How can I consistently generate topspin on my tennis forehand?

Question

I have been playing tennis now for the better part of two years. I have watched hundreds of vidoes on youtube demonstrating forehand technique. I've spent countless hours researching and taking notes on the mechanics of the forehand and two years later my Forehand is really not that muc better than when I began and I am extremely frustrated. Ive tried the ball machine, I've tried hitting with people. For the life of me, I cannot hit a decent topspin forehand. I can hit it flat but I can't out any spin. I've tried brushing up, imagining windshield wiper, imagining tracing a beach ball...none of it has worked, everything has failed. I use a semi-western grip and 9 times out of 10 when I try to hit the forehand with even a miniscule amount of pace, it just flys out of the court.

Answer 1

Watching videos and taking notes are not good ways to learn tennis.  Tennis is very hands-on!

Do you have a coach?  If you don't, you should consider getting one.

Answer 2

Okay.  Stop thinking about all this extra c**p while hitting.  It helps some people, but not all.  Also, stop obsessing over the fact that your topspin forehand isn't working.  The more you think it, the more it won't work.  Calm yourself down, and go back to the basics.  Firm wrist (spin should never come from wrist motion), swing low to high, end up over your shoulder.

The semi-western grip should be fine for this.  You want to make sure that your strings are actually angled down slightly when they are hitting the ball.  Let the upward motion of the swing along with the downward-angled strings create the spin.  

A good way to practice is to use extremely exaggerated swings while hitting from the service line.  Works best if you've got another person to return them to you.  For these, you'll really want to emphasize the upward motion of the swing, and not worry so much about swinging through.  This is an exercise of control.  When you go back to the baseline, you'll want to keep the same upward motion, but add some length to your swing so you can get enough power to get the ball deep on the other side of the court (but still in).

I don't look at this as a source of the problem very often, but you might be using a bad racquet for this.  If it's got an oversize head and is lightweight (very light...under 10 oz),  you might look into getting something heavier.  These light racquets are for people who can't create their own power.  So when they are in the hands of somebody who can, it's almost impossible to control the ball.  This would result in hitting the ball long every time you try to add a little pace.  But changing to a heavier racquet would be the last thing to try, and only if you have a super lightweight oversize racquet.

Answer 3

get a western forehand grip that'll generate lots of top spin type in western forehand grip on google and it will show you what it is