Interactive Forum March 2021: Danill Medvedev Forehand

[johnyandell]

Danill Medvedev Forehand

Danill Medvedev is probably at the top my list of players to film myself if the world situation ever allows. But in the meantime here are a few clips we found.

It’s no Federer style ATP forehand, that’s obvious. But what fundamentals does it share with other good forehands? Pay attention to his turn, and the timing of the turn in relation to the bounce on the court.

What about that huge loop? His hitting arm structure? Or the over the shoulder finish on almost every ball? What’s it all say about technique on the tour? Are there implications for the rest of us?

[stroke]

https://youtu.be/595uvVbPHw8

reminds me a lot of Florian Mayer. I guess it is closer to a WTA type 2 than anything else, but he if very consistent with it. It just goes to show technique is not the end all be all. I don't think BG is going to use it as any kind of model for learning.

[jeffreycounts]

In the last clip there is no extension whatsoever. The elbow breaks quickly after contact and his arm is in close to his body. It's quite unusual. He has a windshield wiper. but it looks like it comes more from the wrist and elbow breaking rather than from shoulder/hand extension and rotation. His full finish looks like he's choking himself with the racket wrapped around his neck.

medvedev_choke.jpg Looks like he's choking himself in the follow through.

The one player it reminds me of is Osaka. She has almost no extension and just seems to whip across. Both seem like real anomalies to me.

Normally you'd think these follow through positions would be awful. But clearly they are on to something with it. Especially Osaka. Her forehand is a cannon. With Medvedev my guess is his forehand is almost impossible to read because it's so compressed.

osaka_medvedev.jpg Racket close to the face in the follow through. Elbow bend is extreme. Complete lack of extension.

[stroke]

Jeff, good stuff, I would say not easy on the eye.

[jeffreycounts]

https://youtu.be/595uvVbPHw8

reminds me a lot of Florian Mayer. I guess it is closer to a WTA type 2 than anything else, but he if very consistent with it. It just goes to show technique is not the end all be all. I don't think BG is going to use it as any kind of model for learning.

You're right! Never seen Mayer's forehand before but saw a clip. Very similar looking strokes,

[jeremy93]

He follows through a lot like how many pros teach it to beginners. He doesn’t stretch his off arm as much as most players. He has a very high hitting hand at end of preparation. He has limited extension at and after contact. Less of a pronounced windshield wiper then most of the top men. What do you all see?

my observations..

[jeremy93]

Jeffrey I agree with everything you said. As for the WW he rotates the arm from the forearm because he has such limited extension. Guys like fed and rafa use a lot of their shoulders internal rotation due to their arm being straighter.

[arturohernandez]

He follows through a lot like how many pros teach it to beginners. He doesn’t stretch his off arm as much as most players. He has a very high hitting hand at end of preparation. He has limited extension at and after contact. Less of a pronounced windshield wiper then most of the top men. What do you all see?

my observations..

It is unorthodox to say the least. He does have super long arms so maybe with such long arms he can get away with what seems to be a shorter extension. Osaka does a lot of not advisable things.

Technique and orthodoxy work, until you find an exception. Look at Wawrinka's serve. Tennis pros think he could hit it even better with better technique.

But this is all about hitting a stroke that makes you feel good and that you can repeat. Se la vie.

[jeremy93]

Wawrinka has a very limited unit turn and does not get much knee bend or tilt in the trophy phase. He uses more arm then most players get bu he still has a pretty decent serve for a pro.

[stroke]

I think we really need BG or long gone poster 10splayer to put a bow on this, but I think we have a lot of good thoughts on this.

[stotty]

As forehands go it's not pretty to look at. I do like it when anomalies crop up because it restores my faith that strokes can self develop and be just as, or nearly as, effective as the optimal way. It's a world-class forehand by any stretch of the imagination.

In rallies he will sometimes get way to close to the ball which is most odd for a world-class player. Whether that is nerves or genuine misjudgment is hard to tell. If there is a weakness on his forehand it is when returning serve. He prepares too late on returns he plays hugged up closer to the baseline, which may explain why often he opts to return sitting virtually in the linesman's lap. He often gets too close to the ball on returns too.

Nice forehand. If I could borrow it for the afternoon, I feel confident I might win my club's championships with that one shot alone.

[stroke]

His backhand is at the very least equal to his forehand. That in itself unusual and usually bodes well for a career. He certainly should never be running around his bh to hit forehands. That article on the men's pro backhand, in which the author had a mathematical formula for measuring the effectiveness of the player's bh(he called it BHP), had Kei as the most effective for current players. Sock was at the bottom. Medvedev has to measure out very well on his BHP.

[jthb1021]

It is surprising the lack of extension on these forehands as Jeff mentioned. Thats what jumped out at me as well. I’d think there’s gonna be some elbow issues coming down the line. In these we see he can use topspin but the one I think about him is that flatter ball that probably has a little side spin to it. There is a genius to his game that he only understands and his forehand is a huge part of that. His timing has to be perfect and I’m sure that’s why he struggles and is out early on the clay courts and grass courts because I bet a strange bounce gives him fits!

[doctorhl]

That lack of extension certainly allows more body rotation at follow through to create more power if he can time it. One can almost envision him doing a 360 degree Nastase showboat move!

[klacr]

It's not the aesthetics that are going to attract people to this forehand. But his mastery of the timing and rhythm of the contact point are impressive and worth our admiration. There is a fluidity to its unorthodoxy. Like an albatross trying to take off and fly.

What isn't depicted in this video is just how good his movement is. He is the best mover I've ever seen for someone his size. 6'6". Heads and shoulders above everyone else. Not even close.

Whatever we think about his forehand, we should get used to seeing it more often. Next week he will be ranked #2 in the world.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA, PTR
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting