How to hit an overhead smash

What a good overhead looks like

1. Recognise the lob early, as it leaves the opponent's racket.
2. Turn sideways immediately, before moving back.
3. Point at the ball with the non-hitting hand, racket up behind the head.
4. Move back with side shuffles or crossover steps, never backpedalling.
5. Swing like a serve, making contact in front of the hitting shoulder.
6. Recover forward to the net if the ball comes back.

From the pointing hand onwards it is a serve without a toss. The arm action, the racket drop and the pronation are the same; see how to serve for the detail on those. What the overhead adds is moving under a ball someone else threw, which is the hard part.

Grip: continental, like the serve

Hit the overhead with a continental grip, base knuckle of the index finger on bevel 2. It lets the forearm pronate and gives you the option of slice for placement. The forehand grip is common among beginners, for the same reason as on the serve: the face is already pointing at the target. It works on sitters and fails on anything that needs angle or control. If your serve is continental, the overhead should be too.

How to hit an overhead, step by step

1. Turn first

The moment you see the lob, turn the shoulders and feet sideways, hitting side back. Turning first means every step afterwards goes in the right direction. Backpedalling (running backwards facing the net) is slow, leaves you square to the ball, and is how people fall over.

2. Point and set the racket

As you turn, lift the non-hitting hand and point at the ball, and take the racket up behind the head into the trophy position, elbow at about shoulder height. The pointing hand tracks the ball down and helps you judge distance. It also keeps the front shoulder up, so you hit up at the ball rather than down at it.

Cue: point at it before you hit it. No pointing hand means late setup.

3. Move back

For a lob a couple of metres behind you, side shuffle: small steps, feet not crossing. For a deeper lob, use crossover steps, the front foot crossing behind or in front of the back one, which covers ground faster. Keep taking small adjustment steps until the last moment. Aim to get behind the ball so you hit it moving forward or standing still, not while still going back.

4. Contact in front

Let the ball come down to full reach and make contact slightly in front of the hitting shoulder, as on a serve. A ball allowed to drift behind the head can only be hit up and long. The legs drive up, the racket drops behind the back, the edge leads and the forearm pronates to square the face at contact.

5. Finish and recover

The racket finishes down across the body, the pointing arm tucks in, and the back leg comes through. Then move forward again. A good overhead often comes back once, and you want to be back near the net to finish it.

Deep lobs: the scissor kick

When the lob is over your head and you cannot get fully behind it, jump off the back leg as you swing, and switch the legs in the air so you land on the other one (the left for a right-hander). The scissor kick keeps the body sideways and balanced while you hit going backwards. Club players should use it only when a lob is too deep to get behind; everywhere else, feet on the ground is more reliable.

Let it bounce or take it in the air

Take it in the air when you can get behind it comfortably, which is most of the time near the net. Let it bounce when the lob is very high (it falls fast and is hard to time), when it drops almost vertically, when you are looking into the sun, or when it is deep enough that you would be smashing from near the baseline anyway. After a bounce the ball is slower and easier to time; the price is that you are further back, so aim for depth rather than an outright winner.

On placement: at club level, a firm overhead to a big target wins more points than a hard one to a line. Hit at about three-quarter pace, deep through the middle or away from the player who lobbed, and keep something back for the second one.

Common overhead mistakes and how to fix them

• Backpedalling. Slow, off balance, contact behind the head. Turn sideways first, then shuffle or crossover.
• No pointing hand. You misjudge the ball and pull the shoulders down. Point at it every time, even on sitters.
• Letting the ball drop too low. Waiting too long, then hitting at head height or lower. Contact is at full reach, as on the serve.
• Swinging flat out. Overheads into the bottom of the net or the back fence. Three-quarter pace, a bigger target.
• Stopping the feet. Arriving at roughly the right spot and then standing still. Keep making small steps until the swing starts.
• Looking at the opponent. Checking where they are instead of watching the ball. Decide the target while the ball is going up; watch the ball while it comes down.

Overhead drills without a court

You need head height and a racket length clear all round. A garden or garage works; a living room usually does not. More in tennis practice at home and shadow swing drills.

• Turn, point, shuffle, swing, 15. From a ready position, turn, point, take three shuffle steps back and shadow the overhead. Alternate shuffle and crossover footwork.
• Point and catch, 20. Outdoors, throw a ball high above you, turn, point and move under it, then catch it with the hitting hand at full reach, just in front of the hitting shoulder, where contact would be. This is the overhead with no racket and no excuse.
• Serve-arm reps. The shadow serve drills in how to serve train the same arm action.

Overhead drills on court

• Touch the net, then smash. A partner at the baseline lobs; you touch the net with the racket, turn, move back and hit. Ten balls, then swap.
• Progressive depth. Start with short lobs near the service line, then move the lobs deeper every five balls until you are using the scissor kick.
• Volley, volley, overhead. Two volleys from a feed, then a lob over you. The overhead after a volley is the one that shows up in matches.
• Bounce smash. High lobs allowed to bounce, hit from near the baseline to a deep target. Depth, not pace.

Related guides

• How to serve in tennis
• How to volley
• How to hit a slice
• Tennis practice at home: how to practise alone
• Shadow swing drills: the complete guide