Djokovic's Forehand Setup vs Fonseca | What Can You Learn?

One of the reasons pros rarely look rushed is because of their early racket prep. Here we've got Fonseca on the left, of course Djokovic on the right, and what I want you to notice is how much time elapses between the opponent hitting the ball and when they prepare their racket. Now I'm going to use the definition of racket preparation as when the strings are facing the side. This is known as strings to the crowd. So we're going to be looking at how long it takes for the strings to point to the crowd as if there's a crowd of people on your side, to the side of you, for righties that's to the right, lefties to the left. How much time elapses? So let's look at Fonseca first. And so we've got, there's the contact, we'll put a timer down, and we'll see how long it takes from that moment, the contact, until his racket prepares. So right there, 0.66, so we've got two thirds of a second, and his racket is pointing off to the side. Now let's take Djokovic, who happens to be hitting with Cilic here, and right there is contact. Put a timer down. Let's see how much time elapses between the contact from Marin Cilic to strings to the crowd. So you can see, 0.61. And these are very close. It's not like the reason Djokovic is a better player is simply because he's five hundredths of a second faster with his racket prep, though that's not going to hurt. But the idea is very simple. Most rec players wait well over a second to prepare their racket. Now, I know what you're thinking, but Ryan, the pros are hitting the ball so fast. That's why they need to prepare their racket so early. That's the point. Don't you play people who hit the ball hard? That's the whole point. They're great players because they prepare their racket early. They're taking way less than a second, two thirds of a second, if you will, to prepare the racket. Where most rec players I analyze on a daily basis, which, by the way, if you want me to analyze your forehand, send me an email, ryanat2minutennis.net, and I will analyze it for you, putting you side by side with the pros and show you how to gain a ton of confidence by simply improving your footwork, your timing, your grip, your technique. So send me that email. But it's so simple. Your goal is after your opponent hits the ball, how quickly can you get the racket to point off to the side? It is better to be early on a slower or medium ball than to be late on a fastball, which is typically why recreational players struggle. So go out and practice your forehands. The moment you see the ball come to your forehand, as quickly as you can, get your strings to point off to the side. If the ball is a little slower, you can always wait here for a little bit. It's not the biggest deal in the world if you're preparing early and then have to wait a little bit before you drop the racket into the slot and then contact, because that's going to be much better than you being late on a fastball when all you had to do was prepare like the pros. Looking to gain a ton of confidence by getting video of your technique or match play analyzed? Send me an email, ryan at twominutennis.net, and I'll give you all the details, including pricing, turnaround time, and I'll even show you examples of video lessons I've made for students in the past. Now, if you're tired of lugging around your old and outdated ball machine, then just make your tennis friends jealous and get the Proton ball machine. And right now, you can get free shipping in the USA when you use my link. It's in the description. You'll find it in the first comment. You'll also see it on the screen at the end of this video. The Proton is fully programmable using its intuitive app. In fact, you control it using your smartphone or watch. It holds up to 100 balls. It weighs less than 20 pounds, and now you can get a serve stand so you can finally improve your return and break serve more often. To see how truly amazing this ball machine is and to get free shipping when you order one, be sure to use my link. So click right there to check out the Proton ball machine, and with that link, you're given a coupon code for free shipping. Quickly point your strings to the crowd after your opponent strikes the ball, and if you do, there's no doubt you're going to gain confidence, win more matches, and play much better tennis. This is Ryan Reidy from twominutennis.net. You got this!