Interactive Forum February 2022: Matteo Berrettini Forehand

[johnyandell]

Matteo Berrettini Forehand

It’s one of the biggest, heaviest forehands in tennis. It never ceases to amaze me how to players combine the possible technical elements. Extreme grip. Extreme wiper. Extreme elbow bend. Delayed turn on some balls.

And what about that backswing?

Tell us your thoughts!

[stroke]

Very compact forehand, looks a lot like Fognini's forehand to me.

[jeffreycounts]

The lack of extension seems similar to both Medvedev and Osaka.

What I find intriguing is the extreme pulling and twisting motions of the arm in these extreme double bend forehands. Berrettini pulls his upper arm forward to where his elbow is pulled in front of the plane of his body while the racket is fully laid back with the butt cap pointing at the ball and the arm externally rotated (twisted backwards).

The picture on the far right really shows how much of a pull and twist of the arm he is creating. His elbow is pulled well in front of the plane of his body while the tip of his racket is lagging behind his body just above his right knee! That is extreme stuff there. And I think the Medvedev still is showing the exact same dynamic.

In both cases with Medvedev and Berrettini, the arm is externally rotated a great deal creating a lot of lag and the potential for an inside out motion of the racket head that will "catch up" to the arm that leads the way.. The bent elbow seems to me to create more of this external rotation of the arm than a straight armed forehand.

I think this is the double bend equivalent of what Brian Gordon calls the "slingshot" and the "dynamic slot"
https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...1/index_2.html

The hidden world of biomechanics is really something else.

image_1172.jpg

[stroke]

I am not really buying into this similarly between Medvedev and Berrettini. They produce 2 vastly different balls off their forehands. And their forehands to me at real speed seem nothing alike.

[jeffreycounts]

I am not really buying into this similarly between Medvedev and Berrettini. They produce 2 vastly different balls off their forehands. And their forehands to me at real speed seem nothing alike.

I was only referring to the initial pull and the way the arm works. But I think they have different grips, different contact points and different finishes. So yeah I’m sure they are very different.

Berrettini has the full wiper motion while Medvedev seems to kind of slap it. He doesn’t have that full wiper at all.

[stroke]

I was only referring to the initial pull and the way the arm works. But I think they have different grips, different contact points and different finishes. So yeah I’m sure they are very different.

Berrettini has the full wiper motion while Medvedev seems to kind of slap it. He doesn’t have that full wiper at all.

Ok I see what you are saying. Jeff, how do you think Berrettini compares to Fabio? They look a lot alike to me technique wise.

[jeffreycounts]

Ok I see what you are saying. Jeff, how do you think Berrettini compares to Fabio? They look a lot alike to me technique wise.

Yeah I agree. I think Fabio has an even more abbreviated backswing than Berettini.

[tommyhorton]

His forehand looks alot like Jack Socks forehand. Draws it back with the elbow and then leads with elbow so shoulder is fully externally rotated so than he can whip it with internal shoulder rotation. Looks like western grip with a big trigger finger so he gets alot of windshield wiper action. His hands and wrist look really loose. He can hit it well on any surface or any ball height. That's impressive!

[stroke]

His forehand looks alot like Jack Socks forehand. Draws it back with the elbow and then leads with elbow so shoulder is fully externally rotated so than he can whip it with internal shoulder rotation. Looks like western grip with a big trigger finger so he gets alot of windshield wiper action. His hands and wrist look really loose. He can hit it well on any surface or any ball height. That's impressive!

It is impressive, a top tier forehand. It is right there with Fabio, Karatsev, Ruud, Tsitsipas, Del Po to me just behind Nadal and Fed. Sock when he is on is there also no doubt.