed are: horizontal flexion of the shoulder, which is responsible for twenty-five percent of the racquet speed at impact, upper arm internal rotation contributes to thirty-five percent of racquet speed, and approximately twenty-five percent of racquet speed at impact is via palmer flexion (Reid et al., 2013). Now when striking the ball the racquet face brushes up on the back of the ball from the low to high position and ends with the racquet over the non-dominant shoulder.

Variation
One major variation of the preparatory phase of the forehand, for right-handed players, is the positioning of the feet perpendicular to the baseline with the left foot forward. This closed stance is a more traditional foot positioning, compared to the more modern open stance, which uses more coiling to generate racquet speed (Ivancevic et al., 2008). The closed stance also limits the ability for adjustments to lateral movements.

Open vs Closed Stance
The open stance generates more racquet speed than the closed stance. This is due to the greater use of the previously discussed kinetic chain. The main kinetic chain motions of the open stance that creates racquet speed in the forehand are from trunk rotation, and horizontal adduction and internal rotation of the shoulder. Although there are some researchers that believe that the closed stance may generate more accurate shots, most believe that it does not generate as much racquet speed as the open stance. This is due to the closed stance requiring less coiling of the body segments, thus generating more precision and less racquet speed (Reid et al., 2013)

Injury
Improper preparation and poor swing mechanics of the forehand can lead to injury. A properly executed kinetic chain will not give rise to injury but players with poor form and lack of weight training to aid joint stability risk the chance of injury. Often the forces of the kinetic chain upon uncoiling will injure at risk joints in the novice player (Bashir & Nuhmani, 2015).

Conclusion
Anyone who has picked up a tennis racquet quickly finds that it is difficult to play like Federer or Nadal. The modern forehand is best played in the open stance position by planting both feet parallel to the net and taking the racquet back as the torso is coiled. Swinging forward from the back swing, allows the energy to be transferred from each body segment and through impact with the ball from a low to a high position, the racquet finish is over the opposite non-dominant shoulder. The correct preparation and swing will allow the development of tremendous racquet speed created by the uncoiling of the body segments without the risk of injury.

Links
The following links provide great resources for learning the tennis forehand and all aspects of the game of tennis.

http://tennis.wikia.com