Assume a right-handed player.
Problem: Often hitting overheads long.
Repairs:
- As you swing forward for an overhead smash, your string bed goes from facing upward to forward to down. If you're hitting long, you're probably catching the ball late, while the racquet is still facing at least a little too much upward. Meeting the ball earlier, more in front of you, where the racquet is facing forward, should solve the problem.
- Pointing at the incoming ball with your left hand will help remind you that you want to meet the ball out in front.
- Don't do a windup. On a serve, you have plenty of time for a windup, but on an overhead, it can make you late. You'll get plenty of power on your overhead without a windup.
- Learn to scoot backward quickly with your racquet set back, ready to swing.
- Forcing your wrist to lay back or lock up will keep the racquet from whipping forward properly. Let your wrist snap forward as a natural consequence of your swing. Do not try to snap it forward deliberately. It will snap at the right time on its own, and trying to snap it independently will cause a number of problems.
- If you get caught in a situation where you can't meet the ball in front of yourself, try hitting it with a mixture of topspin and slice, much like you would the common spin serve. The topspin will help force the ball down into the opponent's court.
- If a ball gets too far behind you to hit any kind of normal overhead, use the straight-armed "windmill" or "sky hook" overhead, which allows you to maintain a vertical plane in your racquet face even with the racquet well behind you.
