Agassi forehand(question)

[Nadal46]

Hi, I'm a 16 years old 4.5 player and my coach say that I have to do agassi's forehand, he is teaching it to me.
I ask if he want that I do a forehandiiwthout top spin like agassi but he said I can give much topspin to the ball with agassi's forehand.
I play in a place where there is only caly and the tournaments are only on caly, is a good choice to learn agassi's forehand?Isn't better to learn a forehand like moya's, blake's, djokovic's, federer's???

[Messarger]

Blake's forehand on clay wouldnt be useful. It's so flat that its suppose to fly past the opponent, but on clay the bounce makes it a poor man shot.

[Rickson]

Hi, I'm a 16 years old 4.5 player and my coach say that I have to do agassi's forehand, he is teaching it to me.
I ask if he want that I do a forehandiiwthout top spin like agassi but he said I can give much topspin to the ball with agassi's forehand.
I play in a place where there is only caly and the tournaments are only on caly, is a good choice to learn agassi's forehand?Isn't better to learn a forehand like moya's, blake's, djokovic's, federer's???

Agassi's forehand worked very well for him, but it's honestly one of the ugliest forehands in the history of professional tennis. Agassi's compact takeback works very well against pace, but I don't know how well it would work when you have a lot of time to set up the forehand. I take a pretty big cut at the ball so AA's forehand would never work for me, but if you can adapt your game to the compact forehand, go for it.

[Nadal46]

But how can I play this forehand without topspin in the clay?Isn't a bad choice?All the other current forehand are with lot of topspin, using agassi's forehnad in clay will probabily don't work don't you think so?

[Rickson]

But how can I play this forehand without topspin in the clay?Isn't a bad choice?All the other current forehand are with lot of topspin, using agassi's forehnad in clay will probabily don't work don't you think so?

Try Nadal's fh instead because Agassi's compact fh is not the answer for clay.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Agassi's forehand worked very well for him, but it's honestly one of the ugliest forehands in the history of professional tennis. Agassi's compact takeback works very well against pace, but I don't know how well it would work when you have a lot of time to set up the forehand. I take a pretty big cut at the ball so AA's forehand would never work for me, but if you can adapt your game to the compact forehand, go for it.

Don't think that I'd characterize Andre's Fh as ugly. Quite the opposite -- I'd considered it to be a thing of beauty. His compact takeback is a major factor in making him one of the best serve returners of all time. It probably also made it easier for him to go on the attack by stepping in and taking the ball on the rise so often. You are quite correct, his takeback was very conducive to playing against pace.

It is true that his Fh style is not the prototypical Fh that you see with many accomplished clay court players. However, his style of play did get him to 3 French Open finals.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't adapt/modify the Agassi forehand to suite your needs. Add more topspin as has been suggested. Andre did not employ a whole lot of topspin on his Fh. You could go a little more Western on your grip, perhaps a semi-Western rather than Andre's semi-semi-Western. His stroke was also a bit flatter than most (closer to a 20 degree low-to-high than it was to 30 degree rise). You couyld modify this aspect as well.

I might suggest that you learn to hit with a compact backswing for a while and then go ahead and modify it after a while to employ a more robust backswing. This way you could more readily adapt to the situation -- compact swing for deep or faster balls; a fuller loop swing for situations where have more time -- a situation-appropriate backswing, if you will.

Nadal's Fh is definitely something to take a look at -- you can learn a lot from it. On the other hand, many of his groundstrokes rely on his arm a bit too much -- no doubt why his deltoids, tripceps and biceps are so massive. I'd probably adapt/modify Nadal's stroke to generate more of your power from the legs and a hip/torso rotation than starts slightly earlier and is a bit more exaggerated.

[Katlion]

Hi, I'm a 16 years old 4.5 player and my coach say that I have to do agassi's forehand, he is teaching it to me.
I ask if he want that I do a forehandiiwthout top spin like agassi but he said I can give much topspin to the ball with agassi's forehand.
I play in a place where there is only caly and the tournaments are only on caly, is a good choice to learn agassi's forehand?Isn't better to learn a forehand like moya's, blake's, djokovic's, federer's???
Federer's forehand is beterer! :twisted: LOL

[fuzz nation]

I think I'd be pretty frustrated if my coach said, "Hit your forehand like this guy." If you have good lines of communication open with your coach, ask him to help you understand the components of the fh stroke that he wants you to develop. Stance, grip, takeback, swingpath, penetrating vs. loopy ball flight, hit on the rise vs. backing off a bit... you and your coach should be able to work this stuff out.

Your coach ought to only refer to Agassi's motion as a concept that you can apply to a portion of the stroke that you are building. I'm honing a one handed backhand, but it would be useless for someone to tell me to hit it like Roger.

[Pusher]

Hi, I'm a 16 years old 4.5 player and my coach say that I have to do agassi's forehand, he is teaching it to me.
I ask if he want that I do a forehandiiwthout top spin like agassi but he said I can give much topspin to the ball with agassi's forehand.
I play in a place where there is only caly and the tournaments are only on caly, is a good choice to learn agassi's forehand?Isn't better to learn a forehand like moya's, blake's, djokovic's, federer's???

I think I'd listen to your coach. Your unique style, your felxibility and your hand-eye coordination would all be considered by a good coach before he makes a dramatic change. No one on this board can begin to assume they know more about your game than your coach.

But most of us would die for an Agassi FH-stepping into the court, taking it early and putting your opponent on that coast to coast train. Moya, Blake, Nadal, they are all big and strong players that can power the ball on their own. Agassi used his opponents pace to generate a lot of his power. Maybe you need the same.

Also, a little unsolicited adult advice. Being 16 years old and claiming a 4.5 adult rating might suggest to some that you may be a little cocky-which goes hand in hand with being a little uncoachable. I've got a 17 year old that is the same way. Listen to your coach and I'm sure you will be fine.

[Nadal46]

I live in Italy so I compared my ranking with the american one and, in american ranking I'm 4.5 so I'm not claiming ranking, I am 4.5.
My coach told me that this forehand is the one that I have to look for that all the other are not good because it's not natural a forehand like moya's or nadal's and he told me that those swingstyale are too wide, I just think that he just know agassi's forehand....Don't like new styles...

[TheJRK]

It is true that his Fh style is not the prototypical Fh that you see with many accomplished clay court players. However, his style of play did get him to 3 French Open finals.

+ 1

I might suggest that you learn to hit with a compact backswing for a while and then go ahead and modify it after a while to employ a more robust backswing. This way you could more readily adapt to the situation -- compact swing for deep or faster balls; a fuller loop swing for situations where have more time -- a situation-appropriate backswing, if you will.

This is probably the reason your coach wants you to learn the AA forehand. So you can take the ball early if necessary. I'm guessing the swing you have now is the typical loopy clay-court forehand.

If you're a 4.5 I doubt he would do anything too drastic and change your forehand all together.

[Pusher]

I live in Italy so I compared my ranking with the american one and, in american ranking I'm 4.5 so I'm not claiming ranking, I am 4.5.
My coach told me that this forehand is the one that I have to look for that all the other are not good because it's not natural a forehand like moya's or nadal's and he told me that those swingstyale are too wide, I just think that he just know agassi's forehand....Don't like new styles...

NTRP is a rating, not a ranking-big difference.

You are a 4.5 if you sucessfully compete against other 4.5"s. Since you are a junior I would think that would be rare for you. So, actually you are making the claim but who really knows.

[Nadal46]

I was talking about the "ranking" the system you use in america, and I beat 4.5 plyers too...

[JCo872]

Hi, I'm a 16 years old 4.5 player and my coach say that I have to do agassi's forehand, he is teaching it to me.
I ask if he want that I do a forehandiiwthout top spin like agassi but he said I can give much topspin to the ball with agassi's forehand.
I play in a place where there is only caly and the tournaments are only on caly, is a good choice to learn agassi's forehand?Isn't better to learn a forehand like moya's, blake's, djokovic's, federer's???

Andre was awesome and his forehand was great. His compact strokes really allowed him to excel on all surfaces - which is why he had a career slam.

That being said, nobody hits their forehand like Andre anymore. And I seriously doubt you could teach anyone Andre's exact forehand anyway. It was his ability to time the ball that was extraordinary - not his grip or his followthrough - and you can't teach Andre's sense of timing.

So your coache's desire to teach it exclusively is just plain silly in my opinion.

fuzz nation's post is right on. Learn the components of the modern forehand. Especially the windshield wiper motion which dominates the game today (and which wasn't such an integral a part of Andre's forehand). While you are learning the proper components, your coach can lock himself up with a copy of "Attack!" and enjoy himself. But it's not his role to "teach" the stroke of one unique player.

[Squall Leonheart]

If you're a 4.5, you shouldn't need to re-work your forehand. Even so, I would recommend just sticking with what you already have since you got to 4.5 with it.

[troytennisbum]

Agassi's forehand worked very well for him, but it's honestly one of the ugliest forehands in the history of professional tennis. Agassi's compact takeback works very well against pace, but I don't know how well it would work when you have a lot of time to set up the forehand. I take a pretty big cut at the ball so AA's forehand would never work for me, but if you can adapt your game to the compact forehand, go for it.

"One of the ugliest forehands in the history of the pro- game??????"

Really ???

That shot helped him compete and win in professional tennis longer than anyone I can think of.

It's a shot of beauty.

With that said, given that Andre was a great player, it would be difficult for anyone to imitate his strokes. But, it is still useful for anyone to study.

[Rickson]

"One of the ugliest forehands in the history of the pro- game??????"

Really ???

That shot helped him compete and win in professional tennis longer than anyone I can think of.


Yes it was ugly, and when did I ever say it was ineffective? A shot can be ugly and effective at the same time. Agassi's takeback was nothing like Gonzalez's takeback, but both have big forehands. Gonzalez has one of the ugliest followthroughs going underneath his left arm, but who can argue his power? Pretty doesn't necessarily mean effective and vice versa.

[tennisfa]

i think agassi's forehand is powerful because he didn't try to copy anybody else's forehand....

[junbumkim]

Agassi's forehand, Gonzalez's forehand, Berdych's forehand...etc etc

Watch and learn the elements of Agassi forehand, not the way he takes his racket back and stuff.

In other words, understand what makes Agassi's forehand good.

You are not Agassi. You will never be Agassi. You have to develop your own style of forehand.

[Ross K]

I've yet to hear someone define exactly what the Agassi forehand is yet? Anyone know? (tricky?) How were his mechanics different to others?

[tricky]

Two major things differentiate Agassi's stroke:

1) He keeps his racquet mostly on edge through the takeback. There's almost no forearm rotation in his takeback until he's initiated his forward swing.

The above is pretty much how people are initially taught. Pros evolve to using some kind of forearm rotation in their takeback, or what we call "wristiness" here.

2) Agassi has an over-the-shoulder finish, and he doesn't have much WW action on his FH.

Probably the proper way to interpret this is
2a) His mechanics don't enable him to product a lot of WW action on his FH.
2b) THEREFORE, he chooses an over-the-shoulder finish to generate enough spin to reign in his shots.

This lets you hit the ball a little cleaner, but your shot is not as heavy.

It's not a bad idea to model your stroke after Agassi. But I like Safin better, because it's similar to what Agassi does, but with natural forearm rotation and a WW finish. It's more modern and it's a good base to learn from.

[Ross K]

Well, I didn't quite 100 per cent get what you mean tricky (regards the takeback), so let's take a close up look at those mechanics...

http://hk.youtube.com/watch?v=KIzN0DQTe9Y

To me, generally, it does look different to usual form, though I can't say quite why.

BTW, I remember hearing he uses a locked wrist right from start of shot. Anyone know if this is definitely correct info/incorrect info?

[tricky]

BTW, I remember hearing he uses a locked wrist right from start of shot. Anyone know if this is definitely correct info/incorrect info?

That's correct -- he keeps his wrist relatively laid-back through the entire takeback. Hence, why his racquet is relatively on edge thru takeback.

Most pros today start with a laid-back wrist, but then they relax the wrist into a neutral position through their takeback. As they do this, they rotate their forearm. Together, this usually leads to the racquet face closing, and then opening up as the hitting arm approaches the proper level. Most people associate this as "wristiness" in the stroke.

Agassi's stroke isn't like the above. And in fact, I think most teachers discourage the above at the beginner level.

Well, I didn't quite 100 per cent get what you mean tricky (regards the takeback), so let's take a close up look at those mechanics...

About 75% is pretty textbook for a modern FH. He sets up a good unit turn with his torso. He swings from the shoulder, which leads to an abbreviated takeback. He uses a "pull"-style stroke pattern. However, he doesn't have a WW finish.

So, two elements really strike a person when they look at his takeback.

1) His hand is far from his body at unit turn.

This is actually true of most players with relatively conservative grips. It's a natural byproduct of the grip, and there's no conscious arm extending. The more extreme grip you go, the closer the hand will be to the body.

There are notable exceptions to the above, namely Federer and Safin (to a degree.) Fed and Safin invert their racquet; this will also bring the hand closer to your body at unit turn. Roddick inverts his racquet, and his hand is very close to his body.

2) His hand is pretty high at unit turn.

If you just watch his shoulder, you'll notice that his shoulder moves in a big circle. That circle is helped by his hand being at a higher position.

This circle the abbreviated version of a "big loop", and it's necessary because he finishes his stroke over his shoulder. If he finished at chest level, like most players today, his hand probably wouldn't be as high, and his shoulder turn will be "straight."

[superman1]

Agassi's forehand worked very well for him, but it's honestly one of the ugliest forehands in the history of professional tennis. Agassi's compact takeback works very well against pace, but I don't know how well it would work when you have a lot of time to set up the forehand. I take a pretty big cut at the ball so AA's forehand would never work for me, but if you can adapt your game to the compact forehand, go for it.

That's BS. Agassi had a great forehand, and when he had time to set up he took a big swing. It was actually very good on the run because he had more time to take the big swing. Just watch how he swings it in that Penn tennis commercial - it's a thing of beauty.

[sharpy]

That's correct -- he keeps his wrist relatively laid-back through the entire takeback. Hence, why his racquet is relatively on edge thru takeback.

Most pros today start with a laid-back wrist, but then they relax the wrist into a neutral position through their takeback. As they do this, they rotate their forearm. Together, this usually leads to the racquet face closing, and then opening up as the hitting arm approaches the proper level. Most people associate this as "wristiness" in the stroke.

Agassi's stroke isn't like the above. And in fact, I think most teachers discourage the above at the beginner level.



About 75% is pretty textbook for a modern FH. He sets up a good unit turn with his torso. He swings from the shoulder, which leads to an abbreviated takeback. He uses a "pull"-style stroke pattern. However, he doesn't have a WW finish.

So, two elements really strike a person when they look at his takeback.

1) His hand is far from his body at unit turn.

This is actually true of most players with relatively conservative grips. It's a natural byproduct of the grip, and there's no conscious arm extending. The more extreme grip you go, the closer the hand will be to the body.

There are notable exceptions to the above, namely Federer and Safin (to a degree.) Fed and Safin invert their racquet; this will also bring the hand closer to your body at unit turn. Roddick inverts his racquet, and his hand is very close to his body.

2) His hand is pretty high at unit turn.

If you just watch his shoulder, you'll notice that his shoulder moves in a big circle. That circle is helped by his hand being at a higher position.

This circle the abbreviated version of a "big loop", and it's necessary because he finishes his stroke over his shoulder. If he finished at chest level, like most players today, his hand probably wouldn't be as high, and his shoulder turn will be "straight."


You recommend safin....does he pronate the forearm on the forehand like federer? (as seen at the height of takeback)? it sure looks like it.


how else could you keep a relaxed wrist with a sw and not turn that forearm it looks really similar to fed.

and also explain the passive supination that occurs in safins stroke... does he maintain the elbow angle, or straighten the arm? and how does this all tie up with a relaxed wrist? because if you actively supinate it'll turn to push..

[SystemicAnomaly]

That's correct -- he keeps his wrist relatively laid-back through the entire takeback. Hence, why his racquet is relatively on edge thru takeback...

I strongly disagree with this. Andre's wrist on most, if not all, of his FHs appears to be relaxed and neutral for most of his takeback. It's not til his forearm supinates & his racket head drops quite a bit before we see any wrist extension (lay-back). His subsequent hip and torso rotation (uncoiling) are instrumental in creating further wrist extension -- his racket head lags (or drags) a bit, due to this wrist extension before it comes thru to meet the ball.

Agassi Forehand video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=UHMHx1f-lB4&feature=related)

Up until the 3 second mark (above), Andre's wrist is pretty much neutral. At about 3.5 seconds we definitely see the wrist laying back. At close to 4 seconds, the wrist extension is more extreme. Shortly after that, the racket head is accelerated into the ball.

[Rickson]

Agassi Forehand video (http://youtube.com/watch?v=UHMHx1f-lB4&feature=related)


I couldn't evaluate properly because his shiny head distracted me.

[tricky]

Andre's wrist on most, if not all, of his FHs appears to be relaxed and neutral for most of his takeback.

I took a look at some more videos, and I think you're right.

You recommend safin....does he pronate the forearm on the forehand like federer? (as seen at the height of takeback)? it sure looks like it.

Nah, he supinates. When he reaches the height of his takeback, the racquet face starts to rotate in a clockwise direction. Because he uses a relatively conservative grip, the racquet closes at a much later part in the backswing.

how else could you keep a relaxed wrist with a sw and not turn that forearm it looks really similar to fed.

Generally, whenever the forearm rotates in the takeback, in either direction, the wrist tends to relax. This is more common, though, when you supinate the forearm, as Safin is doing.

and also explain the passive supination that occurs in safins stroke... does he maintain the elbow angle, or straighten the arm? and how does this all tie up with a relaxed wrist? because if you actively supinate it'll turn to push..

Yeah, typically with a "pull" stroke, you actively supinate until the racquet face is just starting to open from a totally closed position. (Or roughly where the thumb-wrist angle can still be mantained as you're actively supinating) And then you initiate. In a push stroke, often your racquet face will completely show to the net before you initiate. You can'd do that with a pull stroke because, as you suspect, it will open up to "push."

The above sounds very fussy and complicated. But, basically, whenever people start consciously closing their racquet in their takeback, the above is what you end up instinctively doing. OR, if you learn the figure-8 motion (for example, Blake), you'll pick this up too.

Safin's elbow stays bent in the takeback; he mantains the double-bend structure. This is different than your takeback, Sharpy, because his is "pull" and yours was "push." Sometimes he has a straight-arm forward swing, but that itself is independent of his backswing. A separate mechanism enables a straight-arm FH swing from most kinds of backswings.

Now, if you follow this train of steps, you observe that the forearm actively supinates in the takeback and the forearm also passively supinates when the forward swing is initiated. The passive supination is what triggers the explosive wiper action (ballistic forearm pronation) you see in a lot of strokes. However, due to the player actively supinating in his backswing, the degree of passive supination is not "maximal." And, so, in this style, the degree of potential wiper movement is not "maximal." That said, because the wrist is in neutral, there is still much more natural spin from this style if you were to swing with a completely locked wrist.

I really like Safin as a model, because it's pretty clean and you can kinda see how a modern WW FH works. From there, you can kinda reverse-engineer Blake, Verdasco and Roddick styles if you like to mess around.

[sharpy]

tricky

does safin's forehand straighten out a little bit as it lowers to the hitting zone?

I've watched a couple videos and i've noticed that even though he remains in the double bend structure, there seems to be a little bit of arm straightening... what do you think?

It looks different than agassi's in those two aspects, relaxed wrist as you said, but also it seems like unlike agassi, he does straighten the arm a bit.

Also could you explain more about the "active" supination? Even a little supination will break the thumb wrist angle as it drops down. Or is there another way to do this that I am unaware of?

As I said, initially safin seems to pronate his forearm at the height of takeback (at height of takeback, racket face position is nearly identical to federer's), then it appears that he remains in the double bend structure, but straightens the arm a little bit. Finally the wrist snaps back and corrects itself from the closed racket pos.

[tricky]

does safin's forehand straighten out a little bit as it lowers to the hitting zone?

*Most* of the straightening comes from the forward swing already being initiated, and him not tucking the elbow (i.e. opening up the armpit as he initiates the forward swing) to his side. The torque of the racquet is allowed to straighten out the elbow, as the rest of the body starts to travel forward. This is a "straight arm forward swing."

You can execute a straight arm forward swing from any variation of WW FH, and you've probably had if you needed to hit a shot wide. Both Federer and Safin hit a combination of normal double-bend and straight-arm shots. Verdasco and Nadal hit mostly straight-arm shots.

That said, a little bit straightening occurs naturally whenever you pronate your forearm. Most people when they set up their unit turn, pronate their forearm a little bit, so that the racquet starts on edge when they let go of their non-hitting arm. Their arm straightens out a little.

initially safin seems to pronate his forearm at the height of takeback (at height of takeback, racket face position is nearly identical to federer's), then it appears that he remains in the double bend structure, but straightens the arm a little bit.

In Safin's case, his height of takeback actually is a bit farther along than what Federer does. At Federer's height of takeback, his racquet is on edge (though upside down), and his shoulder is square to back fence/net. However, at Safin's height of takeback, Safin's forearm is pronated further. His racquet face is starting to show toward the back of the fence, and his shoulder is starting to turn behind his right hip.

In that sense, it's similar to what you were doing, except that he hasn't let his racquet drop yet.

Also could you explain more about the "active" supination? Even a little supination will break the thumb wrist angle as it drops down. Or is there another way to do this that I am unaware of?

Yeah, usually the forward swing is inititated before the racquet face is allowed to open up significantly (and where that thumb-wrist angle would break.) The hitting arm will still drop into the zone as the arm starts to go forward. Anecdotally, people often talk about closing their racquet face before initating the forward swing, and this is what they mean.

Between Federer and Safin, the overall structure goes like this:

From beginning to unit turn, both guys start inverting their racquet. Inverting your racquet means pronating your forearm. At end of unit turn, both guys have racquet face open to the net.

From unit turn to height of takeback, both guys finish inverting their racquet. For Federer, this is when racquet is on edge and shoulder is square with net. For Safin, this is a bit further.

From height of takeback to initiation of forward swing, racquet drops from gravity. Federer continues to pronates his forearm a little more, and his arm will straighten out. Safin starts to supinate his forearm. This is major difference between the two styles.

From initiation of forward swing toward POC, Federer and Safin may choose to keep the elbow close to their side (i.e. normal double-bend shot) or open up to hit a straight-arm forward swing. As the

From POC to finish, they finish around shoulder level and make sure arm was reasonably extended into the shot. Usually front shoulder is square to the net.

The way Safin goes about his FH (besides the inversion of the racquet) is pretty textbook, and it's good foundation for how other people hit. Because he doesn't use an extreme grip, it's easier to pick out elements of what he's doing, and the different stages. Treating the FH as a kind of figure 8 helps with this.

[Nellie]

Agassi's stroke are very biomechanically efficient (i.e., he could hit the ball very hard using the same amount of effort). As he got older, he got stronger through wieght training so he used less rotation and whipping. (compare young and old aggasi and there is no comparison in style) This allowed him to hit hard but short strokes. Most people are not that strong and can really benefit from greater rotation from slightly longer strokes. However, his shorter, flatter strokes fit his style, which was to stay at the baseline and move the ball around. Compare to Nadal who operates about 10-15 feet back of baseline and uses the heavy strokes to keep the returning balls deep.

If you want to see someone who hits like Agassi, just look at Djokvic.

So, to answer the original question - what is your style of play and what are your stregths/weaknesses? Do you feel the need for more topspin? Then don't use Agassi strokes. Do you want to be more aggressive and hit with an all court game? Then hit like Agassi.

[shiva29]

Agassi's forehand worked very well for him, but it's honestly one of the ugliest forehands in the history of professional tennis. Agassi's compact takeback works very well against pace, but I don't know how well it would work when you have a lot of time to set up the forehand. I take a pretty big cut at the ball so AA's forehand would never work for me, but if you can adapt your game to the compact forehand, go for it.

you're a joke !!!!!
his forehand is certainly one of the most beautiful of all time!!

[nickynu]

Rickson I have a lot of respect for your posts but you've lost the plot on the Agassi comment, I would sell my soul for an Agassi forehand-it remains beautiful you cannot revise history.

[thejoe]

I really like his forehand aesthetically. Awesome.

[Jonny S&V]

Rickson I have a lot of respect for your posts but you've lost the plot on the Agassi comment, I would sell my soul for an Agassi forehand-it remains beautiful you cannot revise history.

Umm, ok, nice to revive a pretty old thread... People can have opinions.

[Rickson]

After watching a little more Agassi footage, I see that he did take a big cut at the ball when he had time to set up, but I suppose his compact takeback was famous because so many of his highlights were against big bombers and he definitely preferred the compact takeback against them unlike Gonzalez who takes a big cut at everything.

[nickynu]

Umm, ok, nice to revive a pretty old thread... People can have opinions.

OMG I didnt realise this was a 2 year old thread and in fact I have no idea how I came across it as I dont remember searching for it. Apologies guys

[Rickson]

No worries, nicky. Who bought your soul?

[BillH]

While people often say that AA didn't have much topspin on his FH shots, its really relative to others on tour now and maybe then. I can tell you that I sat 3-4 feet from the court sideline as he warmed up with Cahill on a clay court and he had a tremendous amount of topspin compared to many you'll find at the HS and college level. He was pounding the ball and clearing the net by 4 feet and it still landed a foot inside the baseline - that indicates some pretty good topspin and the ball really took off after landing. You could do a lot worse than copying AA's FH.

[nickynu]

No worries, nicky. Who bought your soul?

Nobody thought it was worth much, so unfortunately I still have it along with my shoddy forehand slap!!! lol