Why is great ballstriking always associated with flat hitting?

[pc1]

Originally Posted by dominikk1985

When I hear about great ballstrikers we always talk about relatively straight, hard hitters like agassi, davidenko, davenport...

Why is that? why are extreme spin players like federer considered lesser ballstrikers? does hitting flat equal great ballstriking?

I don't think they are necessarily associated with flat hitters. I think people think of great ballstrikers with accurate groundstrokes who rarely mishit and that's often flat hitter. Nadal is not ranked as a great ballstriker but perhaps he should considering how much topspin he puts on the put and how rarely he mishits considering that.

But you're right, throughout tennis history most of the great ballstrikers are guys like Budge, Connors, Agassi, Rosewall who were flat hitters.

[Biscuitmcgriddleson]

Originally Posted by Steve0904

I'm not sure if Federer is a lesser ballstriker. I also wouldn't say he hits with extreme spin. He's a flat ballstriker for all intents and purposes. He may hit with more spin now as he's had to adapt to the courts a bit, but 7-8 years ago he was about as flat a ballstriker as you could get.

To answer your question, I think it's associated with flat hitting because of the timing. If you time the shot right it will come off your racquet hard and flat. This is even true for todays players.

Federer was still hitting with gobs of spins, he just uses a flatter trajectory compared to others like Nadal and company.

[Shaolin]

Originally Posted by Steve0904

Gimme a break! Like I really thought about Andreev.

Yeah, I didn't think you put much thought into it.

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by Prisoner of Birth

Nadal's spin is out of this planet.

Verdasco hits with less topspin than Nadal but hits a pretty spinny ball as well..

[Boricua]

Originally Posted by pc1

I don't think they are necessarily associated with flat hitters. I think people think of great ballstrikers with accurate groundstrokes who rarely mishit and that's often flat hitter. Nadal is not ranked as a great ballstriker but perhaps he should considering how much topspin he puts on the put and how rarely he mishits considering that.

But you're right, throughout tennis history most of the great ballstrikers are guys like Budge, Connors, Agassi, Rosewall who were flat hitters.

Also Nalbandian. Del Potro is pretty good also.