Footwork and position from the ball

Your position or distance from the ball is one of the most important things in separating a decent shot from a great shot. This drill is designed to help you find your best distance on your forehand and backhand side, as well as help with the footwork necessary to set up for each.
1) Grab a friend, this drill is for two.
2) Get at least ten balls and a racquet.
3) Have one person stand on the baseline with their racquet and the other feeding from the service line.
4) Toss the balls just out of reach in sets of 10, alternating between forehand and backhand for each feed, (start slow the first set and speed up every new set).
5) Pay close attention to how you move to the ball and what feels like the best distance, if you have to reach out for the ball or the ball is too close and you are cramped then you will need to readjust.
If you have more than 2, or taking semi-private or group lesson, then you can have the others shadow hit behind the baseline player. If this is the case make sure the person actually hitting the ball has plenty of room!

The continental grip

Okay, you've made it through your first few lessons. Now you are ready to take on volleying and serving. To do both of these, you need to first move your hand into continental grip.
Why should I use continental?
Continental is very useful because it aids in angling the ball directly into the court both at the net and when serving. Because of the way your shoulders are turned when serving and volleying, the continental grip will allow you to line up the ball based on the new angle of your racquet. From the net, your shoulders are only slightly turned, to put your racquet even with the court you need to change the grip on your racquet and therefore the angle.
This is done by moving you hand to bevel 4 if you are right handed, or bevel 1 if you are left handed. Again, your index finger should run up the new bevel and it should fit comfortably in your palm. To check if you are in continental, you can stand still, and try to bounce the ball straight up and down against the ground. If the ball bounces right back up to your racquet, then you need to adjust your grip. This is also useful when serving because of how your shoulders are positioned.
When you serve, your shoulders should be completely even with the lines on the court. In order to make a successful serve, your shoulders must open as you swing. To minimize the amount that they need to turn, you can start in continental grip, taking out some extra rotation and also adding that direct angle towards the ball. Next time you serve, get in position behind the base line. If your shoulders are closed and in normal grip, you should notice that you racquet's angle points directly down the side that you are on. Since you need to serve cross-court, if you start in continental grip, you will notice that just holding the racquet in the air, it is already pointed towards the correct service box.
This grip may feel a little strange at first but I promise you will get used to it. In fact, for some it may even feel better than your normal grip! If that is the case, I encourage you to use it as much as possible. Continental grip, if used correctly, will create natural topspin for your forehand side on the ball, and it will cause that visible arc motion when watching the ball.  Keep in mind though that you may have to readjust your grip for your backhand as the angle is no longer flat, but turned up towards the sky on that side.

The backspin slice

Backspin

Okay so you've been working on your shots and you have them down pretty good. What's next? A good step to go to once you can confidently hit 8/10 or 9/10 shots without 'pattycaking' them over the net is the backspin or back slice.
This shot can be done from either the forehand or backhand side. To hit a  back slice, start in either your normal or a continental grip. (Try out both and see which feels more natural for you.) Start with the racquet high as opposed to low or waist high. Make sure you have about a 45 degree angle on your racquet head, not vertical or horizontal with the court, but somewhere comfortably in between. Bring the racquet through the ball, keeping that angle throughout the shot, and bring the racquet slightly downwards with your swing, ending at about your waist. Keep visual contact with the ball, and leave your head down as you would with any other shot after the hit is made. It is very important that you retain the angle your racquet head makes throughout the shot or you may end up hitting the frame or fail to have enough power to hit the ball over the net.
This shot on the backhand side can be done either one or two-handed. If you try the one hand, make sure you bring your weak hand up to the bridge or throat (shown below) of the racquet to stabilize the shot. 

Parts of a racquet

Then, as you swing, let the racquet come out of your weak hand and bring it down through the shot, keeping your weak hand up in the air as you swing.

This is one of the harder shots to understand the 'feeling' of how you should hit the ball, and by that, one of the harder shots to master. However, once you add this shot to your repertoire, it can be a great tool as it can be used for offense, defense, or a neutral shot. 

Is my grip too big or too small?

Grip size

Unsure if the size of your racquet's grip is too big or too small? You should make like the picture to the right! Hold the racquet as you would normally and if you can fit your index finger of the weak hand between the other hand comfortably, touching the tip of your middle finger and bottom of your palm then you are golden. If you can fit one and a half fingers or more then you need a larger grip! The easiest fix is to add an over grip to your racquet which is a cheep fix and also easy to replace when you start to wear it down. You can also increase the racquet grip dimensions but doing so would require purchasing a new racquet! If the grip is too small and you can't fit a finger then you need a smaller grip. From here, if you have an over grip on the racquet, then it needs to come off. If you don't then you need to get a new racquet with a larger grip.

How to hold the racquet

So you're new to the sport and have never touched a racquet in your life. Not a problem! Holding the racquet is very easy. The easiest way to describe a standard, beginner grip on the racquet is to put it flat on the ground and pick it up as you would a frying pan. If this doesn't make sense than lets take a deeper look into it.

The racquet has eight sides or bevels. To grip the racquet normally, line up the part of your dominant hand circled in the picture with the top bevel marked on the octagon that is your racquet grip. Your index finger should be able to run up the top of the racquet toward the head. The top of the racquet should then fit comfortably inside your palm with your fingers closed around the grip. You want to keep a tight enough grip to prevent the racquet sliding while swinging, but not so tight that you could define it as a 'death grip.' Your weaker hand should then be placed right above the dominant hand in the same manor.

Basic forehand technique

 For every player, the starting point of their game is their forehand. The forehand should compose of 70% of your hits from the baseline and is to most people the easiest shot to make and master.

Step 1

To begin, make sure your your feet are lined up, parallel with the lines of the court and your knees are slightly bent. To start your swing, bring your racquet slightly back and drop the ball so that it bounces around waist level. Your weaker hand should try to shadow the right, keeping it up initially in front of your body for balance.

Step 2

 Next, keep eye contact with your shot and the ball and try to place the ball directly to the center of your racquet. If you are playing with a new racquet try to hit the center of the logo on the strings. Keep your swing low with your racquet pointed slightly down towards the court. Also bring your weak hand up with your swing, leaving the distance between the two hands about the same.

Step 3

Keep your head down, eyes on where contact with the racquet was made. Drive all the way through the ball and bring your racquet up towards your shoulder so that you lift the ball up and over the net. It is important that you keep swinging after hitting the ball. Don't half swing or stop after the initial moment of contact.

Step 4

Last, bring the racquet all the way up, over your shoulder and let your weak hand re grip the racquet. You should feel yourself being pulled into the court with this overall motion if done fluidly. Take one step with your back foot, moving forward, following that pull. I like to call this the momentum step.

Most importantly, practice! Learning this sport is all about repetition and learning from your mistakes! The more times you hit a shot the better you get at it. 

How to choose your first racquet

Your first racquet can be tough to chose, however, it doesn't have to be so hard.

Keep in mind that if you are buying your FIRST racquet, then you are most likely new to the sport.

So, lets look at beginner racquets. A beginner racquet will be about the same no matter what brand you buy, note however that some are better then others though. I recommend something that doesn't feel too heavy and that you can tolerate swinging around for an hour to an hour and a half. Ideally the racquet should be from 5 to 9oz, light enough so that until your technique develops, you have a harder time over-hitting the ball and spend more time hitting it in. I would also suggest a racquet with a large head size which is the area that the strings cover inside the frame. I would go anywhere from  100" to 110".

 For example, the Wilson Pro Limited 110 BLX (below) is just such a racquet, with a head size of 110" and its weight just over 9oz. The weight is a touch high for a beginner, but is still in the realm of playable for newbies. Keep in mind that this racquet is still designed as a performance racquet and its price of around $90 to $100 reflects that. Be at ease though, because a racquet like this will easily carry you through a long time of development and should physically last a long while. A cheaper alternative would be a racquet from the (K) series. The (K) series is before BLX and while most of the racquets aren't 'state of the art,' they are more than capable of getting the job done, especially for a beginner/intermediate player.  Importantly, make sure you buy a racquet with the right grip size! If you don't know if the racquet grip you are looking at is too big or small then check out my post here.