Interactive Forum September 2021: Denis Shapovalov Forehand

[johnyandell]

Denis Shapovalov Forehand

Last month we looked at Denis’s explosive backhand, and now here is another huge weapon.

Note the full, powerful turn and the left arm stretch. Note the large, high backswing.

Note also that many or most of his finishes are somewhere between over the shoulder and full wiper.

Your thoughts please!

[doctorhl]

Great footage! Straight lead arm to the side seems to help stabilize the shoulder from turning too soon as the powerful core comes into play. Seems to take a lot of steps that eat up prep time and he accommodates it with the jump turn and bent arm follow through. Pirouette off the back foot is one of the best on the tour. I wonder what his 4th and 5th set record is like...obviously his conditioning is there.

[tommyhorton]

He's a super freak! Very springy loose and elastic. Love to watch him split step prepare with that awesome coil, launch and land in a athletic wide base. I wonder as he gets older if he will use more grounded contact moves to improve consistency and have less wear and tear on his body. Interesting he got to semis at Wimbledon, you would think those stokes were built for slow hardcourts.

[doctorhl]

He's a super freak! Very springy loose and elastic. Love to watch him split step prepare with that awesome coil, launch and land in a athletic wide base. I wonder as he gets older if he will use more grounded contact moves to improve consistency and have less wear and tear on his body. Interesting he got to semis at Wimbledon, you would think those stokes were built for slow hardcourts.

I always wonder about the injury risk/reward ratio of copying certain styles, but you do what have to do to reach your goals.

[jthb1021]

He's a super freak! Very springy loose and elastic. Love to watch him split step prepare with that awesome coil, launch and land in a athletic wide base. I wonder as he gets older if he will use more grounded contact moves to improve consistency and have less wear and tear on his body. Interesting he got to semis at Wimbledon, you would think those stokes were built for slow hardcourts.

One thing that really jumped out at me was how vertical he gets in his split step. I like your comment about being more grounded but not just with contact I think it would help him with the split as well.

[Julio K. Thompson]

Y

He's a super freak! Very springy loose and elastic. Love to watch him split step prepare with that awesome coil, launch and land in a athletic wide base. I wonder as he gets older if he will use more grounded contact moves to improve consistency and have less wear and tear on his body. Interesting he got to semis at Wimbledon, you would think those stokes were built for slow hardcourts.

You are Right

[don_budge]

He's a super freak! Very springy loose and elastic. Love to watch him split step prepare with that awesome coil, launch and land in a athletic wide base. I wonder as he gets older if he will use more grounded contact moves to improve consistency and have less wear and tear on his body. Interesting he got to semis at Wimbledon, you would think those stokes were built for slow hardcourts.

Super freak? I hardly think of Denis Shapovalov as that. To me...he is a some version of "Dennis the Menace". It's hard to take him serious. But as to the forehand...it looks like a great shot. And it is. When he is playing it tactically correctly. When he is playing intelligently. You tell me how often that occurs? Once in a while? Once in a blue moon?

For all of this young fellow's "talent" and his outspoken declarations how he can play with anyone in the world and how he is a threat in any given match...he rarely puts back to back performances together. Consistency is the hallmark of championship tennis players. Of championship caliber in any endeavour. But Denis struggles woefully with that concept. His for all intents and purposes...a flash in the pan type of player.

I would love to sit down with Denis and discuss his performances in any given match. Point by point. Shot by shot. Discussing the permutations and combinations. The percentages. He just doesn't know how to put a point together, let alone a match. Methodical he isn't. There isn't any method. Not even an inkling. Just bashing about.

The U. S. Open should be an ideal venue for a player with his "toolbox" as Mikael Emir referred to his skill set. The big lefty serve and the big forehand. But the backhand is way too aggressive from my view. The forehand too can be a loose canon. He beat up on the 43rd and the 91st players in the world before running into Lloyd Harris ranked #31. Lloyd sent Denis to his room in straight sets. There is something really wrong and this sort of scenario has repeated itself all year and then some. He needs someone to get his head on straight and I don't know who that person is. He isn't in his corner presently.

Super freak? I would say more OOC than anything else. Out of control.

[stroke]

I would say Denis is the absolute anthesisis of the Spanish embrace the pain and get the job done style of play. He and Nick need to get together and talk about how they can play with anybody, and add up their GS and Master's 1000 titles while they are at it.

[doctorhl]

Super freak? I hardly think of Denis Shapovalov as that. To me...he is a some version of "Dennis the Menace". It's hard to take him serious. But as to the forehand...it looks like a great shot. And it is. When he is playing it tactically correctly. When he is playing intelligently. You tell me how often that occurs? Once in a while? Once in a blue moon?

For all of this young fellow's "talent" and his outspoken declarations how he can play with anyone in the world and how he is a threat in any given match...he rarely puts back to back performances together. Consistency is the hallmark of championship tennis players. Of championship caliber in any endeavour. But Denis struggles woefully with that concept. His for all intents and purposes...a flash in the pan type of player.

I would love to sit down with Denis and discuss his performances in any given match. Point by point. Shot by shot. Discussing the permutations and combinations. The percentages. He just doesn't know how to put a point together, let alone a match. Methodical he isn't. There isn't any method. Not even an inkling. Just bashing about.

The U. S. Open should be an ideal venue for a player with his "toolbox" as Mikael Emir referred to his skill set. The big lefty serve and the big forehand. But the backhand is way too aggressive from my view. The forehand too can be a loose canon. He beat up on the 43rd and the 91st players in the world before running into Lloyd Harris ranked #31. Lloyd sent Denis to his room in straight sets. There is something really wrong and this sort of scenario has repeated itself all year and then some. He needs someone to get his head on straight and I don't know who that person is. He isn't in his corner presently.

Super freak? I would say more OOC than anything else. Out of control.

In many ways you are describing Dustin Brown...all talent, no focus and a candidate for the “ could have been” greatness list we have seen in all sports. I think there are lessons to be learned from this list.