Passion for Tennis

Andy Roddick has one of the biggest forehands in men’s tennis. You may never hit as hard as he does, but by applying some of the technique that Andy uses, you can make your forehand a go-to shot.

Over the past 20 years, the technique used for hitting a forehand has evolved. Advances in racquet technology and player conditioning have resulted in a more powerful stroke, and the positioning, footwork, and grips commonly used in the last generation have changed radically.

Before the mid-1970s, the emphasis was on hitting with an Eastern grip from a square stance and moving your body weight straight through the shot. Many of these principles still apply, but the players with big forehands these days use a more Western grip, hit from open stances, and get more body rotation and weight transfer into the shot. If you want to see the personification of the modern forehand, look no further than defending U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick. When Roddick was a student in his early teens at the Evert Tennis Academy, he worked on developing the technique that years of practice and physical maturity have turned into a huge weapon. If you’re looking to get some extra zip on your forehand, or even if you’ve been playing for years and are happy with your stroke, emulating aspects of Roddick’s shot can potentially benefit your game. Let’s take a look at what makes his forehand so special.

1. PREPARATION
The first thing Roddick does when he spots a potential forehand is to get his racquet back. When he makes this move, he tends to handcuff the throat with his left hand. It’s a bit of a style thing (you don’t have to squeeze the racquet), but it does help facilitate a full shoulder turn. At this point, the racquet face is slightly closed and above his shoulders in a cocked position. This will help him create a long, looping, and powerful swing with the racquet face brushing up through the shot.

As the ball approaches, Roddick will line it up with his back (right) leg and keep his left leg off to the side. His back foot is also turned out, which will allow his body to coil and then fire into the shot. This is basic open-stance footwork, and it’s effective because it creates an opportunity for Roddick to rotate his hips, trunk, and shoulders to produce momentum and power. And it’s also the best way to deal with his opponents’ pace and position himself for his next shot.

2. LOADING PHASE
As Roddick plants his back leg, he stores up all the power he’ll unleash into the stroke. He bends his legs but doesn’t lean at the waist, giving himself a wide base with a low center of gravity. His hands separate as his left arm comes forward and the racquet continues back, which gives him the correct balance and posture. What’s important here is the full coiling of Roddick’s upper body and the flexing of his back leg. This builds a huge amount of energy in the large muscle groups of the legs, trunk, back, and shoulders. These constitute the “kinetic chain”; power is built from the ground up through the legs, hips, trunk, shoulders, arm, and finally the racquet. When Roddick uncoils all this stored energy, it gives him tremendous racquet-head speed.

TAKING A STANCE:
The open stance is popular, but even today not every great forehand is hit from it. When players have more time and they’re near the center of the court, they may choose to square their stance and step into the ball. Or, if they’re moving up to return a low ball or hitting an approach shot, they might square up and step forward. While they can get very good linear momentum into these shots, the downside is that they don’t get nearly as much trunk rotation as they would from an open stance. Roddick’s versatile and powerful forehand enables him to produce effective shots from a variety of stances.

3. CONTACT POINT
When Roddick swings, he practically launches himself at the ball. All the energy and rotational momentum he uses lifts him off the court. But Roddick still gets his body weight into the shot, adding forward momentum as well. His right leg is almost straight, as if he has jumped forward into the shot, but he keeps it flexed until the very moment he strikes the ball. Again, that puts extra energy into the stroke. If he straightens his back leg well before impact, he loses power.

As his body unwinds into contact, the racquet accelerates up and through the hitting zone. The extension he gets will give his shot pace and penetration, while the swing path of brushing up the back of the ball with such force rewards him with huge topspin. That’s where having a Western grip really helps (he doesn’t use a full Western, but it’s pretty close). It naturally closes the racquet face more than an Eastern forehand grip does, which permits Roddick to swing harder and apply more topspin.

4. FOLLOW-THROUGH
After contact, Roddick pronates his hitting arm so that the racquet ends up just above his opposite hip. On many of his forehands, his hitting elbow will actually be above the racquet. This may look odd to those of us who were taught to finish with the elbow high and the racquet over the opposite shoulder (which, from a developmental standpoint, I still believe is how everyone should start). The reason the racquet comes across his body instead of over the left shoulder is because Roddick comes over the ball with so much racquet-head speed that it’s natural for him to finish by his opposite hip. Most of the big forehands in professional tennis have a comparable follow-through.

At the completion of the stroke, you’ll see that Roddick’s right foot ends up even with or past his left foot. This is the best indicator of whether or not you’re getting linear momentum (body weight) into the shot from an open stance. When the back leg ends up ahead of the front leg, that shows good weight transfer. The right foot is also slightly turned in. During preparation it was turned out to facilitate his body turn; now it’s angled in, showing the complete rotation Roddick gets on his forehand. Getting the most of both his linear and rotational momentum is what gives Roddick such a devastating shot.

Article by John Evert, Photos by Alessandra Beneditti/Wire Image, Tomy Hindley/Professional Sport – Tennis.com