Faster Hands: Elbow Tucked, Paddle Out Front, Finish Where You Start

Summary

Universal Rackets says slow hands usually come from two habits: taking the paddle back and flaring the elbow out, which gets you jammed. Tuck the elbow into the body to kill the backswing, and treat the space as backhand vs forehand zones without a big prep.

Drills: hold a ball under the armpit so the elbow can’t fly; wall tosses with the paddle always out in front — if it moves back, you cheated. Finish where you start so the paddle resets in the ready spot after every contact.

Key takeaways

• Elbow out + paddle back = jammed hands
• Tuck elbow; keep paddle out in front
• Start where you finish — reset to ready after every hit

Action items

• Armpit-ball wall volleys: 30 reps without dropping the ball
• Partner soft-feeds; you must finish paddle in the same ready spot