Conquer Your Overhead Slam Woes

You finally get an incredibly inviting pop-up from your opponent. Your eyes go wide - this is exactly the opportunity you've been dreaming about. This time for sure, there will be a dent in the court from the incredible power of your shot. You wind up and give it everything you've got. And it dies a horrible death in middle of the the net.

So what is going on here? If you are facing the net while taking this shot (you almost certainly are) then your paddle at the end of your arm travels pretty much in a circular path. Sort of like one of the hands on a clock going around in a circle. So to get the ball exactly where you want it, there is a fairly small point of contact on that circle where you have to hit the ball. You are generally in a hurry and you want to crush it, so you swing too hard and you actually hit the ball way PAST the best contact point. And into the net.

So a little bit more patience will help, but the most effective fix is to turn your body to a closed stance (facing the sideline, either forehand or backhand). As you do this, your weight should shift to your back foot. As you take the stroke, your weight will shift back to your front foot and that movement will effectively flatten out the top of the stroke "circle" I talked about above. This will help you hit the ball a bit earlier and that will keep it from going into the net.

Practice this movement a bit without a ball so that you can get used to the footwork. Then get a drill partner to pop up some balls for you. As with everything, get some good practice in and you will see significant positive results.

See you on the courts.

Michael Gauthier