Tour Strokes:
Coco Gauff Forehand

Analyzed by John Yandell

When we put up two high speed video clips of Coco Gauff's forehand up in the Interactive Forum two months ago it drew almost 1000 views and a lot of thoughtful discussion. (Click Here to see the full clips.)

The forehand appears to be her weaker or at least less consistent side. The discussion centered on why.

Her backswing is definitely larger than the compact so-called ATP backswings. But it's very similar to Serena Williams who has one of the greatest forehands in the history of women's tennis.

One difference with Serena though is that Gauff tilts the racket tip more forward toward the opponent during the mid part of the backswing. That element is similar to Naomi Osaka, another great WTA forehand player. But at the completion of the backswing Serena and Coco look similar.

But Madison keys who has the biggest woman's forehand points the racket tip straight up in the backswing and goes further behind the body than either Serena, Naomi, or Coco.

What about the left arm stretch? In the first clip Coco separates her hands a little sooner than the other players, but her left arm stretch is about the same as Serena or Naomi with the elbow slightly bent and the arm pointing across but still somewhat forward in the first. But in the second clip Gauff goes further across with the arm fully straightened and pointing all the way at the sideline.

So what can we make of all these similarities and differences and how they might be impacting Gauff? I do believe that the more compact ATP backswing is preferable in an ideal world. But we don't see it in these top women's players.

So even if it might be preferable, it can't be a prerequisite to high level play on the WTA tour. Similar with the left arm stretch and the angle of the racket tip in the backswing. Some great forehands have more left arm stretch and/or a radical forward tilt. Some don't.

Another Factor

When I look at Gauff's forehand though I see another factor that is different than these other top women. This is her body rotation in the forward swing. We see that, predominantly on both tours, the contact point is in the middle or later part of the shoulder rotation. This is especially true in more open stances, but it also happens on neutral stances forehands like Serena is hitting in the animation.

The shoulders don't stop at contact. They usually keep rotating until the rear shoulder is in front of the baseline and often this rotation continues until the rear shoulder is pointing at the opponent having rotated up 90 degrees in the forehand swing, or something close.

Coco doesn't do that—at least on the clips we have. Her shoulders rotate until they are parallel with the net. Then they stop virtually dead and only her arm completes the swing.

It seems like a two part swing. The body rotation ends and the arm has to take over. It's not a continuous full body motion. Possibly the need to do more with the arm causes her to miss, especially under pressure.

Left Arm

Probably the main factor stopping her from continuing her rotation is the opposite, left arm. At a certain point it just stops, with her left hand pointing forward and still in front of her torso. It's stuck.

Watch in comparison to the other players. They all move through similar position to Coco with the left arm tucked and the hand pointed forward. But the other players release the arm. It moves back with the body rotation, whether they catch the racket with it or not.

So if the Gauff family asked me for advice about her forehand, (which they haven't), I'd leave her backswing alone, and focus on the left arm. Letting it relax and move back as the swing continues into the followthrough.

I'd take a look at what that does to the body rotation. If the rotation still looks stuck or limited, I'd give her an image of the rear shoulder continuing to rotate til it faces the net, modeled on one of the other players.

It doesn't necessarily have to rotate as far as Madison's, but it needs to keep moving. Then I'd ask Gauff to imagine the forehand motion with a smooth continuous torso rotation—like her body and racket were moving together in sync. That would be a very interesting experiment.

Maybe this hitch in her forward swing will correct itself over time. Or maybe it'll stay and she'll just get more confident and it won't matter. The future will answer.