Which legendary stroke would you most want to have?

Which great shot would you most want to have?

  • Sampras serve

    Votes: 56 37.3%
  • Federer forehand

    Votes: 61 40.7%
  • Nalbandian/Safin/Agassi backhand

    Votes: 12 8.0%
  • McEnroe/Edberg volley

    Votes: 5 3.3%
  • Agassi/Connors return of serve

    Votes: 7 4.7%
  • Other(specify)

    Votes: 9 6.0%

  • Total voters
    150

OHBH

Semi-Pro
Had to pick the Edberg volley. my serve is pretty good i just want to back it up better
 

dropshot winner

Hall of Fame
Definately not some pro's serve, even though mine sucks badly.
I mean what's so great having a great serve when the rest of you game sucks or is average? It would make you another Karlovic.

Federer's forehand would be nice, but it wouldn't be nearly as good without his footwork, so I'd probably take either Federer's peak movement/footwork (2005), or on clay, Coria's.
 

lawrence

Hall of Fame
hewitts lob

because people come in to the net a lot at my level and im too scrubby to pull good passing shots off lol
 

fps

Legend
i think i'd want the federer forehand.

because

at my level, having the sampras serve would be great for my service games, though incredibly boring for my opponent and me, but not much good when it came to breaking

whereas federer's forehand could be used game after game after game....

and i'd get a serious thrill out of hitting a ball like that :)
 

dlk

Hall of Fame
Sampras serve; that would elevate my game tremendously. I probably couldn't handle the return if my opponent could touch it:)
 
J

Jchurch

Guest
Federer forehand for sure. It would be fun to rip crazy winners out of my ass.
 

pc1

G.O.A.T.
Being that the serve is the most important stroke, I'll go with the Sampras serve. Like Agassi said (referring to Sampras' ability to hold serve), Pete can play badly for 42 minutes, play well for 1 minute and win the set.

That's pretty impressive.
 

PimpMyGame

Hall of Fame
It couldn't be anything awesome and used frequently, otherwise nobody would want to play me...

Therefore my vote goes for the Sampras smash - looks great and you could have a good laugh with it.
 

kishnabe

Talk Tennis Guru
Sampras serve is what i's want. I've only emulate and it worked only 5 out 240 times. I would want that motion to be perfect. Federer forehand would be an optiong but anyone can have a great forehand. Maybe not as great as federer's but at least good enough for me. McEnroe volleys, If I had them i would really get into those baseline basher minds. I'd rather want Nalbandian R.O.S than connors and agassi. Nalbandian returns really well when he is on.
 

Kobble

Hall of Fame
So hard, but I'm tempted to say the Guga backhand.

I think the Sampras serve or Federer forehand would get you the farthest, however.
 
S

srinrajesh

Guest
Karlovic Serve

his serve backed up by my other shots wud be deadly
 

illkhiboy

Hall of Fame
Why would anyone pick Agassi's return? You already get half of it if you pick Agassi's backhand.

True but one of Agassi's great skills is his quick hands which are especially useful on the return. There are plenty of great returners out there, like Nalbandian for instance. He routinely hits the inside-out backhand on the return which Agassi didn't do much often and not as well as Nalbandian. However what made Agassi's return such a threat was that he hardly ever, or probably never, had to chip that forehand return. Often enough great returners like Federer and Nalbandian are forced to chip that forehand return on the first serve because they are ready with the backhand grip. Personally I struggle to always return that first serve with the semi-western on my forehand. Hence I'd seriously consider Agassi's return as opposed to the backhand alone.

But if I had Sampras' serve, I can get by with chipping a few forehand returns right?
 
It couldn't be anything awesome and used frequently, otherwise nobody would want to play me...

Therefore my vote goes for the Sampras smash - looks great and you could have a good laugh with it.

If I could have one incredible stroke, I definately wouldn't waste it on Sampras' slam dunk :neutral:
 
Sampras serve
Federer forehand
Agassi backhand
Edberg volley
Agassi return of serve
I wish I could have of that I know you said one But I chose two

Sampras serve and either Agassi's backhand or Fed's Forehand but for sure Sampras serve.
 

35ft6

Legend
^ To have Karlovic's serve, you would need Karlovic's height. It's the angle that makes it dangerous.
Definately not some pro's serve, even though mine sucks badly.
I mean what's so great having a great serve when the rest of you game sucks or is average?
That goes for any of the shots. What's the point of having a great forehand... backhand... volley... if the rest of your game sucks? The serve is the most important shot in tennis, so it just makes sense to have that. And not just Sampras. Having any ATP top 50 level serve would instantly make you better. After serve, I would take footwork. If I could be in proper position like the pros it would instantly make my groundstrokes way better.
 

HunterST

Hall of Fame
^ To have Karlovic's serve, you would need Karlovic's height. It's the angle that makes it dangerous.That goes for any of the shots. What's the point of having a great forehand... backhand... volley... if the rest of your game sucks? The serve is the most important shot in tennis, so it just makes sense to have that. And not just Sampras. Having any ATP top 50 level serve would instantly make you better. After serve, I would take footwork. If I could be in proper position like the pros it would instantly make my groundstrokes way better.

Yeah you gotta be pretty stupid not to take the serve. Personally I would take Karlovic's. It would elevate your game way more than any other shot. Federer's forehand is amazing but his success has been from a combination of his all of his strokes and his movement. Karlovic's success has basically gotten success only from his serve.

I'd guess that I'm a 3.5, with Karlovic's serve I'd immediately jump to 5.0.
 

35ft6

Legend
I'd guess that I'm a 3.5, with Karlovic's serve I'd immediately jump to 5.0.
If you're a 3.5, with Karlovic's motion (assuming you're not 6'10" or however tall he is, therefor the serve will be less potent...), you would be weak 4.5 at best. :)
 

fps

Legend
Yeah you gotta be pretty stupid not to take the serve. Personally I would take Karlovic's. It would elevate your game way more than any other shot. Federer's forehand is amazing but his success has been from a combination of his all of his strokes and his movement. Karlovic's success has basically gotten success only from his serve.

I'd guess that I'm a 3.5, with Karlovic's serve I'd immediately jump to 5.0.

where's the fun in serving like that and having nothing on the return games? if i got a mega shot i'd want to use it all the time and in different situations, not just bang down 4 unreturnables a service game then go back to my rubbish self on the returns, or if the ball magically came back.
 

mcshift

Rookie
federer forehand ...with a combination of good footwork you could run around almost every backhand lol
 
Top