Welcome to Oscar Wegner Tennis Teacher

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MODERN FOREHAND AND THE CONVENTIONAL FOREHAND

The top professionals on the tour all play the modern way. Their forehands are open stance, they track the ball slowly, they follow through across the body, hitting with topspin, and most of all, the top pros wait quite long before taking the racquet back.

In conventional teaching, which discourages you to play like the pros, you are counseled to turn sideways, take the racquet back early, step into the ball, and follow towards the target as if there were five balls standing in line. Unfortunately, these four major points impair coordination, feel, and control of the ball.

It is more natural, even for amateurs, even for beginners, to play exactly like the pros play. With Oscar Wegner's book and videos you'll learn exactly what the pros do, why, and how to apply it to your game. The results have been astounding at every level. Entire countries and continents, like Spain, Russia, and all of South America, have been influenced by Oscar's publications, videos, and ESPN International tips, into teaching, from the very beginning and at the most advanced level, these easy, effective techniques. (Go to the link ESPN International on the home page to see 10 samples of Oscar's video tips)

SAMPLE OF OSCAR WEGNER'S TEACHINGS

Envisioning the contact point BEFORE taking a swing

On the forehand, practice keeping the racquet in front as long as possible, as if going to catch the ball with it, and it will bring about the awareness of where the ball is going to be before you take it back and forth for the swing.

Tracking the ball this way, like Agassi and Federer do, will increase not only the accuracy of your stroke, but also, eventually, as you become confident and hit across your body rather than forward, the power of your swing (a principle of physics and Martial Arts explained in Oscar's book).

The opposite would be to take the racquet back before knowing where you are going to meet it, and then you have to figure out during the forward motion where the contact will be and adjust to it, therefore disturbing your swing. This would be the old, conventional idea of preparing early.

Practice this new way until you are comfortable. In the beginning you may think you don't have enough time to do this, or not enough power. But as you do it over and over, you'll be amazed at the results.

There is a bit of a confusion as to what the best way to hit a forehand is. The forehand swing in tennis gets compared with that of baseball, golf, and other sports, when in actuality the only similarity is with ping-pong played at a high level.

It is not that some other ways of hitting the forehand do not work. They can get the ball in the court, except that the modern forehand (used today by all top pros) is much easier and efficient. It also generates much more topspin, which helps not only to get the ball in the court but creates handling difficulties for the opponent as well.

Players of any level may improve their forehand with a very simple drill (explained here for a right-hander). Stand in front of a wall or fence, facing it (open stance), at a distance where you can touch it comfortably with both hands (about one and a half feet away, 50 centimeters). Hold your racquet with your normal forehand grip and put it to your right, with your hand slightly below waist level and the racquet head lower, about knee level. The racquet face (strings) will be facing the wall.

Now bring the racquet forward, as if you were trying to find the ball slightly from below, and when you are close to the wall bring it up and across in a windshield-wiper arc, vertically, without touching the wall, ending with the right hand over your left shoulder. The racquet face should be vertical, with the palm of your hand facing outwards, not towards your face.

Notice your elbow coming up, finishing almost in front of your chin. Repeat over and over, until your arm gets used to this upward pull. Your biceps and pectoral muscles will accelerate the arm, rather than depending on your rotator cuff, a much weaker muscle.

Below, the book, the five videos in 3 DVDs, fully indexed, and the ESPN Tips CD.