Interactive Forum: Nov 2007 Berdych: Forehand

[EricMatuszewski]

Tomas Berdych has made a name for himself as an upset maker. The highlights of his career thus far have been the upsets of Federer at the Olympics and the straight set ousting of Nadal in last years Madrid masters despite enduring the jeers of 10,000 upset hometown fans. After silencing Nadal with winners, Berdych silenced the deafening crowd with a finger to his lips.

The 6'5" Czech is capable of reducing any opponent on the planet into little more than a disgruntled spectator when he gets on a roll. As Fed and Nadal have witnessed, when this guy finds the range on the forehand, you don't really have much say in the matter.

His flatter than average forehand may have something to do with the streaky quality of his game that's capable of ousting big names but hasn't yet found its way into a slam semifinal.

What do you notice that's mechanically unusual about the Berdych "Silencer".
Forehand Side1





Forehand Side2





Forehand Side3

[EricMatuszewski]

QuickTime Forhand Side1




QuickTime Forhand Side2




QuickTime Forhand Side3

[lukman41985]

I sat right on the court during Tomas's match this year at Indian Wells. During warm-ups I was in awe of how fluid all his strokes were. There appears to be no tension whatsoever--rather like Federer. However, Tomas brings Safin-like size to the table. Effortless stroke production of Federer combined with the God-given physicality of Safin--SCARY. Unfortunately, Tomas seems to lack the consistent mental focus it takes to be a consistent top 10 player. Hopefully, it's something he can develop because he has all the tools to be a great champion.

On the forehand, it's interesting you use the word flat. Out in tennis world, I think most people equate flat/heavy with spin, although some use it to refer to trajectory. In the case of Berdych, his forehand has a flat trajectory but a good amount of spin. His standard rally shot is very reminiscent of Federer, but he doesn't employ nearly the same variety as consistently--though I've seen him hit all the shots.

Technically, the foreahand looks like it lacks some extension. Which reminds me, Tomas gets in trouble when he stars losing some depth on the forehand. It's at this point his opponent can jump on a ball and get this big guy running side-to-side. As gifted an athlete as Tomas is, this is never a good situation.

Also, the arm and wrist are as fluid and loose as they come--comparable to Nadal and Federer.

[EricMatuszewski]

Lukman,

Good to hear from you, did you start med school yet? Where are you at?

I actually taped Berdych play Safin in a practice set at the US Open last year. Berdych's ball seemed to move faster after the bounce but didn't have as much clearance.

Paradoxically, Safin made more errors though. Both guys are great movers... for their heights, but they both seem to be aware that playing early pressure points make more sense for their body types on a relatively fast court.

As for that looseness. The video definitely shows a high degree of shoulder flexibility for Berdych. His "drop" position on the serve is very similar to Sampras.

Would you compare this forehand to Fed without "extension"?

[jeffreycounts]

His follow through looks a lot like Federer with the elbow breaking. And the more fluid wrist as Lukman pointed out. However. Federer's contact point is at least a foot or more farther in front - with his straighter arm and added torso rotation. In fact, I'd say the best forehands in the world - Safin, Nalbandain, Roddick, Federer, Nadal, Blake are all taking the ball about a foot to a foot and a half earlier than Berdych (at least as seen from these clips).

In these clips, he just isn't contacting the ball far enough in front of his body. It's something I rarely see in a player of his caliber. Of course, these clips could just be the exception so I'd have to look at more variety.

[royhoo]

Grip

Do you think the flatness of his ball is a result of the grip he uses. Looks Eastern to me, very unusual in this day and age for any top tour player to use anything but Semi-Western/Western. Is the Eastern grip an advantage or disadvantage for Berdych.

[johnyandell]

I think it's definitely a conservative grip! Could be a 3 / 3 but maybe for like a 3 1/2 / 3 like Federer, or even a tad further underneath.

As Lukman noted (and especially for the length of his arms) there isn't tremendous extension on the forward swing. There is a fair amount of hand rotation on some balls, but not enough to move the finish around the side of his body like Roger.

How flat the shot is--that's difficult to tell--remember even Agassi was around 2000rpm off the racket on average. I'd say he's probably in the same range but we haven't measured that. But yep that would go with the grip style. I'd like to have more film of him-eventually we will-and see him play matches against the top players in big situations-then you could see how his shots really stack up. If you can hit it flat and hard enough, and still have it go in, you can hurt any player-but the question is what is enough? And can you get to "enough" in this day and age with what amount of spin.

These are more questions than answers...