Coco's Forehand: Some Hamburger with Your Sushi

[stotty]

It's very difficult to make a good forehand out of a weak one once the shot has become established. There is something about a forehand that is hard to change in that regard. Not that Coco's forehand is weak necessarily, but it could be a whole lot better.

[jimlosaltos]

JIm -

Interesting that you have that picture of Coco's off-arm is blocking her rotation. I filmed myself recently and found I was doing that same thing. Ill just add that to my list of things to work on in my pursuit of the perfect forehand

An interesting quote I remember reading from someone about working with Coco on her forehand, was about her ability to handle "heaviness" (speed & spin). If the feed was flat and 70 - 75 mph, Coco would crush it BUT if the feed was 65+ mph with 1500 - 2000 rpms, the quality of her forehand/groundstrokes dropped significantly.

Sean

Interesting. I saw her live for the first time at San Jose in August.

Against Paula Badosa, who has a very good forehand IMHO, Coco was handling in well in the first set. By the end of the second she was literally whiffing on shots to her forehand.

Similarly, her serve seemed great, then in the first set tiebreak she double faulted twice.

Good luck with your forehand! If I've helped in some tiny, indirect way, I can log off and feel as if my time online has done some good <g>

[seano]

JIm -

Interesting that you have that picture of Coco's off-arm is blocking her rotation. I filmed myself recently and found I was doing that same thing. Ill just add that to my list of things to work on in my pursuit of the perfect forehand

An interesting quote I remember reading from someone about working with Coco on her forehand, was about her ability to handle "heaviness" (speed & spin). If the feed was flat and 70 - 75 mph, Coco would crush it BUT if the feed was 65+ mph with 1500 - 2000 rpms, the quality of her forehand/groundstrokes dropped significantly.

Sean

[jimlosaltos]

There's a lengthy feature article on Coco in The New York Times Magazine. Here's an excerpt.

I can imagine the early exchange with her father/coach <g>

Coco Gauff, Can the Tennis Prodigy Become a Tennis Legend?, By Susan Dominus.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/m...smid=url-share


That morning in Delray Beach, Gauff’s father, arms folded, watched just off the court as she hit balls with Diego Moyano, a veteran coach who has worked with Top 25 players like Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe when they were around Coco’s age. Corey Gauff called out pointers — “You’re taking that big step a little close to the ball!” — that Coco took in without comment; at one point, I thought I heard a barely audible “I know.” Before the practice began, Moyano spoke with great animation to Corey, motioning with his arms as he explained the work he intended to do on Gauff’s forehand. That stroke has been, in the past, a looming limitation that commentators worried over; Moyano was trying to tweak it so that she could better respond to the flattest, fastest balls that come her way. “Yes, beautiful!” Moyano called across the net as she hit a succession of hard, pinpoint-accurate forehands. “Good job!” He was panting with effort as he returned her shots, sweating so much in the 90-degree heat that his sneakers would be soaked through well before the end of the grueling two-hour session. “Sorry,” Gauff said nearly every time she hit a ball past him.


Also in this feature, a great exchange when Coco was 15 yo: "Although she was ahead, Coco was visibly agitated, overwhelmed by the stress of the moment. Her father leaned toward her, his eyes lit up, a smile just the right size on his face, offering her a confident patter of reassurance. “You’re not going to sprint to the finish line, we’re going to walk to the finish line,” he said, his voice gentle. “Take your mind to another place right now, OK? Remember we talked about that?” (Coco responded to this minute-long motivational speech in classic teenage mode: “What side do I need to hit to?” she asked as she stood up. “Just tell me something!”)





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[jimlosaltos]

Years ago a friend, an electronics executive in Tokyo, described Apple's early attempts at localizing the Macintosh interface for Japan as,
.

"Like having some hamburger with your sushi."

Always loved that concise diss, which came to mind when I was struggling to describe Coco Gauff's forehand, you can see in this month's TPN Tour Portrait along with photos of her great backhand, serve, and volley here:
https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...te/coco_gauff/

Don't get me wrong. I come not to diss Coco but to praise her. She's a tremendous tennis player. At 18 yo she is already four (4) in the world, and has qualified for this week's tour finals in both singles and doubles. where she ranks second. Tremendous movement, world class backhand, serve is inconsistent but can be strong. Great attitude.

Her relative weakness is her forehand which can be potent, erratic, or just go away entirely. Let's look at some of my photos to see if her technique might give us some hints at why that particular stroke might hold the key to just how far the teen goes.

This is above my pay grade, as a mere fan and humble weekend warrior, but let me toss these out to spur discussion. As in brainstorming, there are no bad ideas. Sort of <g> :

1) Her technique seems a mishmash of several styles, built of pieces that don't seem to go together. She often takes her racket so far back way & above her head, before dropping it to her knees, it needs a ticket stub to get back in the stadium.
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2) Zero shoulder rotation at times constipates her swing with her off arm blocking her racket arm (see first photo below)
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3) Amazingly fast, can hit tremendous backhands while a blur, but on the forehand, she has no tiny steps and timing is often bad. In the second photo she way over-ran the ball for no reason but her own footwork.
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Both photos are mine from San Jose aka Mubadala SIlicon Valley Open, (c)jfawcette

Coco reaches toward her target with both arms, ends up following through toward her face.

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Her opponent, Paula Badosa, didn't do this to her, Coco did it to herself. Tremendous speed she uses so well on her backhand is almost a detriment on her forehand -- so far.

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#Tennis