A long ball has too much height, too much speed or too little spin for the distance it has to travel. Each of the seven causes below is a different way of getting there. Slowing your arm often keeps the ball in for a while, but it also makes the ball land short, so find the cause first.
How much court do you actually have?
The Rules of Tennis from the ITF (now World Tennis) set the court length at 23.77 m (78 feet), and a ball that touches the line counts as in. Your room shrinks quickly as you move forward. The straight-line distances below are worked out from the measurements in the rules.
| Where you hit from | Distance to the far baseline |
|---|---|
| 1 metre (3 feet) behind your baseline | 24.77 m (81 feet) |
| On your baseline | 23.77 m (78 feet) |
| Halfway between your baseline and service line | 21.03 m (69 feet) |
| On your service line | 18.29 m (60 feet) |
At the service line you have about a quarter less court than at the baseline, with the same swing in your hands. Hitting cross-court helps. Corner to corner on a singles court is about 25.15 m (82.5 feet), which gives you about 1.4 m (4.5 feet) more than the straight line.
Read your long balls before you change anything
Hit 20 rally balls at normal pace. For each long ball, note how far it went past the baseline, what the flight looked like and what the situation was. The table is a starting point, and video will confirm it.
| What you notice | Most likely cause |
|---|---|
| Long by less than a metre (3 feet), and the flight looks normal | A target too close to the baseline, or slightly too little spin |
| Long by several metres, and the ball is still rising after the net | An open face, or a rising swing without enough speed |
| A flat, straight flight with no dip | Too little spin |
| Only when you swing hard | Too much effort |
| Only on deep balls that push you back | Leaning back |
| Long and to one side | Late contact |
| Only on short balls, from inside the court | Shot selection |
Seven causes, how to confirm them on video, and the fix
Film from the side, level with your contact point, and pause on the frames around contact. If you can, compare balls that landed in with balls that went long, because the difference between them is what you are looking for.
| Cause | Confirm on video | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Open face | The strings point upward at contact, with the bottom edge of the frame leading | Check your grip, then hit 10 easy balls with a vertical face |
| Too little spin | The racket moves mostly forward through contact | Drop the racket below the ball and swing up |
| Rising without speed | A steep path, a slow racket and a short finish | Keep accelerating through contact |
| Leaning back | Your head is behind your hips and your weight is on your back foot at contact | Move back early and set your feet |
| Late contact | The ball is level with or behind your hips, and your arm is pushing | Prepare earlier and shorten the take-back |
| Too much effort | Your shoulders lift and your head comes up early on the balls you try to hit hard | Swing at about 70% effort with a full finish |
| Shot selection | On match video, you are inside the baseline for most of your long balls | Shorten the swing, add spin or go cross-court |
Open face and too little spin
These two often come together. An open face sends the ball up on a higher line than you meant, and without topspin nothing brings it back down. Common reasons are a forehand grip close to Continental, or a wrist that lays back as you reach for the ball. Find a grip where the face comes through vertical at your usual contact height, then build spin with the topspin guide.
Rising without speed
A swing can rise and still produce little spin. In a study of 13 NCAA Division I men, topspin was linked to how fast the racket moved upward and to a more closed face, and it showed no link to the racket trajectory itself. A slow, lifting swing pushes the ball up, and the ball keeps going. The answer is usually more racket speed, which feels wrong when balls are going long. Try it in the service boxes first, where you can see the ball drop.
Leaning back
When a deep ball pushes you back, your weight can stay on your back foot and the racket face tilts up with your body. Take your first step back as soon as you read the depth, then plant your feet and move forward into the ball if you have time. If you do not have time, hit a higher, safer ball and reset. Footwork drills that include moving backward help here.
Late contact
A late ball meets the racket while your arm is pushing to catch up. For many players this opens the face and sends a forehand long and to the side, though with a semi-western or Western grip the same mistake often goes into the net instead. The guide to being late on the ball covers the timing fix.
Too much effort
Swinging flat out tends to tense your arm and lift your body, and both can open the face and reduce spin. Compare two clips: normal rally balls and balls you try to hit hard. If your shoulders, your head or your contact height change between them, you have found the cause. Try one round at about 70% effort with a full finish, then raise it only while the ball stays in.
Shot selection
A short ball invites a big swing, but the distance table above shows that at the service line you have about a quarter less court. Use a shorter swing, add spin or go cross-court, where you have more room. High balls can cause a similar problem if you use an Eastern grip. A 2013 review reports that on hard courts, Eastern-grip players typically hit just below hip height, so a shoulder-high ball is outside that zone and is often better taken earlier or played safe.
A depth drill to keep the ball in
The gap between the service line and the baseline is about 5.49 m (18 feet), and you do not need all of it. Put a marker about 1 metre (3 feet) inside the baseline. Your target is the area between the service line and the marker.
- Rally or take feeds for 10 balls at about 70% effort, aiming for the target area.
- Score 1 point for a ball in the area, 0 for a ball short of the service line and minus 1 for a long ball. Write down the total.
- Repeat for three rounds. A suggested target is a score of 6 or more per round.
- Raise your effort by a small step only when you reach the target. If the score falls, add height and spin before you slow your arm down.
- Finish with 10 balls hit from halfway between the baseline and the service line, to practice the shorter court.
Use a simple rule to read the result. If the ball stays in only when you swing slowly, you need more spin. If it stays in at your normal swing once you aim inside the marker, your target was too deep and your technique can stay as it is.
TennisAI's video analysis can help with the swing side of this. It scores your forehand and backhand separately and comments on control, consistency and power. It is an automated estimate and can be wrong. Its listing does not advertise ball tracking or shot placement, so you still count long balls yourself.
Frequently asked questions
Why do my shots go long when I hit hard?
Swinging hard often tenses your arm and reduces spin, so the ball travels further than you meant. Try about 70% effort with a full finish, and add speed only while the ball still lands in.
How long is a tennis court?
Under the Rules of Tennis it is 23.77 m (78 feet) from baseline to baseline. The service lines are 6.40 m (21 feet) from the net.
Should I aim lower to stop hitting long?
Usually no. A lower target reduces your margin over the net and can trade long balls for net errors. Keep the height, add topspin and aim a little further inside the baseline.
Why do my backhands go long?
Check for late contact and an open face first. Film from the side and pause at contact to see where the ball is and where the strings are pointing.
Can my strings or racket make the ball go long?
They can have some effect, and opinions differ on how much. Check your technique first: if some swings land in with the same racket, the racket is probably not the main cause.
See this in your own game
Upload a practice or match video to TennisAI and get feedback on your forehand, backhand and serve.
Sources
- ITF (now World Tennis): 2026 Rules of Tennis (court measurements and Rule 12)
- Journal of Sports Science and Medicine: Influence of Tennis Racquet Kinematics on Ball Topspin Angular Velocity and Accuracy (Kwon et al., 2017)
- Journal of Sports Science and Medicine: Mechanics and Learning Practices Associated with the Tennis Forehand (Reid, Elliott and Crespo, 2013)
This article is general information about tennis training and does not replace a coach or medical advice. Stop and see a professional if something hurts. TennisAI is made by Pace, the publisher of this blog.
