The 45-Degree Angle
Here is the foundational and first of our three instructional fundamentals at Broudy Tennis: on every stroke — groundstrokes, volley, overhead and serve — your optimal contact point will be the 45-degree angle to the net. You are not concerned here with vague concepts such as "hit out in front" or "take the ball early." You will learn to "live at the 45," as we say at Nonlinear Tennis, and you will love what it does for your game. You will make fewer mistakes, hit more consistently, and even add power to your strokes. This fundamental alone may be a game changer for you, as it has been for many of our players.
How do you find the 45-degree angle to the net? Imagine that you are standing on either the baseline or service line, facing the net, and that there is a line connecting you to the net. The angle formed by this line, along with either the service line or baseline, is a 90-degree angle. Bisect this angle and you have your 45degree angle. Any point along this line will be your optimal contact point.
Our Nonlinear Tennis "Bump Up and Across" drill is a fantastic way to get a handle on how this fundamental works on the volley. On either the forehand or backhand side,
you contact the ball at the 45-degree angle by catching the ball on your racquet strings and lightly bumping the ball up only a foot or two. This will show you your optimal contact point. Then you send the ball back, over the net, as a volley.
Using this fundamental as a basis for a sound volley or groundstroke is so easy, even a junior can do it. In fact, the person demonstrating this in the picture is a 13-year-old Broudy Tennis player! By lining up his body at the 45 and contacting the ball on this imaginary plane, he never misses. He is also using the Broudy Ramp to help feel his hips moving forward, and he practices with the Broudy Wand to work on optimal contact.
Another Nonlinear Tennis drill that helps players dial in the optimal contact point is our "Serve on Your Knees" drill. We show precisely why the 45-degree angle is the only contact point that works on the serve. If you contact the ball too far behind you, on your follow through you will be bunched up like a pretzel. Contact the ball too far in front of you, and the ball will generally go into the net while you fall forward off balance. Contact the ball at the 45 and you will have a clean hit on the ball. You will feel balanced and comfortable. Get yourself a bucket of balls and try this for yourself. You will love the feeling of being able to consistently grab onto the ball and follow through gracefully.
As players become more and more adept at contacting the ball at the 45-degree angle, they invariably discover a particular dynamic in their strokes that can be absolutely thrilling. When you "freeze at the 45," as our players say, your hips stay locked at the 45-degree plane, while your upper body continues big into the follow through. The athleticism involved here can add tremendous power to your strokes, notably your groundstrokes and serve. Our Broudy Tennis players are acutely aware of this phenomenon and are often obsessed with the 45 because of it. At Broudy Tennis we help our students unlock this almost magical benefit of the 45-degree contact point to enhance their own game.
Finally, while the 45-degree contact point offers control and efficiency and power, it also provides an immensely valuable element of disguise. Top players always have two shots on their racquet when they hit at the 45. At the last moment in their stroke they can alter the racquet face an almost imperceptible amount — and by a law of geometry that some of us may have been awake for in high school geometry class — this slight motion at the racquet head is amplified out at the hit into a significant change of direction for the ball. The player can send the ball crosscourt or down the line. This is why it's so hard for the pros at net to read the passing shots of players such as Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.
The 45-degree contact point has been, until now, a secret weapon of the top players. As this fundamental applies
to all the strokes, it adds simplicity to your understanding of the game and will help you on your way to endless rallies, consistent serves and overheads, and effortless volleys.