3 Forehand Mistakes That Are Killing Your Game (and How to Fix Them)

The forehand is the shot most recreational players hit most often — and the one they practice least deliberately. After analyzing hundreds of forehand videos with AI, the same three mistakes show up over and over. If you can fix even one of them, you'll notice an immediate difference in power, consistency, or both.

1. Late preparation: the racket isn't back early enough

This is the single most common issue. The ball is already on its way to you and your racket is still in front of your body. By the time you start your swing, you're rushed — you end up using your arm instead of your body, and the ball goes everywhere.

What it looks like: In a frame-by-frame breakdown, you'll see the racket still pointing forward when the ball has already bounced. The shoulders haven't turned. The non-dominant hand isn't out front for balance.

The fix: Start your unit turn (shoulders and hips together) the moment you read the ball is coming to your forehand side. The racket doesn't need to go way back — just turn your body and let the racket come along. Think "turn early" rather than "take the racket back."

Drill: Rally with a partner and have them call out "turn!" as soon as they hit the ball. Your goal is to have your shoulders fully sideways by the time the ball crosses the net. Do this for 10 minutes and the timing starts to become automatic.

2. Contact point too close to the body

When your contact point is beside or behind your hip, you lose leverage. You're essentially arm-swinging the ball instead of transferring your body weight through it. The result: weak shots that float, inconsistent direction, and sometimes elbow pain from compensating with your arm.

What it looks like: At the moment of contact, the elbow is bent and tucked in. The hitting arm is cramped against the body. The ball is next to or behind the front hip rather than well out in front.

The fix: The contact point for a forehand should be roughly 12-18 inches in front of your lead hip. Think about catching the ball out in front of you rather than beside you. Your arm should be extending forward at contact, not folding in.

Drill: Stand at the baseline with a basket of balls. Drop-feed to yourself, but focus only on where you make contact. Place a cone or water bottle about 18 inches in front of your lead foot — that's your target contact zone. Hit 50 balls focusing purely on meeting the ball at or past the marker.

3. No follow-through (or follow-through to the wrong place)

A lot of players stop their swing at contact or follow through across their body. This kills topspin and robs you of free power. The racket should finish high — over or around your non-dominant shoulder — not out to the side or down by your waist.

What it looks like: In the frames after contact, the racket decelerates quickly. It finishes low, or wraps around the body at waist height. The wrist stays stiff instead of naturally rolling over.

The fix: Think of your follow-through as "windshield wiper" motion — the racket brushes up and over the ball, and your hand finishes near your opposite ear or shoulder. This generates topspin naturally and adds depth to your shots.

Drill: Shadow swing without a ball, freezing at the finish position. Check: is your hand near your opposite shoulder? Is the racket head above your head? Do 20 shadow swings, holding the finish for 2 seconds each time. Then rally with the same focus.

See it for yourself

The tricky thing about these mistakes is that they're almost impossible to feel while you're playing. You think your racket is back early. You think you're hitting out front. But the video doesn't lie.

That's exactly why we built Stroke Coach — upload a video of your forehand and AI breaks it down frame by frame, showing you exactly where these issues are happening and what to fix first.