Interactive Forum January 2011: Fernando Verdasco: Forehands

[johnyandell]

This month we are continuing our series from Chris Lewit on the Spanish forehand. And we have an incredible music video with Rafael Nadal hitting four consecutive forehands from a range of extreme court positions. And in the Interactive Forum, a look at that other great Spanish straight arm forehand, hit by Fernando Verdasco.

What do you see that is similar or different with Verdasco compared to Nadal? Connect that to the construction of the Spanish technical swings in Chris's innovative drills. It's Spanish Forehand mania!

Fernando Verdasco: Forehands

[johnyandell]

Quicktime version

Fernando Verdasco: Forehands

[gzhpcu]

As a first impression, Nadal's forehand appears to me to be looser and whippier...

[teniska]

The first thing that I notice is good preparation and balance, great use of all body segments so the whole motion is very fluid and nice to watch. Tremendious whip gives him power and transforms all the energy from his legs and trunk rotations to the ball. Just like Nadal he likes to hit the ball well in front with the straight arm so it gives him nice follow through and windshield whipper.
I think that Verdasco's forehand is penetrating faster through the court than Nadal's (because he can hit flat better) so it is more dangerous when played inside the court.
Maybe he needs to go for more winners with forehand because he is left handed and it is easy to set it up, especially after his serve.
Verdasco seems to have smoother and more natural looking forehand than Nadal and I whould prefere his forehand as a model to teach young kids...

[asdevany]

Lag

I see a lot of lag of the racquet head behind the hand and a nice long, low follow-through. He and Del Potro and, maybe, Berdich hit the ball harder than most.

[johnyandell]

One interesting thing to me is the timing of his opposite arm stretch. Most players time it with the ball bounce. Verdasco is quite a bit later on the last two balls--or maybe those two are slower? What do you guys make of it?

[tennis_chiro]

Late opposite arm stretch

One interesting thing to me is the timing of his opposite arm stretch. Most players time it with the ball bounce. Verdasco is quite a bit later on the last two balls--or maybe those two are slower? What do you guys make of it?

I've been trying to get my players to not only point the opposite hand over to the fence, but also to reach a little further as an initiator of the final downward and then forward swing of the racket head (actually even upward at the last minute in the case of Berdych). When you make the initial move of that opposite hand (right for Verdasco) off toward the fence you load the shoulders and hips, but if you still reach a little further as you start the actual swing you get a little extra spring of the hips and shoulders into the hit. It's tough to get the timing initially, but it does seem effective. If you make the move too soon and try to hold that tension, it doesn't seem as effective or you simply can't hold the tension and the extra effort is wasted as you wait to start the actual forward swing.

Maybe I misunderstood the correct description of the reach with the opposite hand, but I find a lot of people get the left hand (righties) over to the side, but kind of lose the "pre-stretch" effect a little too soon to get their maximum power out of the shot. I think some people are thinking the left hand will lead the body around. It seems to me that happens almost automatically, but you have to work to generate the full "load" of the hip and shoulder muscles into the forehand.

Anybody else?
don

[worldsbestcoach]

flaws in verdasco forehand

Fernando Vesdasco has similarities in his forehand to many topspin forehands on the ATP Tour. I like the way he tracks the ball with his strings. However, he takes his racket back too early and too far, and is trying to control the racket with 1 arm in a tense position. For these reasons, his racket head speed is slowed at impact, and he cannot hit the ball as precisely on his strings as he hopes. He is prone to mishits and to shots that go far from where he aims. Also, with such technique, he must stand too deep in the court, and cannot cut off angles defensively, and cannot quickly bunt or counterpunch the ball into an available opening. His technique is not conducive to smart court coverage. His technique is not conducive to balls coming to him that are low, short, really deep, or really hard-hit.
I like the sidespin that Fernando puts on his topspin forehands, as do Nadal, Soderling, Davenport and other good players. Of course, by hitting with sidespin all the time, Fernando will have trouble with high-bouncing balls and with balls he wants to take really early. From what I saw of Fernando's forehand this weekend on TV, his forehand is improving. Good for him.