Interactive Forum October 2017: Madison Keys Groundstrokes

[stotty]

Forehands still aren't such big a deal yet in women's tennis as they are in men's. Serena often breaches the plane of the body, though can shave it down when she has to...and perhaps that's the important thing. Kerber keeps a tight backswing most of the time as do a handful of others. It's interesting that many women are more secure on the their two-handed backhands. I think bigger backswings on the forehand sacrifice reliability. This is definitely the case with the good junior girls I teach and is often the case at tour level.

I cannot tell you how many big backswings I have shaved down only to find they reappear a few weeks later. And no coach on earth as tried harder to resolve this problem more than me. Sometimes I feel I am hitting my head against a wall.

[stroke]

Originally posted by arturohernandez:

“Nadal and Henin both tightened their forehands. I think Keys could do the same. Work more on timing and efficiency and not so much on putting everything into every forehand.
This would open up the short court and the attacking game.”


There is always a cost benefit and time space analysis going on with a player’s technique and tactics.
From last months’ forum on Michal Zverev, his forehand technique allows him to play up on the baseline giving his opponents less time and less space.
For Madison Keys, her forehand technique requires her to play further back behind the baseline giving her opponents more time and more space-which she counters with great ball striking and power. For Zverev to play further behind the baseline his technique would have to change as would Keys’ to play up on the baseline.
What she gains and losses with her wonderfully prepared backhand may be more important to her career then what she gains and losses on her forehand. While she gains acceleration with her exaggerated wrist deviation (at 2:45), she may be losing to injury her ability to sustain a longer career.

The question and challenge for a player is do they want to make technical and tactical changes, can they, and then if so, how.
In Madison Keys’ situation her ongoing wrist injury issues may force a technical and tactical change, particularly with her backhand.

I also think Madison could benefit from a Henin type tweaking of her forehand. We all know Agassi was used for a model in Justine's case. i think Fognini would be a great model. He to me has it all, a simple, compact type 3 fh with explosive results off that side.

[johnyandell]

You are not the only one who like Fognini.

[sperlsco]

You are not the only one who like Fognini.

I'd love to see some high-speed video of Fognini's forehands and backhands (heck, and his serve as well). His strokes are beautiful!

[johnyandell]

We are going to post his forehand this coming month.

[arturohernandez]

Originally posted by arturohernandez:

“Nadal and Henin both tightened their forehands. I think Keys could do the same. Work more on timing and efficiency and not so much on putting everything into every forehand.
This would open up the short court and the attacking game.”


There is always a cost benefit and time space analysis going on with a player’s technique and tactics.
From last months’ forum on Michal Zverev, his forehand technique allows him to play up on the baseline giving his opponents less time and less space.
For Madison Keys, her forehand technique requires her to play further back behind the baseline giving her opponents more time and more space-which she counters with great ball striking and power. For Zverev to play further behind the baseline his technique would have to change as would Keys’ to play up on the baseline.
What she gains and losses with her wonderfully prepared backhand may be more important to her career then what she gains and losses on her forehand. While she gains acceleration with her exaggerated wrist deviation (at 2:45), she may be losing to injury her ability to sustain a longer career.

The question and challenge for a player is do they want to make technical and tactical changes, can they, and then if so, how.
In Madison Keys’ situation her ongoing wrist injury issues may force a technical and tactical change, particularly with her backhand.

It's an interesting though process. Where is my stroke the best? Where on the court can I hit it the best?

But I do think that the bigness of her forehand quickly put her on the map as a junior.

However, the extreme grip and the racket facing back create a problem later.

There has been a lot of talk of trying to create a more modern forehand in the Women's game.

Henin did it and I think more coaches may try to follow a similar model in the future.

I keep coming back to what the most important part of the stroke is, contact in front of the body.

In order for her to get to that point she would need to hit a TON of forehands.

And as she hit a TON of forehands it got better.

But I really wonder if she could have made better progress by hitting fewer forehands but trying to get the basics down better.

I am starting to sound old school, but I really wonder if the old school strict coaches would have coaxed her into a better core forehand at a younger age.

A forehand she could build into a better one later. One that was more adaptable and could adjust.

And I think the easiest recipe is clay. Clay courts will force more adjustments due to the irregular bounces.

Hard courts create the illusion that the same stroke can always work.

Then again I don't work with kids every day and as Stotty noted it is not that easy to convince someone to do something different.

Great discussion!