Last updated: July 2026 · reviewed by Coach Jay, 35+ year teaching pro.

Tennis Forehand Analysis: Turn Your Biggest Shot Into a Weapon

What is really wrong with your forehand?

The forehand is where most players hit the most balls — and collect the most bad habits. The frustrating part: the miss you see rarely comes from the thing you feel. Balls flying long feel like "too much swing," but usually the contact point is late. Weak, floaty forehands feel like a strength problem, but usually the kinetic chain never fires — the hips and trunk stall and the arm does everything alone.

Coach Jay has watched forehands break down in the same handful of places for 35+ years: grip that fights the swing path, take-back too big or too late, spacing too tight to the ball, contact behind the body, and footwork that never establishes a base. A video analysis finds your spot in that chain and fixes it first.

What does Coach Jay look at in a forehand analysis?

• Grip and racquet face — is your grip helping or fighting the spin and height you want?
• Preparation and take-back — early unit turn, compact loop, on time against real pace.
• Racquet path and contact — driving through the ball out front, low-to-high, with racquet-head speed.
• Spacing and footwork — how you set your base, adjust to the ball, and recover after the shot.
• The kinetic chain — legs → hips → trunk → shoulder → arm, in sequence, so power is free instead of forced.

Watch Coach Jay break down the topspin forehand

His free lesson on the heavy topspin forehand — and why "just brush up the back of the ball" is the tip that keeps club forehands weak:

▶ How to Hit a HEAVY Topspin Forehand (NOT Brushing Up) — Coach Jay on YouTube

How do I film my forehand for analysis?

Two angles: side view (contact point, swing path, spacing) and behind the baseline (direction, depth, ball flight). Hit 5–10 forehands at each angle at real rally pace — not hand-fed slow balls — so the analysis reflects your actual stroke. If your forehand betrays you mainly in matches, send match points instead: the Full Technique / Match Review is built exactly for that.

What kind of fixes come out of a forehand analysis?

Always specific, always ranked, never a list of ten things. A typical breakdown ends with one primary correction — say, an earlier unit turn so the racquet is set before the bounce — plus one or two supporting adjustments and the exact drills to train them. Sometimes the fix is mechanical (contact point, grip, swing path); just as often it is footwork or spacing, because a perfect swing delivered from a bad position is still a bad shot. Coach Jay also tells you what not to change: most players' forehands contain two or three quirks that work fine, and ripping them out costs consistency for nothing. Protecting what already works is half the value of an experienced eye.

What does it cost?

$89 Quick Stroke Review (your single biggest forehand issue + one fix), $149 Detailed Stroke Breakdown (full mechanics review — racquet path, contact, spacing, footwork), $249 Full Technique / Match Review. Details on the pricing page; secure Stripe checkout on the packages section.

Have a question about your forehand first?

Common forehand problems a video review pinpoints

• Late preparation and a rushed, arm-only swing
• Poor spacing — cramped contact or reaching
• An unstable wrist or inconsistent contact point
• A follow-through that reveals a broken kinetic chain

Coach Jay’s method is grounded in tennis physics, physiology and psychology. Further reading: peer-reviewed tennis forehand biomechanics research on PubMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine).