Eastern forehand hit reverse style generates massive spin!

[lukman41985]

John,
I was out hitting today. After watching all of the Pete Sampras forehand arm action clips, I was inspired to go out and practice his marvelous reverse forehand. The results were awesome. Whereas I feel I over-extend on my forehand, commiting too much to a horizontal swing path that is pretty inconsistent. I instead tried to whip the racquet up the ball as fast as I could on a vertical plane, mainly by rotating my arm. I was generating as much topspin as I ever have and am convinced that for players who like to grind it out from the baseline, this technique could work well if those players are uncomfortable with semi-western or western grips. But, I should be cautious. What is the danger in hitting all my forehands in this fashion?

[johnyandell]

Again, to repeat myself, it's very hard to say without seeing. Although you see good players hit reverse forehands from almost anywhere, none of them do it all the time--certainly not in long baseline rallies. It's situational--on running or low balls or when forced on time. Hard to hit it deep consistently. There is probably some other reason you aren't hitting as much topspin with other finishes.