The Smash: TENNIS MASTERCLASS by Patrick Mouratoglou, EPISODE 7
In this Tennis Masterclass, I talk about the smash.
The smash is a key shot in tennis but it’s also probably the one shot that players practice the least. Not everyone is a good smasher of the ball - it is the weakest part of Novak Djokovic’s game - but it is a shot you can master, if you get the basics right.
You need to know how to get in the right position to hit the ball, when to hit it, where to place it and when it is best to let the ball bounce first.
If you want to improve your smash, take a look at this video as I look in detail at the key elements of the smash and how you can use it to further improve your game.
I have no doubt that if you start following some of this advice, you will soon be smashing like Pete Sampras or Gael Monfils. So, let's begin!!
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:25 - #positioning . Position yourself sideways and turn your shoulder. Use your non-playing arm to help get you in the right place.
3:55 - #wheretohit - how deep should you hit it and which side do you go.
4:40 - #practice hitting your smash to both halves of the court
5:30 - #whentohit - When it’s best to let the ball bounce before smashing
7:25 - #thejumpsmash. How to smash like Pete Sampras and Gael Monfils
7:25 - Why some players are not good at the smash. It’s down to positioning and deceleration.
10:30 - #deepsmash - when a lob lands deep, how to hit the smash well from the baseline
#tennis #smash #tennistip
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THE COACH
Patrick
Good. Now Djokovic is going to win more slams with this lesson.
😂
He missed one (a crucial point) on Sunday (Cincinnati Final).
@@gokhansonaer4694 yeah, break point
i dare him to win in Nadal's presence lol
funny..made me laugh!...
Your lessons improved my tennis a lot Patrick. Thank you very much from Buenos Aires , argentina
The first thing you have to do is ...dont panic 😂😂😂❤🎾
I love you Patrick Mouratoglou❤
Love your lessons. I would love to see a master class on double’s strategy.
Great video, with some important tips almost always not mentioned by coaches or other tutorials.
good seeing you at the US Open 2023 with Holger.
Djokovic precisa assistir esse vídeo toda semana, hahaha.
Congratulations! For me you are de king of the teachers of Tennis. For the moment I start to see your vídeos I made a lot of progression in my Tennis play. Thank you very much.
Great! Thank you Patrick!
Love your videos. Thank you.
So great!
Super professional presentation ! ,
Always great content !
Keep up the good work Patrick!!! Superbbb … magnifique
Thanks so much for this lesson and Greetings from Rome Italy
Thanks coach for your videos !
Thirteen minutes of packed information. Thank you Mr. Mouratoglou!
Excelent Very good Mouratoglou You explain clearly
Thank you for your Lessons Patrick. I would LOVE to see a video about how to do a good lob. Thanks!
Thanks legend.
Master Mouratoglou thanx a lot for these accurate and fantastic lessons. Really really precious for us not pro tennis players.
Thank you tennis master)good quality 🎾😎
I started learning how to SMASH yesterday and this video popped up. Very timely and such a great help! ♥♥♥♥
thanks from Indonesia coach patrick..love your lessons
Very good tips!
This genius did Holger Rune a world of good .
I would love to see a master class about very short balls, balls with heavy backspin because the opinent did over-slice or any other unexpected uncomfortable balls that can happen when you play aggressive against another player and he was late or off position.
hello, for those types of short slice balls I’d say the two things would be (1) recognising the ball early and running up to it early to not let it drop even lower and (2) changing the swing path to be more upwards (since it’s a low ball it has to travel up and over the net), almost as if ur hitting a Rafa shot with a lot of spin. sometimes the low slice ball sits very low so the next shot u hit most times can’t be a winner but will be more of a setup shot to put pressure back on ur opponent. Also best to take these as a whippy forehand (or slice backhand approach) so I’d say work on ur forehand approach shots hitting with a lot of spin. Good luck
Brilliant Patrick the smash is my weakest shot by far, the reason, I play all my shots left handed apart from the serve. I throw right handed but I am left dominant otherwise. So I usually botch a left handed smash which is more like a volley/smash little power unless easy short lob. I am a good player and I have decided to improve my smash and I think I need to be able to change hands and smash right handed. As I have been working hard on my serve following your advice and others such as Tenfitmen it is getting better. This video just popped up synchronicity as what you said is brilliant advice I will go away and practice the aim to have a very good right handed serve. So barring injury I will achieve this. Much gratitude for your free advice. Made my day.
Thank you so much! I was horrible on my overheads in my group class this week because I was afraid to run back. I fell a few years ago in ovrrhead drills. Concussion plus two weeks of vertigo. Anyway, I’m getting back on the horse.🐎
A missed overhead smash is my most common shot :)
Just go for it my friend! A lot of it is trusting your shot
Best advice I got is “stay loose and throw your racket over the ball like a serve.” But it’s hard to get a enough practice cuz who wants to lob at you for half an hour several times a week to get it down? And wall practice doesn’t help much.
@@carlodave9 never tried, but I think I once saw a volleyball player who was spiking against a wall, by himself: he just aimed at the ground just next to the wall, so that the wall gave him back a high and arched ball that he could spike again. The guy definitely got a rhytm, maybe it could work also with tennis.
Thanks for this video, I enjoyed and learned from every bit! But the one that struck me was that about the doninant eye, finding out that I'm left eye dominant... Thanks to it I'm working on the adjustment for the serve
Very useful the smash
gracias Paco
This is a great presentation. I do wish though he had discussed differences in setup related to dominant eye (cross dominant vs. same). I suspect that impacts people whiffing or misreading the overhead.
perfect
I'd like to see more videos about service return. Thank you.
Great video 👍🏻
11:39 nice! 11:31
Le beau-gosse du tennis, vous régalez à chacune de vos vidéos, merci ;-)
very interesting I like Vic Braden teaching on the overhead I read his books
@patric I think here we need a Risk Menagment calculation,basically who have good knowledge on Maths and Risk analysis can predict most of shots
Pointing your left hand toward the flying ball is fine, specially to avoid that ball from going too far back from you or to much in front. However I would like to have a better idea as to what ANGLE relative to my body should that left arm be lifted? 30 degrees , 45 60< or just vary the angle until it is somewhat close to our ball tossing position when we hit the ball. Thanks, amazing videos, mercy.
Excellent advice, particularly in the decision: to let it bounce, or smash it in the air. I find the smashes more effective when you slice them, rather than hitting them flat. Thanks Patrick!
I was told it's better to slice the smash in particular on hard surfaces, to keep the bounce lower, whenever you can't crush them hard and short. Plus, I was also advised to smash at an angle instead of straight forward, to get more available depth. I'll try when I'll learn how to do the darn thing
A quoi ça sert encore de prendre des cours de tennis avec cette masterclass 😝
The good thing with mastering smash is that you can anticipate your opponent will choose pass much likely.
Hi Patrick, I would love to hear your insights and recommendations on HOW to slow down or NOT over hit a forehand or ANY shot really when under pressure or not enough time to prepare. I find myself hitting even harder or too fast when under pressure. I believe it’s more mental than quickness to adjust. But it’s very frustrating to keep blowing balls out because I swing to fast or too hard. HELP! Please❤ This smash lesson is great. Thanks
Great topic! As with many things with tennis, some advice do not work for all. The pointing the ball does not work for me, I always hit it late that way. Started doing more of a quarterback motion I saw at @2minutestraining and voilà, I don't miss much anymore. It helps to a) coil b) turn side ways, c) feel loose. On a side note, interesting Patrick doesn't talk about dominant eye in this video. As soon as he made me aware of the dominant eye thing, I realized it was affecting my smashes; I wasn't seeing well the ball. (righty, right dominant eye). Finally, probably the best smasher of all time is Nadal, at least to me. For those high bouncing balls he stays really back, so he has a lot of distance to the ball. He even waits until the ball has reached the apex and when it's already falling, he moves in front. It helps on not hitting the ball behind you, and on transfering the weight forward. ✌️
Could we have a full two handed backhand masterclass guide pls?
I’ve got a great serve, bad smasher. Good video. Gonna really work on this. It’s hard to get a ton of practice, gotta have a patient partner.
We still missing in the tennis masterclass episode is the forehand and 2handed backhand for both left and right eye dominant. Hope Patrick will include this 2 too to have the best tennis lessons ever.
There is a very complete video of him from one year ago where he goes thoroughly in the eye dominance for 2 handed backhand, just watched it yesterday.
@@elchanclascocina yeah I saw almost all the video. But the masterclass series goes into detail, as general topic, whenever the lessons are mostly based on trained player (they are also really useful too) but those masterclass episode for one handed backend, slice, return, toss, smash etc. are masterpiece for any tennis player. Thanks for hints anyway.
Par le passé j'étais pas mauvais sur les smashs, je n'en ratais presqu'aucun sauf ceux à longue distance, puis l'aponévrosite plantaire gauche et la tendinite du rotulien droit sont arrivées et depuis impossible de retrouver mes marques : je me place mal, je ne sens pas la trajectoire et je fais n'importe quoi. Les conseils prodigués par le coach sont très importants pour ceux qui sont en apprentissage : être de profil, le bras gauche comme viseur (pour les droitiers), l'alignement des épaules et du coude... J'espère retrouver cette année ma capacité à smasher.
Hi Patrick I have a one handed backhand. Been playing for over 15 years. For most of those years I have used the slice back hand and I believe I have a good consistent slice. My problem is two fold when it comes to topspin or flat backhand One is heading the ball in front of me because with slice you have a little more time to hit the slice and can still execute the shot if you are just a tad late. Second, I can’t have the correct grip I.e Richard gasquet. I get caught between the forehead eastern grip and the grip gasquet or theiim useor As for Federer, it seems he hits his one handed backhand with different backhand grips. And 13:04 Also At times he uses his wrist and other times he doesn’t not. It seems to me Fed has two different backhand .grips ( his grip change on his back hand is not as pronounced as it is with wawrinka or theim or gasquet. Lastly even I am right eye dominant I at times lose the ball hit my racquet.meaning if I make a conscious effort to see the ball all the way through, I tend to then be a tad behind or in another word late. Thank you Thank you
👏👏👏👏👏👏
I’m 67 …. and thinking of attending his tennis camp ! Stay a week at his tennis resort !
J'écoute tout et je suis d'accord avec presque tous tes apports, cependant je ne conseillerais pas à mes élèves de commencer le geste de smash en position armée Trophy Pose mais en pré armée avec coudés montés et encore la main libre sur le cœur de la raquette pour passer en position armée quand la bonne distance à été établie par rapport à la trajectoire de la balle. Pendant la phase d'analyse de trajectoire le champ visuel doit être dégagé, donc pas de bras libre monté, entre l'étirement du bras libre et la frappe une seconde ou peu plus seulement doit s'écouler pour optimiser la séquence musculaire et l'effet balancier.
I am good during the day but night time just missed some critical points due to court light not bright.
Pivot then shuffle. Make sure u get ack behind the ball, then go forward and meet the ball pronation. Kill!
What Model Racket is the one he's using in this video?
Hi Patrick, I'd like to know how to effectively beat a person who volleys well (other than using a lob). Thanks.
Can we have a lesson on how to win a tie breaker please? Some players (Novak) are great at them, so it must be something you can learn. Thanks.
I don't think there can be any magic wand there: if you get to the tie breaker, you both are at the same level of play (at least in that particular occasion). Therefore, it just comes down on who keeps one's cool best. And yes, that's definitely something you can learn, although for some people it can be more difficult. That's why top players need top level mental coaching
Hello patrick, I would like to know when you will have a course … or an internship for a Brazilian teacher … thank you, a big hug
More like the miss for me😂😂😂
Cough* djokovic cough*
😂😂😂
I have a daughter that is a machine 👍👍
Novak is not only bad at smashing ( excluding racket smashing 😂) but his volleys are very average ( he can hit reflex volleys but not planned one's) and if any pro wants to win a long rally against him, all they have to do is loop the ball deep with very little pace or top spin and he just implodes 😂. It's really interesting because his defensive skills , ground stroke redirecting skills, returns and serve are top notch and its kept him at the top of the sport, in contrast the weaknesses look exactly like that of an amateur.
Interesting, but still he's the greatest with most GS titles. How do you know that ?
@ale03000 that's tennis and the scoring system. You don't need masterful skills that look amazing, you need the ability to play crucial points and games really well ( mental) and Novak has that better than anyone. There will always be two types of greats as far as people go. Novak is the MSOAT ( most successful of all time, knowing how to win) Roger is the GOAT ( greatest of all time because of his talent, mastery, skill and art of how he made it look)
No his volleying is very good. And honestly his smash is a little underrated now. It's not horrible compared to other players. It's average. And if beating him were just a matter of looping the ball with no pace to him, players would be doing it. The fact that they aren't doing it should tell you how effective it is. You don't have some great insight that the pros don't have lol.
@@DaggerMan11 🤣
Fed fans are next level delusional 😂😂😂 "Most succesfull of all time" 😂😂 yeah because he's also the greatest of all time. I'm convinced at this point you people do it on purpose. Look, as long as you know the bogus you just left as a comment is nothing more than an opinion, then you're good. Snap out of it my guy 😅
Haha. Djoker won't win another major
Don't you think you should extend your racket up...at least past you head....to represent the smash and serve? It's hard to keep watching this lazy approach
Vos références sont systématiquement masculines, quel ennui !