Have you ever received a soft, floating ball that landed around the 3/4 court area. You know the one. It makes your eyes pop open as you aim to take advantage of the situation, either by hitting a big winner or putting your opponent under serious pressure.
But as the ball leaves your racquet, it doesn’t quite have the pace you want. And it’s got too much topspin (and shape to it) or maybe it doesn’t have enough pace. Whatever the case may be, your opponent now has more time to track down that ball with ease, completely neutralizing your attacking position.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a forehand that could take care of these balls with regularity? By either putting that ball away or forcing an error from your opponent? In this post, I’m going to show you how to do that by mastering the drive forehand.
Let’s dive in.
What’s a Drive Forehand?
There are different types of ‘situational’ forehands that players need to master. One in which I think isn’t practiced enough is the 3/4 court drive forehand.
For those of you who’ve never heard of the drive forehand, it can be characterized as a ball that we ‘level out’. In other words, we hit the shot with less shape and a more direct flight path (see example video below), compared to a typical rally ball.
This ball can be hit both off of the bounce or out of the air. Popularized by Andre Agassi in the early 90s, hitting this ball out of the air is often called a ‘drive’ or ‘swing’ volley.
On top of hitting this type of FH with a more direct flight path, players usually add additional pace to this shot (more than a regular type of shot). Because of these characteristics, it’s a ball used primarily during attacking scenarios.
Having said that, it doesn’t necessarily have to be an ‘all-out’ attack. We can also use it as a ‘building’ ball to set ourselves up for an attack on the next shot.
Needless to say, it’s an important shot to master if you’re tired of missing out on attacking opportunities.
Before we get into the ‘how to train’ part of this post, let’s review a few additional features that make up this lethal shot.
A remote player I coach working on the drive FH in a cooperative live ball drill.
Drive Forehand - 4 Additional Features
1 - The ball you receive will typically be higher, slower and shorter:
You can’t hit a drive forehand if the ball you receive is too low (a common error many players make). When it comes to a baseline exchange, we often have to ‘set-up’ the point to receive the right opportunity to ‘drive the ball’. Usually, the ball lands a bit shorter than normal (somewhere around midcourt), it’s slower and it's got some height to it (i.e. it’s sitting up).
Note - we can also hit a drive forehand from behind the baseline; this is a shot that more advanced players use as it definitely increases the risk of making an error.
2 - The impact point will be higher:
Because the ball you receive is higher than normal, you’ll be making contact with the ball around chest / shoulder height. Any lower than that and it becomes very difficult to drive the ball (odds are the ball will end up in the net). Making contact higher than shoulder height is possible, but mechanics will often break down, causing an error or decreasing the quality of the ball (i.e. less power and/or control).
3 - Your racquet path should be more ‘level’:
Now that you know where to meet the ball (shoulder height), you’ve got to make sure to swing your racquet with a more leveled out - back to front - swing path. If you hit too much from low to high, you’ll create too much shape. Conversely, swinging from high to low will likely cause the ball to go down, hitting the net in the process.
Note - the type of grip you use on the FH will also influence the path of the racquet.
4 - Aim to hit through window 1 or 2:
If you’re not familiar with my ‘window’ analogy, check out this Instagram post. With the drive FH, you’ll want to hit through window 1 or 2 (if you’re closer to the net, you can afford to hit through a lower window but as you get further away, aim to hit through a higher window). Court positioning will dictate this step.
The impact point on a drive FH is typically around shoulder height (sometimes higher).
How to Train the Drive Forehand
Drill: Drive Forehands into the Corner:
Your hitting partner hits looping / floating balls into the 3/4 court area (don’t worry if the balls are a bit wide, short or deep, learn to hit from all positions).
Track them down - running around the backhand - and drive the ball back to your partner into the corner, (this provides repetition in a less predictable way compared to basket feeding).
Make sure you’re tracking the ball well so that you’re meeting it at shoulder/chest height.
Create a challenge - i.e. can you hit 5 (or more) in a row that are leveled out and landing in the appropriate corner?
Variation: Drive Forehand vs Swing Volley
Perform the same drill as above but this time, decide (as early as possible), whether you’ll strike the ball off the bounce or out of the air.
A good rule of thumb - if the incoming ball is more of a moon ball, take it out of the air. If you let it bounce, it might either push you back and afford your opponent more time to get into position OR, you’ll have to hit it on the rise and that might be tough on your timing (this is true even for the most advanced of players).
Here's a college player I coach working on the drive forehand - deciding to hit it out of the air or off the bounce.
Play Points with the Drive Forehand
Finally, when it comes to mastering the drive FH (or any skill for that matter) it’s important to bridge the gap between drills and the match court. To do that, I recommend playing out the point in a ‘game-based’ situation format.
For example, you could ask your partner to feed you that 3/4 court looping ball, but instead of hitting it back to them, you can hit it anywhere in the court. From there, you play the point out as you normally would.
If that’s too easy - in other words, you’re winning every point - you can ask your partner to feed from one corner while you drive it into the other. While they know where you’ll hit (predictability increases), they still have to cover a lot of court to track the ball down.
On the other hand, if the drill is too challenging, simply ask your partner to hit the ball a little slower and/or shorter. The closer you are to the net, the easier the skill of ‘leveling out’ the ball becomes.
And if you’re really struggling, regress the skill even further, by asking your partner or a coach to feed you these shots out of a basket. Just remember, always progress the skill, making sure it resembles the match court as best as possible.
The Final Take
In summary…
The key is to identify when it’s the right time to ‘drive’ the ball. In other words, you should have a clear advantage and the ball should be high enough where you can meet it at shoulder/chest height.
On moon balls, take it out of the air! The timing becomes more challenging but it’s a shot that allows you to attack by both ‘driving the ball’ with pace AND by taking time away from your opponent.
Always bring it back to a game-like situation. You can hit a million of these shots from a basket or hand feed, but if you don’t tie it into a ‘live ball’ scenario, it’ll be a challenge to hit this type of ball when it counts - in a real match.