Photo Study of Ana Ivanovic's Forehand

Just before contact, Ana's racquet has risen and begun to whip forward. The uncoiling of her upper body is vividly evident in her dress. Notice how clearly her hitting arm is pulling, rather than pushing, the racquet. The final link in the kinetic chain is amplified by the stretching force exerted on the forearm muscles by the racquet's inertia. As those elastic forearm muscles rebound from their stretch, they help to accelerate the racquet forward.