Interactive Forum January 2018: Jared Donaldson Groundstrokes

[johnyandell]

Jared Donaldson Groundstrokes

Jared Donaldson is a young American who is hovering the top 50 in the world. I’ve watched him from point blank range and his groundstrokes are very, very powerful. But are his fundamentals as good as the truly elite players? Compare his forehand for example with the players in my new article. Is he leaving even more power unproduced on both sides? I think the answer is yes. Your views?

[johnyandell]

Jared Donaldson Groundstrokes

[seano]

Obviously, a talented player. In a practice session, it can be difficult to see the circumstances of what's truly going on but On Donaldson's FH, minor issues:
1) Early release with the left hand in the preparation, resulting in less shoulder turn and left arm stretch.
2) It's tough to truly tell from side angle but looks like the racquet head could be more to the right of his hand in the descending portion of the loop (racq. tip pointing towards the back fence). Resulting in less turbocharging of the shoulder.and less independent movement of the arm in the forward swing.
3) Could use more arm extension thru contact, depending on the type of shot he's trying to hit.
4) Falling away from the first FH shot unnecessarily.

BH Issues -
1) Looks tight in backswing, arms could be further away from his body at the completion of backswing.
2) Contact is too close the the body, the left hitting arm hasn't cleared his trunk.
3) Reaching too far on the last backhand, affecting balance.

[klacr]

Obviously, a talented player. In a practice session, it can be difficult to see the circumstances of what's truly going on but On Donaldson's FH, minor issues:
1) Early release with the left hand in the preparation, resulting in less shoulder turn and left arm stretch.
2) It's tough to truly tell from side angle but looks like the racquet head could be more to the right of his hand in the descending portion of the loop (racq. tip pointing towards the back fence). Resulting in less turbocharging of the shoulder.and less independent movement of the arm in the forward swing.
3) Could use more arm extension thru contact, depending on the type of shot he's trying to hit.
4) Falling away from the first FH shot unnecessarily.

BH Issues -
1) Looks tight in backswing, arms could be further away from his body at the completion of backswing.
2) Contact is too close the the body, the left hitting arm hasn't cleared his trunk.
3) Reaching too far on the last backhand, affecting balance.

Good analysis seano! Just to add my two cents
Forehand
1.) Early release for sure on forehand with non-dominant arm. Berdych only player I can think of that can release early and still get full/complete left arm turn like a stud. Donaldson not nearly as stretched.
2.) The racquet head does look almost vertical with his hand and not out to the right, or as far as many players. On the 3rd forehand in the sequence (from opposite side) it may be a better angle to see this as it starts to tip out on the downward swing but still not nearly as much as many players.
3.) Arm extension is horrendous followed by extreme flip on first ball. Would like to know what shot he was purposely trying to hit though. perhaps a short ball dipper at an approaching player. If it was straight up baseline to baseline exchange I shriek in horror. 2nd ball he leans in nicely to it.

Backhand
1.) Compact swing. I like the racquet tip pointing to outside of hands on this backhand, contrary to his forehand. Also like that the hands stay fairly level with belly button height on it. But seems to muscle it.
2.) Bent/Bent arm structure at contact.

Jan Michael Gambill is his coach. Wonder what impact or influence, if any, that JMG has had on his strokes? I saw Donaldson play last year up close in Delray Beach. Hits a pro tour pace ball, but nothing stood out about him as being exceptional or dynamic. Just another player that gets lost in the mix for me.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[seano]

Kyle, great point about the hands at waist/belly button level. The disadvantage of the bent/bent arm structure, is that it doesn't allow for the aggressive internal shoulder rotation of the back shoulder, allowing for more vertical racquet head speed, thus producing speed & spin.

[sjhara]

This forum is interesting in relation to last months Cici Bellis serve forum.
Here are two young players who recently have had some upward movement in the rankings. What if anything needs to change, improve, and when and how do you make those changes? When is this practice session in relation to his yearly schedule and what is Donaldson working on? Is this a pre-tournament session, a pre-match warm-up, or a block of time set aside for changes? Is he in fact looking to change anything? To my eye there is something missing. While other top players have a more aggressive posture to start their strokes, as well as less active hands, Donaldson to me is not aggressive enough with his starting posture and too aggressive and hard in the hands which shows up on both sides, but more so on the backhand side. There also looks to be a lack of release in both shots, a holding on rather than letting go.
These are things that can be worked on in every practice session.

[arturohernandez]

I agree with everyone's point. It seems to me that he is worried about getting his racket to the right place with a somewhat mechanical stroke. He seems to lack fluidity in his shots which might come from being overly tight. I almost feel like he could use a brace that kept him in contact and just asked him to try and hit it over with very little backswing. This would force him to do a better job of engaging the rest of his body and trying to let the stroke flow from one body part to another and end at the contact point.

Right now his tightness stops the flow of energy from his legs and torso into the shot. He can hit it hard but the question is whether he can adapt the stroke to different conditions, speeds and spins.

The best players seem so fluid when they hit. Even Delpo with his rocket forehand is not muscling the ball. It is like a liquid whip that lashes at his opponents.

The liquid whip aspect is missing here in my eyes.

[doctorhl]

There seems to be a consensus on early left hand drop on forehand which results in less core stretch, resulting in a subsequent power leak. And there seems to be a consensus on lack of fluidity. The "fluidity" thing seems to separate the good from the great. In this case, should he focus on: 1. improving footwork first, to allow more time to change these swing mechanics 2.Just focus on changing the swing mechanics .
I am curious about "fluidity". Should much more emphasis be put on juniors to prepare better in order to increase time; therefore allowin for lower muscle tension levels and better sequencing of swing mechanics? The old Ali quote seems to fit best-"float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". Or is"fluidity" just innate for the gifted and almost impossible to teach?

[hockeyscout]

Everyone who is good at anything laughs to themselves when someone says they are gifted -- there is usually a lot more to the story than meets the eye.

[don_budge]

There seems to be a consensus on early left hand drop on forehand which results in less core stretch, resulting in a subsequent power leak. And there seems to be a consensus on lack of fluidity. The "fluidity" thing seems to separate the good from the great. In this case, should he focus on: 1. improving footwork first, to allow more time to change these swing mechanics 2.Just focus on changing the swing mechanics.

I am curious about "fluidity". Should much more emphasis be put on juniors to prepare better in order to increase time; therefore allowin for lower muscle tension levels and better sequencing of swing mechanics? The old Ali quote seems to fit best-"float like a butterfly, sting like a bee". Or is"fluidity" just innate for the gifted and almost impossible to teach?

Fluid motion is one thing and it is absent in the strokes of Jared Donaldson. It is absent in the modern game of tennis. I see elements of really poor footwork in his forehand and the backhand is what it is. Standard fare for the modern player. Two hands. Why does a grown man need two hands on the racquet? You are limited to the style of game you will play.

But what of style? Here's a word that I haven't heard much in the last years. Not a peep of it on the forum. Style used to be a word that was closely associated with tennis players. There was a time when player's were stylish...they had their own interpretation of a fluid motion with their own embellishments.

When I look at the game of Jared Donaldson here in terms of individual strokes and his service motion I realize how dumbed down the game has become. It is only engineered to hammer out points from the backcourt without any sense of style in terms of tactics or technique for that matter. Players of today may be pretty athletic (although hockeyscout might make a bone of contention of this) but they have no sense of aesthetics or subtleness.

Actually fluidity and style can most certainly be coached. But in fact it is a collaboration between student and teacher. The teacher must recognize each player is an individual and the real lesson is to get the student to cultivate their own style. The style that optimally suits their physical, mental and emotional makeup. It is no surprise to me that the most stylish and individualistic player is Roger Federer and he is vying to become the oldest player ever to hold the number one ranking in men's tennis. This is no coincidence...it is only a fundamental conclusion. The inevitable.