Agassi hitting top or side spin forehands? (videos)

[Nikae]

check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXWks...eature=channel

To me it looks like his forehands put a lot of side spin on the ball, because of that right to left (from his perspective) motion of the racket head.

More down to up would put "normal" top-spin on the ball, right?

[LeeD]

First two, he's hitting back to where it came from, so pure top.
When he goes strong CC, his forehand is hit with top and some of the outside of the ball.
When he goes inside out, he hits with topspin, and some inside of the ball, curving away from the opponent in an almost twist effect.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by LeeD

First two, he's hitting back to where it came from, so pure top.
When he goes strong CC, his forehand is hit with top and some of the outside of the ball.
When he goes inside out, he hits with topspin, and some inside of the ball, curving away from the opponent in an almost twist effect.

the first 2 are almost all sidespin. you can hit sidespin hitting back to where it came from and that's what he's doing here. you can see the spin on the ball.

all but the last 2 shots in that vid have sidespin on the ball

[LeeD]

Yes, there is sidespin. But the major component is topspin.
Somewhere between an inside out forehand, and a sharply angled cross court forehand, the ball is hit with pure topspin.

[Vlad_C]

Agassi used to hit with less topspin than most pros, in large part because he was taking the ball from high up, often at shoulder level, and whacking it from there.

[Cheetah]

Federer hitting almost all sidespin back to where the ball came from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCm6OIjbPr4&t=1m08s

[LeeD]

Roger's forehand looks 45 degree side and top to me.

[Cheetah]

yea i hear ya. hard to tell. it looks like it has like 45% when he first hits it and then towards the end of that shot it morphs into more sidespin. hard to tell for sure. oh well.

[5263]

Originally Posted by Nikae

check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXWks...eature=channel

To me it looks like his forehands put a lot of side spin on the ball, because of that right to left (from his perspective) motion of the racket head.

More down to up would put "normal" top-spin on the ball, right?

Normal IS some amount side spin.

Normal top spin for good players will have some level of side spin.

[WildVolley]

Originally Posted by 5263

Normal IS some amount side spin.

Normal top spin for good players will have some level of side spin.

I agree with this. I remember seeing video of Connors hitting almost pure side spin on some of his flat forehands. The amount of side spin hit by Agassi in those videos wasn't apparent to me, as sometimes Agassi would hit pretty flat. If you can see the ball hook through the air and then spin off to the side off the bounce, you can usually tell the side spin was dominant. Just a little won't put much action on the ball.

Federer sometimes gets a fair amount of side spin on his I/O forehand with both his body and racket moving across the back of the ball at contact. The ball goes spinning away from the opponent as it goes to the opposite corner.

[FrisbeeFool]

Those look like his conventional rally balls to me. Mostly topspin. Sometimes you will see players hit around the outside of the ball more and brush up a lot, imparting side and topspin to make the ball hook. People called this a running forehand for awhile. Some people called it a buggy whip forehand. Now the preferred parlance on the forums for this shot seems to be the reverse forehand. I didn't watch the entire video, but the first five or six balls I saw him hit look like conventional topspin drive rally balls.

It looks like he is warming up here and just trading groundstrokes. You see more of the sidespin shots in match play situations, when the point breaks down and players have to improvise.

[FrisbeeFool]

http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_...?v=C97zdG4wOOI

Here is a shot where federer is pulled out wide and is trying to hook the ball back into the court. There's some side spin and a lot of topspin. You don't see as many of these balls in warmup, because the players are trying to hit the ball right back to each other.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by FrisbeeFool

Sometimes you will see players hit around the outside of the ball more and brush up a lot, imparting side and topspin to make the ball hook. People called this a running forehand for awhile. Some people called it a buggy whip forehand. Now the preferred parlance on the forums for this shot seems to be the reverse forehand.

This isn't correct.
A running forehand is not a buggy whip or a reverse. 2 different concepts. A running forehand simply means you are running. It doesnt refer to swing type or mechanics.
A reverse fh refers to the swing path of the racquet. A reverse fh can also be done when not running.

[5263]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

This isn't correct.
A running forehand is not a buggy whip or a reverse. 2 different concepts. A running forehand simply means you are running. It doesnt refer to swing type or mechanics.
A reverse fh refers to the swing path of the racquet. A reverse fh can also be done when not running.

You are right, but must admit that quite often today's players use the buggy
whip when hitting the runner, and Pete was well know for that combination.

[Cheetah]

Yes. I do myself. It's the best and easiest method in that situation.

[Xizel]

Watch Nadal rally. The sidespin axis isn't particularly extreme, but the RPM and trajectory definitely are.

[5263]

Originally Posted by Xizel

Watch Nadal rally. The sidespin axis isn't particularly extreme, but the RPM and trajectory definitely are.

I agree it's not extreme, but
It is quite noticeable in how it makes his balls curve to the side as well as dip.