Jack Sock forehand

[stotty]

I notice when Jack strikes the ball above a certain height that the racket tip no longer points down and that the shot reverts to a more classic ATP type forehand, often with the racket tip raised and to the right of the hitting arm.

The slow motion clips on TennisTV caught this going on a few times today in Jack's match Donald Young (now locked at one set apiece as I type).

I notice also in Jason's clip that Jack is hitting a ball well below waist height. Not having studied Jack's forehand at close quarters very often, I wonder if it is an anomaly associated in his case mostly with lower balls?

[eaglesburg]

I notice when Jack strikes the ball above a certain height that the racket tip no longer points down and that the shot reverts to a more classic ATP type forehand, often with the racket tip raised and to the right of the hitting arm.

The slow motion clips on TennisTV caught this going on a few times today in Jack's match Donald Young (now locked at one set apiece as I type).

I notice also in Jason's clip that Jack is hitting a ball well below waist height. Not having studied Jack's forehand at close quarters very often, I wonder if it is an anomaly associated in his case mostly with lower balls?

To me in the videos I have seen of sock's forehand, he seems to hit lots of low forehands. Whether this is his preference or just coincidence, I have no idea.
But he might use his takeback to add extra whip to those low balls.

[jasonfrausto]

Thanks for posting Jason. It is hard to say anyone's forehand is the weapon of Nadals, a guy who won 9 of 10 French Opens until last year, with his forehand being the main reason. Of late though, watching Sock matches vs two players in particular, Dimitrov and Gasquet, Sock's forehand had those 2 shaking their head like I have never seen before, even vs Nadal.

It's certainly a weapon when Sock has time. His ball "appears" to get through the court quicker than Nadal's but that could just be my eyes playing tricks on me.

As far as the low tip position. I would agree that it occurs primarily on low balls. Keeping the racket head in front of the hitting hand throughout the takeback is something he does on almost every ball. To my knowledge, of all the footage I have, no other high level player does this. Is it the key to his tremendous whip? I'm not 100% sure, but it's unique and extremely effective under the right circumstances.

I personally like his forehand, more for the uniqueness over anything else.

-Jason

[stroke]

It's certainly a weapon when Sock has time. His ball "appears" to get through the court quicker than Nadal's but that could just be my eyes playing tricks on me.

As far as the low tip position. I would agree that it occurs primarily on low balls. Keeping the racket head in front of the hitting hand throughout the takeback is something he does on almost every ball. To my knowledge, of all the footage I have, no other high level player does this. Is it the key to his tremendous whip? I'm not 100% sure, but it's unique and extremely effective under the right circumstances.

I personally like his forehand, more for the uniqueness over anything else.

-Jason

Yep, I agree, his ball does seem to have more on it than Nadals, who knows? I really like his short take back to the ball, revealed through your comparison to Fed, the gold standard of short motion on the forehand, without the racquet, just hands. Sock looks to me to have a stronger semi western grip than Nadal. I think Nadals grip is toward the western about as far as one can be in order to have a straight arm at contact. Sock does get very good extension through contact though. I like how socks arm goes from pretty bent in preparation and only extends more to contact, just the opposite of a not so good forehand like Gulbis that goes from straight arm in preparation to bent at contact. And Sock gets massive external and internal arm and shoulder rotation with his motion. One more thing, Brian Gordon, in his articles on the ATP Type 3 forehand, said the very best forehands delay the transition point the longest. Sock seems to really delay his with that super quick hand motion of his.