Two forehands- pulling it off?

[knifer]

My son grew up playing FHs from both sides, ages 6-10. Club pro talked him out of it. He's 15 now. 9 UTR. Recently, he played a blue chip that plays FHs on both sides. Now he wants to try it again. What are your thoughts, in general, of this? What are your thoughts specifically with his stroke in pulling this off?

https://youtu.be/0QbPmheUOWk

[johnyandell]

That it could be the wave of the future? Here is one perspective:

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/classiclessons/chris_lewit/future_trends/part_2/

[stotty]

My son grew up playing FHs from both sides, ages 6-10. Club pro talked him out of it. He's 15 now. 9 UTR. Recently, he played a blue chip that plays FHs on both sides. Now he wants to try it again. What are your thoughts, in general, of this? What are your thoughts specifically with his stroke in pulling this off?

Interesting the shape of both his forehands are so similar. He certainly seems to be doing it very well from the clip.

I would dread the concept taking off because the game is monotonous enough as it is these days without players bashing identical torpedoes off both wings. I like Roger's idea of increasing repertoire rather than decreasing it for the sake of power. Can you imagine no sliced backhands anymore? Surely a player will never then develop a backhand volley either?

To answer your question, he can definitely pull it off, it's just not the way, as a spectator, I would want to see the game go.

Thanks for posting. He looks a great talent to work with. Do he prefer one wing above the other or are both forehands equal?

[johnyandell]

Stotty he could have two slice backhands.

[stotty]

Stotty he could have two slice backhands.

Good point. You're right...two sliced backhands...two backhand volleys. I am now warming to the idea.

[knifer]

He looks a great talent to work with. Do he prefer one wing above the other or are both forehands equal?

Which hand looks dominant?

[stotty]

Left hand dominant. He opts to run round on that side whereas the right hand he doesn't. He seems to cope better left handed with the balls that are that bit more intricate to deal with. But he is so good at doing both! What a skill that is just on it's own. I play like a complete beginner with my non-dominant hand.

[knifer]

Nope- he’s a righty!

[don_budge]

Nope- he’s a righty!

Obviously.

[don_budge]

My son grew up playing FHs from both sides, ages 6-10. Club pro talked him out of it. He's 15 now. 9 UTR. Recently, he played a blue chip that plays FHs on both sides. Now he wants to try it again. What are your thoughts, in general, of this? What are your thoughts specifically with his stroke in pulling this off?

https://youtu.be/0QbPmheUOWk

When I first started going to the tennis courts with my parents way back when I used to switch hands to hit the ball. That all changed when the man who was to be my tennis coach took me into the gymnasium and told me to serve the ball against the wall. For some reason I used my left hand. Up until that point I was pretty much right handed...throwing, shooting baskets, etc.

Fast forward to some years and the coach had summer programs for aspiring tennis players in the area. There were two brothers who used T2000 tennis rackets who switched hands...using two forehands. The coach let it go as both boys were already committed but I will never forget discussing this with my coach. Nobody had done this with any success up until that point and nobody has since. This is a totally unorthodox concept of playing tennis. It will not work at the higher levels of the game. One of the brothers did pretty well playing two forehand but it was obvious that he hit the wall so to speak at the Community College level.

That being said...there is more than one way to skin a cat. Whatever floats your boat. If your boy is not looking to fully develop into an all court player and is content with the novelty way of playing the game...so be it. There were the articles floating on the site here by Chris Lewis. I never took them seriously. You can show video clips of somebody doing this for a few strokes but it is not going to hold up under withering pressure from a good player. Now and then there are going to be players like a Luke Jensen who was actually from my neck of the woods. He was all the rage when he came up with his novelty interpretation of the game. But I wonder if he might not have been a better player playing conventional tennis. I am quite sure that he would have.

[knifer]

That being said...there is more than one way to skin a cat. Whatever floats your boat. If your boy is not looking to fully develop into an all court player and is content with the novelty way of playing the game...so be it.

Well, he does not hit with two forehands in matches... yet... This is his current game style.

[don_budge]

Well, he does not hit with two forehands in matches... yet... This is his current game style.

Very interesting...I like that little chip forehand to bring the opponent in to finish. He drew an error and it frustrates the opponent even more than if you hit a clean winner. But what the heck...that was a very intesting little clip. What we saw was a forehand used to dominate (until the last ball) and a nice rolling backhand which set up the forehand at the end. A well played point tactically. So here's the deal...never change a winning game and always change a losing game.

But I am not advising one way or the other. I did offer a little story from my vast experience from my most knowledgable coach. But that is not to say that I am right...or wrong. The left handed forehand looked ok...but I like the backhand much better. Very solid for the few balls we saw him play. He played it smart...good tactical neutral balls and giving nothing away for the opponent to be aggressive with. From what I saw of the forehand my guess is it would break down very quickly against an opponent that could apply pressure.

Good patience too. I counted seven or eight strokes before he took the initiative to finish with the short chip forehand. Excellent clearance of the net. Not once did he flirt with the tape. Excellent depth as well. I loved the initial backhand that he sort of pulled the string on and followed it up with an even more angled backhand to the same side. I like tactics. I love tactics. So what would he gain tactically speaking with two forehands? Not much I am afraid. Perhaps it would just mess with his inner tennis player. I would project that the lefty forehand would have more difficulty maintaining the consistent depth that his backhand maintains.

Nice video. I would be interested in seeing more video of him playing points. Serves and returns. That would help to make a more complete analysis of the pros and cons of the two forehand question...which is not a question for me. Thanks knifer!

[knifer]

Very interesting...I like that little chip forehand to bring the opponent in to finish. He drew an error and it frustrates the opponent even more than if you hit a clean winner. But what the heck...that was a very intesting little clip. What we saw was a forehand used to dominate (until the last ball) and a nice rolling backhand which set up the forehand at the end. A well played point tactically. So here's the deal...never change a winning game and always change a losing game.

I would be interested in seeing more video of him playing points. Serves and returns. That would help to make a more complete analysis of the pros and cons of the two forehand question...which is not a question for me. Thanks knifer!

That's his kick serve.

[don_budge]

That's his kick serve.

A very poor angle from which to critique a serve. I suggest two angles...one pretty much behind the player in order to evaluate the setup and swing path of his backswing. The second...from thirty degrees from the player's right viewed from the net. Try to capture the height of the ball toss as well. How tall is your boy?

This is an ok angle from the rear but I don't like the height of the camera. It seems taken from ground level.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/roger_federer_09/index.html?dir=rf_serve/RF_1st_Serve&stroke=RF1stSAdCourtLevelRear1.mp4&new=

The front angle should be taken a bit more to the side of the player. I like the height of the camera here but the view is too much head on. I would suggest shooting thirty degrees to the camera's left...or to the player's right.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/roger_federer_09/index.html?dir=rf_serve/RF_1st_Serve&stroke=RF1stSAdFront2.mp4&new=

Your boy's swing looks to be begging for a good critique. Good strength and flexibility but need more information on the backswing, setup and various other elements that are not visible from that angle.

[knifer]

A very poor angle from which to critique a serve. I suggest two angles...one pretty much behind the player in order to evaluate the setup and swing path of his backswing. The second...from thirty degrees from the player's right viewed from the net. Try to capture the height of the ball toss as well. How tall is your boy?

This is an ok angle from the rear but I don't like the height of the camera. It seems taken from ground level.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/roger_federer_09/index.html?dir=rf_serve/RF_1st_Serve&stroke=RF1stSAdCourtLevelRear1.mp4&new=

The front angle should be taken a bit more to the side of the player. I like the height of the camera here but the view is too much head on. I would suggest shooting thirty degrees to the camera's left...or to the player's right.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/roger_federer_09/index.html?dir=rf_serve/RF_1st_Serve&stroke=RF1stSAdFront2.mp4&new=

Your boy's swing looks to be begging for a good critique. Good strength and flexibility but need more information on the backswing, setup and various other elements that are not visible from that angle.