Monica Seles' Stroke Mechanics

I am familiar with Seles' style of play - hit with both hands from both sides and was an aggressive baseliner, etc. - but can someone give me some specific information regarding her technique? For example, did she keep her elbows close to her body or did she extend them? What grip(s) did she use on both sides? Was her swing path low to high? What was her follow-through like?

Thanks.

I wouldn't recommend emulating Seles. She hit with a lot of topspin off both sides, but it wasn't exactly pretty. Her arms appeared to be underextended and close to her body, but if it worked for her, then obvoiusly it's a decent way to hit a tennis ball. If I remember right, her backhand (right side) was by far her stronger wing. Her cross-handed 2hf looked awkward, but then again, I've never seen a cross-handed 2-handed shot not look awkward. She liked to roll the ball with very sharp-angled cross-court shots over and over again.

Monica's groundstrokes were equally deadly from both forehand and backhand. She was incredibly well balanced. Even some of the commentators, like MJ Fernandez, have stated that both sides were equally strong and consistent for Seles so you couldn't attack either side or get a reprieve from either side.

Monica kept her arms very bent, very close to her body. That is one big reason why she generated so much power. Keeping the arms straight and almost rigid tends to decrease power, like Hewitt's BH. He is consistent but not powerful with his straight arm BH.

I don't recall Seles' grips but I do recall her having good variety with the two handed shots. She hit some good underspin dropshots, volleys etc, not just hard groundstrokes.

monica's grips were as follows:
forehand: left hand - semi-western; right hand - eastern backhand
backhand: left hand - continental; right hand - semi-western

i noticed that in her prime years, seles did hit equally well off both sides. after coming back, she was more of a flat hitter from the backhand and had more topspin from the forehand. her backhand had become more of a slap-shot like stroke, similar to serena williams. she was able to generate better angles from the forehand and more power from the backhand. but she also had more unforced errors from the backhand. whereas before, she was equally adept at hitting both power and angles off both sides. she did keep both arms bent and close to the body and she always made a full shoulder/trunk turn. she could hit from both open and closed stances, step in or hit off the back foot. her unorthodox stroke mechanics enabled her to disguise her shots better than anyone else.