Problem: Often hitting overheads wide.
Repairs:
- Don't aim too close to the lines. Leave a couple of feet of safety margin.
- Use either a continental or an eastern forehand grip. It's possible to hit an overhead with a semi-western or western grip, but your racquet will want to be facing at an awkward angle, and you'll have to force it to aim into the court. The continental should be your main serving grip, so you'll be used to it, and it will help when you want to spin your overhead. The eastern forehand grip is not recommended for serves, where spin is extremely important, but it can work quite well on overheads, where you can usually hit flat. With an eastern forehand grip, your palm faces the same direction as your strings, so it's easy to feel in which direction you are aiming.
- Make sure you're facing mostly sideways when you swing.
Repairs:
- Keep a loose shoulder, elbow, and wrist. If you stiffen up and try to muscle the ball, you'll get much less power than if you keep everything loose and let your arm and racquet whip up and forward.
- Transfer your body weight onto your front foot as you meet the ball in front of yourself.
Repairs:
- Take lots of little adjusting steps as you position yourself to hit the ball. As noted earlier, meeting the ball too far back or in front can cause errors, and positioning is a major factor, along with timing.
- Don't try to hit the ball with all your might. A quick, relaxed swing will give you more than enough power. If you throw yourself at the ball too violently, you're likely to be off balance, and hitting it excessively hard just magnifies any small errors in timing.
If you have an overhead problem I didn't address here, direct a message to me (ab_tennis) at our tennis forum. I'll answer you promptly.
