Thanks a lot Adz.

About the vertical swing: I've found that as a beginner I sometimes tend to get a bit too close to the ball so that when I do play the shot its more like a cricket shot with my racket almost vertical to the floor at the point of contact. However, the chances of doing this are greatly reduced with the horizontal swing.

So, although the vertical swing gives me a lot more power, I tend to avoid playing it even when I have plenty of time to get to the ball so that I keep a proper distance from the ball.

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Ah......... Just tried playing the same technique as your description and there's a few things that I think are slightly different, but it could just be an individual thing.

I think to go with the full picture you'd have to start with the grip position (squash library).

For the backhand you're right that the racquet face is horizontal before you rotate your elbow and turn your wrist slightly. The best way to describe this is rotating your elbow upwards and your wrist forwards (back of hand away from the body). This should get your backhand into the right swing position, but that didn't sound a problem from the original post. Also on the swing through to the ball you should add a rotation to the wrist giving a "whipping" motion into the shot adding power.

For the forehand there are two general ways to swing - One horrizontally and one vertically (search for the thread on the vertical swing). Essentially your preparation will be slightly different depending on your type of swing. Mine tends more towards a vertical swing when tight at the back or on top of the ball, and a horrizontal swing when stretching to reach the shot.

For the vertical swing, the body needs to be next to the ball with your elbow inline or even above your shoulder-height. The arm is brought down vertically and sharply across through the swing and this downward movement generates the power.

For the horrizontal swing, you match up pretty much how the backhand plays out. The racquet face is behind your body with the inside edge of your forearm facing the ceiling (like you were giving someone a thumbs up ). Then you turn your wrist slightly backwards (so the back of your hand turns slightly towards the floor) which will open up your racquet face for the shot. During the swing you rotate your wrist outwards (thumb away from the forearm and back of hand towards the floor) which coincides with the swing of your arm and the connection to the ball. Timed correctly this final twist will give your swing a "whipping" action adding to the power of the shot.

Not always easy to perfect, and it certainly takes time, but personally I think getting this right makes it possible to get the sort of power and directional shots shown by the top pro's!

Cheers

Adz

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Yes this is right as far as I'm aware - very like skimming a stone on water

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You seem to have that pretty right.

The "relevant tags" are in place and here is the squashgame link to the Drive.

Gold Video Clip Forehand from front court showing the consistent swing for each shot.

Liz's demo is here for a foreehand swing action.

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