Reverse Forehand.

[herosol]

I was wondering if anyone could help me develop the reverse forehand?
I know i'm gonna get alot of "LOL NADAL FANBOY!". Well whatever.

Anyways. Does anyone here have a good technique with it?
The few things i've realized after watching a few videos and personal testing is that:

1) The forehand is not really over the same shoulder, rather it's like an exaggerated finish to the opposite side so it seems like it comes over the same side.

2) Very hard to execute on high balls

Anything else? Thanks :p

[DarthCow]

You will be using a lot of wrist in the swing, especially at the end of it when you head speed comes to a stop.
You should use your wrist as an accelerator during the swing, but a decelerator at the end.
Exaggerate you low-to-high motion,


Also, for #2, you shouldnt be using the reverse forehand on very high balls. Its mainly for the balls that are below you strike zone, or when you are on the run.

And i might suggest using a western grip. It helps.

[wyutani]

the reverse forehand is actually similar to the "buggy-whip". best way to train this is against the wall. it typically hard to use it on high-ball, so the trick os to stand behind the baseline and wait for it to drop to shoulder height. yep, try the wall thing.

"LOL NADAL FANBOY!". HAHA, just jk mate'.

[SystemicAnomaly]

...

1) The forehand is not really over the same shoulder, rather it's like an exaggerated finish to the opposite side so it seems like it comes over the same side.

...

It depends on the implementation of the reverse FH. With Sharapova, Davenport and quite a few others, the finish is usually over the same (right) shoulder. Nadal is probably the most extreme with his helicopter finishes. Look at the racket hand of various players -- some, like Sharapova, usually finish with that hand on the right side of the head while others, like Sampras, often finish with the hand above the head. Nadal will often, but not always, circle the racket hand around his head.

Nadal's implementation of the reverse has to be the trickiest version to master. Study the reverse finishes of Capriati and the others I mentioned above before trying to emulate Nadal.

Note that the contact point on a reverse finish FH is significantly later than a standard FH. The standard contact will usually be even with the front foot or somewhat forward of the front foot. The contact point for the reverse FH is typically much later than this -- it might be on the mid-line of the body or even close to the back foot. The reverse finish is often employed when the player is on the run or when hitting off the back foot. The follow-thru is exaggerated -- very steep -- often, nearly vertical.

TennisPlayer.net has a couple of excellent articles by Robert Lansdorp -- The 3 Forehand Finishes (http://www.tennisplayer.net/public/famouscoach/lansdorp_three_forhand_finishes/lansdorp_three_forhand_finishes_samplearticle.html ) and Reverse Forehand. They've also got an in-depth 2-part article by John Yandell -- Rafael Nadal's Forehand. To access the full articles, you need to subscribe to the site. You can find a little bit about the reverse finish at Tennis.com (http://www.tennis.com/yourgame/instructionarticles/forehand/forehand.aspx?id=251)

[FH2FH]

Think more about what you're trying to do with the ball (not how you'd look in pirate pants) to make learning it easier. The purpose of a reverse forehand it's to LIFT the ball, not to pound it away for winners. The reason it's doesn't make sense to hit high balls this way is because it's a very low to high swing.

The stance also dictates the finish. Open is more helicopter look (Nadal). Closed (Sampras) is more to the side. I think the only reason Sharapova uses it is because she's tall and doesn't want to get down. Her stance and finish is somewhere between those two.