ATP FH vs WTA FH: Isn't this sexist?

[Digital Atheist]

I prefer the "big D forehand" and the "little V forehand." Is that sexist?

With your username I thought you might prefer "little D" and "big V"!

 

[wings56]

Not to mention that most women don't fully pronate

Let me correct myself. There are vast differences in application. I don't think there are differences in teaching methods between men and women on the serve. I think men and women are actually taught to hit their forehands differently as their games progress.

 

[tennis_balla]

I have just encountered this recently as a naming convention and some discussion. This seems ridiculous to me, there are tons of different types of forehands on both the ATP and WTA. This seems very odd and off-putting. What am I missing?

The fact that you’re blue pilled and should read The Rational Male by Rollo Tomassi

 

[wings56]

No derision from me.
Can you post a serve video? I'll add it to the index post I made.

You can see everything else from my page

 

[Curiosity]

I cannot help but wish to explore the "sexism" in tennis further. Watching the French Open yesterday, it became obvious that the women's tennis dresses have become, well, sexier than ever, while the men are still wearing the somewhat baggy longish shorts. I concluded that pro tennis is more like an after-hours cocktail reception than a business meeting: Gone are the relatively demure suits of the daytime office. At contemporary east coast cocktail parties the men show up in suits, true, perhaps black with a satin collar, while the women show up in short slinky black dresses or the equivalent. I have no complaints about the entire arrangement of custom, actually, and found myself muttering "Vive la différence," in a sort of Maurice Chavalier voice. Does this mean I'm sexist? It's the same reality on the red carpet walk to the Oscars, so perhaps tennis is just eager to be very Hollywood? It occurred to me that a cure might be for the WTA women to wear long baggy shorts/culottes and looser tops. Yet the WTA has informally rejected such a mandate. Immediately I realized they concluded this might reduce ticket sales for the womens' matches even further, so forget that... Sexism, at least implicitly and from that angle, is a conscious part of the WTA brand. #MeTooMuch

 

[5263]

I don't agree. Agassi's forehand was very much an ATP style forehand, except that his arm rotation occurred mostly at the shoulder (like Borg, Lendl and Sampras), and very little at the elbow.

I think your point is reasonable, but Agassi with his big C lacked the flip to the "power slot" (didn't clearly point the racket tip forward or to the side either) some of the keys to the ATP style..... and often turned his shoulders so far that you could see the racket on the back side, but I do agree that even then, he didn't get the racket behind his shoulder plane. These are the reasons I suggested he straddled the line between ATP & WTA just a bit.

 

[DoctorBackhand]

I see your point in regards to people deriding the WTA forehand as weaker. I have seen that around here as well. I don't have any stats on RPM or anything, and I don't really care one way or the other. Any forehand that makes it to the world stage is good enough for me, whether its a man's or a woman's, and people on this forum tend to be very selective about which forehands they worship (I remember a thread on here where someone said Tipsarevic's forehand sucked because he wasn't in the top 10).

The ATP-WTA distinction itself isn't sexist, as it does describe a general trend in difference between most pro women's techniques and most men's. However, I would kill to have any pro's forehand, heck, I would love to have Lucie Hradecka's forehand and just blast those suckers everywhere . Learn the difference if it matters to you, or don't, because it doesn't really exist outside of this forum.

 

[5263]

Learn the difference if it matters to you, or don't, because it doesn't really exist outside of this forum.

Really? Then why are coaches on both international Tennis coaching forums I'm on, talk about it every week? Why are more and more ladies on the WTA going to the "timing enhanced, ATP" Fh every year?

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

That people like to talk in generalities.

In general a high percentage on the ATP tour have a forehand that looks like X

In general a high percentage on the WTA tour have a forehand that looks like Y

It is not sexist to recognize that men and women are built differently (shoulder width and body geometry and overal strength in particular) which causes *in general* men to adopt one style and women to adopt a different style.

The higher and longer takeback allows women to generate more RHS than they could with the shorter more compact takeback (strength issues) ... body geometry on the follow through favors women with a higher across shoulder follow through and men lower across arm follow through.

Nothing about this I find sexist ... and I find a lot of other things sexist in the world, just not this.

Very good. But you got your Xs and Ys mixed up. It is the presence of a Y chromosome that determines a male

 

[OnTheLine]

Very good. But you got your Xs and Ys mixed up. It is the presence of a Y chromosome that determines a male

I knew someone would point that out ... but didn't have the energy to go edit it ....

 

[Rubens]

It's only sexist if we say that the wta forehand is vastly inferior to the atp one, that it's not as biomechanically optimal, that it lacks spin and control, and that it's fugly.