Tennis lessons are a common place where “follow through” is often an initial coaching point. This is usually the first thing many people (including parents of kids) assume means their child is doing something incorrectly; or at least that they cannot tell whether their child’s follow-through is what the instructor intends.
Many adult tennis players taking lessons at their local courts often feel as though they are being forced into a certain position that feels unnatural, and/or could make their strokes worse.
This blog post breaks down “follow through” into its components so that parents have a better understanding of exactly what “follow through” is, the reasons coaches (including tennis instructors) put so much emphasis on it, and ways to improve it, regardless of whether you understand it or have fully learned how to do it properly.
Additionally, if you live in the Mountlake Terrace area and take lessons (or select lessons for your child), use this information to better understand what to look for while practicing.
The term “follow-through” refers to the motion of your racquet and body after you hit the ball and how that motion follows the original swing path through to a natural finish. The motion of the muscles and joints during deceleration is part of the complete swing you already initiate and is not considered a separate or additional movement.
Why Follow-Through Matters
The follow-through has a bigger meaning than simply being perfect. A player’s ability to finish a stroke with elegance or balance indicates appropriate timing and enough space at contact with the ball.
An ungraceful or tight follow-through indicates the player may make contact late, have too little space at the contact point, or hold too much tension in the arm and hand.
This is why coaching staffs focus on how a player finishes. The finish provides a visual cue into diagnosing what occurs previously to and upon contact; thus, creating another option for newer players who may not feel their issues yet.
Supports Smooth Deceleration (Especially on Faster Swings)
After you make contact with your racquet during larger swings (such as serves), your body needs to absorb and decelerate a lot of kinetic energy. In general, if a follow-through flows and decelerates naturally, it places less stress on your body than if the follow-through is performed in a jerky manner where you try to stop the weight of your racquet suddenly.
Note: A longer follow-through does not guarantee injury prevention; it indicates coaches should pay attention to the work required to decelerate.
What Follow-Through Does Not Do
Once your strings leave the ball, you cannot add more power to it; therefore, you cannot continue to supply power to the ball with your follow-through. Rather, your follow-through shows the work you put into the ball during your swing (swing path, timing, and stability) and reflects your speed after contact.
What “Good” Follow-Through Looks Like
It is important to focus on more than one specific finishing position after contact with a ball, keep in mind these three key indicators when determining success:
- Continued smoothness of motion after hitting the ball with the racket. There should not be a sudden change in motion from the point of contact; the racket should continue in a natural flow.
- No loss of control or falling backward or sideways after swing completion by the player.
- Ability to regain their center of balance quickly to prepare for another shot.
If you, as a parent, are watching your child participate in junior lessons, using this list of three will be a better way to evaluate how your child is doing as opposed to comparing them to the highlight film of a pro player.
The different types of bodies, grips, ages, and goals for junior players result in a variety of different types of finishing positions.
A good coach working with junior players will emphasize balance and repetitive ball contact as the final result instead of trying to duplicate one pro player’s “pose.”
Follow-Through by Stroke: Forehand, Backhand, Serve, & Volley
The player’s intent determines how they complete their forehand follow-through.
There are many different types of forehand follow-throughs:
Topspin Forehand
The topspin forehand usually has a higher finishing position. This results from the fact that, for a topspin forehand, the swing path is more “low to high.”
Flatter Drive
The flatter drive forehand usually finishes somewhat flatter than a topspin forehand follow-through.
Slice/Underspin Forehand
The slice or underspin forehand can either finish lower than a topspin forehand follow-through or finish more toward the side than a topspin forehand follow-through, depending on what the player is attempting to accomplish.
See also: Different types of tennis ball spin
Backhand Follow-Through: One-Handed & Two-Handed
Because strokes differ, two-handed and one-handed backhand shots produce different follow-throughs.
For example, the body turns when you strike a two-handed backhand, and the finish position indicates how the trunk rotates during the stroke.
Conversely, when you hit a one-handed backhand, both distance and timing are critical factors so the player has sufficient arm length to strike the ball and deliver their best shot.
In many cases when a player struggles to achieve the appropriate finish on a two-handed backhand, the issue may lie in how the player makes contact or shifts balance at the moment of impact and therefore, the player may need to work on honing foot position and using more of the body rather than just using the arms to generate power.
Serve Follow-Through
Finish your serving motion with fluidity instead of rigidity. The follow-through on the serve and the landing from the serve are closely associated elements of your serve.
When the finish is controlled and flows naturally, it produces a more fluid rhythm, better balance whilst serving, and more effective deceleration.
When teaching (or teaching your child) how to serve, your focus should be on establishing basic serving principles prior to focusing solely on the finish. These include:
- Where you consistently toss the ball;
- What timing feels good to you while serving; and
- Allowing your hands to carry your arms up without any tension or force will produce a natural deceleration to control the arm in the follow-through to the serving motion.
Volleys & Blocked Returns
If you have worked through the material above, you should be able to understand how blocking returns works.
The follow-through is generally much shorter when hitting volleys and also when hitting against fast serves. Because you typically have less time to react, the most stable way to direct the ball is going to be a compact follow-through.
This is one of the biggest reasons “follow-through” advice should always be considered in context. The term itself is used in many different ways, and one acceptable definition can mean “shorter” in a volley situation.
Alternatively, if you are trying to hit a relaxed topspin forehand, an abruptly short follow-through may be caused by excessive tension in your body.
Common Follow-Through Mistakes
As with many aspects of tennis, mistakes will be made. But understanding how common mistakes occur can help you avoid them during play and practice. Here are a few ways follow-through shots don’t hit their intended targets.
Mistake 1: Forcing the “Over-the-Shoulder” Finish
In order to produce a finish position, many players will frequently try to emulate that position, but they are not aware of the swing that produced that finish.
When players try to create an artificial finish position it typically results in creating extra tension in the swing, losing timing, and resulting in pulling the contact position away from the body.
What tends to help with this scenario is to create a relaxed grip pressure, take slower repetitions, and create better spacing at the point of impact, allowing for the finish to come naturally.
Mistake 2: Stopping the Racquet Right After Contact
A common situation that both beginners and younger players experience is confusion about what to execute after making contact with the ball. As a result, they often have uncoordinated strikes, limited control over their swing, and too much tension in their arms.
Two helpful things to do are mini tennis and shadow swinging while focusing on the phrase “hit…then continue,” instead of “hit…then freeze.”
Mistake 3: Falling Off to the Side
Players often lose control over their follow-through after making contact with the ball. Once the player loses control, the follow-through is small and uncoordinated because the entire body tries to compensate for the error.
This can be more than a follow-through issue; it can be a problem with footwork and/or spacing.
Two helpful ways to assist players with this type of problem are working on moving better to the ball, using smaller adjustment steps, and learning the distance from the bounce to the point of contact with the ball.
Ready to Improve Your Follow-Through in Mountlake Terrace?
Are you in Mountlake Terrace (or nearby) and interested in building a smoother, more consistent swing? If so, we’d love to help. You can book a lesson or reserve a court here, or explore programs for juniors and adults. Want to meet the team first? Check out our coaches. We also offer pickleball, and if you ever get stuck on terminology, our tennis glossary of terms is a quick reference. For more how-tos and FAQs, visit the blog.