Getting your first groundstrokes consistent is the key to actually enjoying tennis. Here’s how to get there faster.
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend gear I’d actually use myself.
When I first started learning tennis, I had one big problem: I kept jumping. Every time the ball came toward me, I’d leave my feet right before I hit it. My instructor had to tell me over and over to stay grounded and keep my feet planted through the swing. It took a while before it clicked, and even longer before it stopped being something I had to consciously think about.
The grip was another thing. There’s a specific way to hold a tennis racket for each stroke, and none of it feels natural at first. Neither does the motion of actually hitting the ball correctly. But once you get those basics locked in, the game opens up fast.
If you’re just starting out or thinking about picking up the sport, this guide covers the two most important things: how to build consistent groundstrokes from scratch, and how to get there without picking up bad habits that are hard to break later. If you want to know why tennis is worth learning in the first place, we covered the health benefits of playing tennis in a separate post.
Start With Groundstrokes, Not Everything Else
A lot of beginners want to learn everything at once. They want to serve, volley, and overhead smash right out of the gate. That’s the wrong approach.
The forehand and backhand groundstrokes are the foundation of the entire game. If you can rally consistently from the baseline, you can play tennis and enjoy it. Everything else can come later. The serve, the volley, the overhead all build on top of the groundstroke foundation. Rush them and you’ll be working twice as hard to undo bad habits.
The other thing worth knowing upfront: when you first start, you shouldn’t even be playing from the full baseline. You start closer to the net, at what’s called mini tennis, played from just behind the service line. The shorter distance gives you time to actually see the ball, judge where it’s going, and make clean contact. That’s where all of the following steps begin.
5 Steps to Consistent Groundstrokes
Step 1: Start From the Contact Point and Extend Forward
Before you learn the full swing, you learn where the ball should meet the racket. Place the racket just slightly behind where you expect to make contact, and when the ball arrives, simply extend your arm forward and upward to guide it over the net.
This feels weak at first. You’ll think you need more swing to get the ball anywhere. But even a few inches of forward racket motion transfers enough energy to send the ball to your partner. The point of this step is training your eyes and hands to meet the ball at the right spot every time, not generating power.
This applies to the forehand, one-handed backhand, and two-handed backhand. All three start the same way. Don’t worry about follow-through yet. Just find the contact point and extend forward.
Step 2: Add the Follow-Through
Once you’re hitting the contact point consistently, add the follow-through. On the forehand and two-handed backhand, the racket finishes over your shoulder, with the edge touching your shoulder and the butt cap pointing toward the net.
On the one-handed backhand it’s different. Your body stays sideways, arm fully extended, racket vertical with the butt cap pointing toward the ground.
Keep playing mini tennis at this stage. You’re still placing the racket at the contact point before each ball, but now you’re adding the finishing motion every time so it starts to become automatic.
Step 3: Add the Split Step
The split step is the footwork element that makes everything else work better. It’s a small hop where you leave the ground with your feet apart and land ready to push off in any direction.
The timing is what matters. You need to land the split step exactly when you recognize which direction the ball is going. Land it too early and you’re standing still waiting. Land it right and you’ll feel like you can explode toward the ball. It takes repetition to get the timing right but once you do, your ability to reach balls improves noticeably.
This was part of what was tripping me up with the jumping. I was confusing the split step with the actual swing and jumping at the wrong moment. The split step happens as you’re reading the incoming ball, not as you’re hitting it.
Step 4: Move Back and Add Stroke Preparation
Before going to the full baseline, practice at about three-quarter distance from the net, aiming shots toward your partner’s service line. This keeps ball speed manageable while introducing the preparation phase of each stroke.
On the forehand, use your non-dominant hand on the throat of the racket and turn your whole body as one unit while keeping your head facing forward. Both arms extend to the side during the turn. Release the non-dominant hand, let the racket drop behind you, then pull it through the contact point and follow-through you already know.
On the two-handed backhand, the preparation is similar since the stroke is essentially a forehand with the non-dominant hand leading. During the unit turn, the dominant hand changes from the eastern forehand grip to the continental while the non-dominant hand slides down from the throat to the handle. Practice this grip change until it happens quickly and without thinking.
On the one-handed backhand, you still do the unit turn with the non-dominant hand on the throat. Let the racket drop, then release the non-dominant hand just before the racket accelerates toward the contact point.
Step 5: Play From the Baseline
Once you’re comfortable at three-quarter distance, move back to the baseline. Don’t try to force more power. Just let your body find it naturally. A little more body rotation and a slightly longer backswing will come on their own as the ball arrives faster from greater distance. Trust the foundation you built in the previous steps.
5 Tips to Accelerate Your Progress
Tip 1: Learn to Judge the Ball With a Two-Bounce Drill
Ball judgment improves with play, but you can speed it up with one simple drill. Let the ball bounce twice before you hit it. You’ll have to move further back, but have your partner still aim their first bounce into the service box. Watching the ball travel further before you hit it trains your eyes to track its full trajectory. After a few minutes of two-bounce play, switch back to one bounce and notice whether your positioning feels more natural.
Tip 2: Practice Touch at the Net to Stop Overhitting
One of the most common problems for new players is swinging too hard. The moving ball triggers a bigger swing than the situation calls for. To reset this, stand right next to the net and have your partner toss the ball directly into your racket face. With the net right there, you physically can’t backswing. You’ll quickly realize you can get the ball to your partner with almost no swing at all. After a minute of this, move back to the service line and try to carry that minimal swing feel into your normal hitting.
Tip 3: Monitor Your Tension Level
Tight muscles produce inconsistent shots. When you’re tense, your swing loses fluidity and your timing gets worse. A useful trick: rate your tension from 1 to 5 while you’re playing, with 5 being the most tense. If you notice you’re at a 3 or higher, consciously ask yourself to come down to a 2. Your body can do it when you actually check in with it. Most beginners are tense and don’t realize it until they start looking for it.
Tip 4: Play in an Arc, Not a Line
Beginners often aim just over the net, thinking a low ball is a good ball. It’s not. A ball that barely clears the net clips it the moment anything goes slightly wrong. The correct flight path for most groundstrokes is an arc that clears the net by several feet and lands in the court. A useful practice tool is placing an obstacle on top of the net, your racket bag stood on its end, a cone, anything that forces you to hit higher. The exaggerated arc you practice with the obstacle will translate to a cleaner, safer arc when you remove it.
Tip 5: Get to the Ball Early
Feeling rushed before you hit almost always produces a poor shot. To train yourself to arrive early, exaggerate it in practice: have your partner point to a spot on the court, run there before they feed the ball, stop, and wait for the ball to arrive. Getting comfortable with that moment of stillness before you swing is the goal. Once you’re aware of it, you’ll start looking for it in live play and your shot quality will improve considerably.
Choosing Your First Racket
You don’t need to spend a lot of money to get started, but you do want something designed for beginners. The main things to look for are a large head size (100 square inches or more for a bigger sweet spot), light weight (9 to 10.6 ounces so it’s easy to swing), and a pre-strung frame so it’s ready to play out of the box.
Here are the options that consistently get the best marks for beginners in 2026:
Wilson Tour Slam: The most consistently recommended beginner racket across multiple independent sources. Lightweight, forgiving, pre-strung, and priced well under $60. A solid first racket for someone who wants to try the sport without committing to a big spend. Check current pricing on Amazon.
HEAD Ti.S6: Consistently rated the best overall beginner racket by multiple sources. The oversized head and titanium construction give you a huge sweet spot and excellent vibration dampening. Costs a bit more but players love it enough to be repeat buyers. Check current pricing on Amazon.
Babolat Boost Drive: One of the most popular beginner choices for a reason. Lightweight, comfortable, and very forgiving. Helps new players generate easy power without swinging hard, which matches exactly the kind of hitting we covered in the steps above. Check current pricing on Amazon.
Wilson Clash 108: The best option if arm comfort is a priority. Wilson’s flexible frame construction absorbs shock better than traditional stiff frames, which matters during longer practice sessions. Great for older beginners or anyone with previous elbow or shoulder issues. Check current pricing on Amazon.
HEAD Ti. Conquest: The lightest option on this list at 9.7 ounces and the most budget-friendly. Good for players with slower swing speeds or those who plan to play occasionally rather than regularly. Pre-strung and ready to play. Check current pricing on Amazon.
The Bottom Line
Tennis has a real learning curve, but it’s not as steep as it feels in the first few sessions. The progression from mini tennis to baseline play, with the five steps above, is genuinely the fastest way to build a consistent foundation. Follow it and you’ll be rallying cooperatively with a partner within a few sessions rather than chasing errant balls around the court.
The grip and the hitting technique were the hardest things for me to pick up. The jumping habit took even longer to break. But once those clicked, the game became a lot more fun a lot faster. Stick with the fundamentals and the rest follows.
What are your biggest challenges getting started as a tennis beginner? Drop them in the comments below. If there’s a specific part of the game giving you trouble, I’m happy to dig into it.
