Push Off Phase

 

 

• General Instructions
• After preparation for the forehand, push off your back foot, rotate your body (torso) back toward the net, drop the racket down and swing forward to your contact point- which will be out in front of your body about waist high. Hit the tennis ball by dropping the racket down slightly below the path of the oncoming ball and then swing forward slightly up at it. Your upper body is now facing the net. Racket should be made contact with the ball when the racket face is parallel to the net with shoulders are perpendicular to the net. At this point, your weight is shifting forward as your body begins to lean forward.

 

• Abduction of the pectoralis minor when the scapula is protracting in forward movement away from the spine during push off, while the serratus anterior upwardly rotates as acceleration is in motion which means the point where the racket is making contact with the ball. You will brush of a little under the ball.
• From external rotation position, begin to slightly internally rotate your pectoralis major, latissimus dorsi, teres major and subscapularis. Flex the shoulder joint by concentrically contracting your deltoid, pectoralis major and coracobrachialis. Also begin to diagonally adduct the shoulder joint by concentrically contracting your pectoralis major, anterior deltoid, and coracobrachialis muscles.
• Begin flexing the right (or dominant arm) elbow joint by concentrically contracting your biceps brachii, brachialis, and brachioradialis while the other elbow joint is in isometric contraction.
• Diagnally abduct your right hip joint by concentrically contracting your gluteus medius, gluteus maximus, and tensor fascia latae while also externally rotating the hip joint by concentrically contracting your gluteus maximus, piriformis, gamellus superior/interior, obtrutator externus/internus and quadratus femoris.
• Internally rotate the left hip joint by concentrically contracting your gracilis, semitendinosus, semimembranosus, and gluteus medius.
• Extend your right knee joint by eccentrically extending your vatus mediualis, vastus intermedius, rectus femoris and vastus lateralis. Flex your left knee joint by concentrically contracting your semitendinosus, biceps femoris, semimembranosus, and gastricnemius