When I hear players talking about the mechanics of their tennis strokes, I hear a lot about backswing, follow through and racquet speed but what I never hear is anyone talking about their release point. The release point is the moment that you transfer the built up energy of your backswing through your shoulder, elbow, wrist and racquet and redirect the incoming ball. It’s probably the most important issue in the swing when it comes to the addition of power to precise ball direction. Without knowing your exact release point you will overpower or hit powerless balls that will often spray wide or long. If your serve, for example, has no power in it then you probably have no release point at all and if you have lots of power but can’t control it into the service box then you haven’t found your exact release point. Take a pitcher in baseball who hasn’t found his exact release point, he won’t be able to throw a strike and will often throw wild pitches into the backstop. I wouldn’t want to be a batter in that game. Or how about a quarterback who hasn’t found his release point, he will over throw and under throw his receivers so much that his coach will probably suggest he become a kicker. Imagine how frustrating that would be to let go of the ball and not know where it is going. It’s the same frustration you have in tennis when you hit a ball but are unsure if it’ll go in or out. So how do you find your release point?

To find your release point, take any one of your swings and go through it in slow motion without hitting a ball. Watch your backswing as it loads then completes and then just as your racquet is about to hit into the imaginary ball I want you to look at the position of your wrist. Pay close attention to right before you hit the ball, at contact and then right after contact. Look at the move your wrist is making. It should be slightly hinged back, then neutral then hinged forward. You have just found your release point. Look at it again throughout your entire swing paying close attention to that hinging move of the release point. You want to see how you got your racquet into the position to release it. Now put it to memory by practicing your release point after every missed shot in practice and in your matches and I promise it won’t be long before you have exact ball direction with power. Good Luck!

Dave Rineberg is an International Tour Coach. He has been coaching ATP, WTA and top-level juniors in South Florida since 1989 and was the hitting coach for Venus and Serena Williams from ’92-’99. Dave is the author of 3 published books: Venus & Serena, My Seven Years as Hitting Coach; Recipe for the Tennis Player’s Soul & In Search of Dorothy.