Difference between the men's forehands and the women's forehand on tour

[Golden Retriever]

I have noticed that most men's forehand finish under the shoulder (Fed's finishes around his waist) and women's finish over the shoulder. Is that because the women hit more flat?

 

[dmastous]

Actually the over the shoulder finish is because they go for more topspin.
The biggest difference is bigger, stronger men with 20% more muscle mass on average.

 

[Golden Retriever]

What does muscle mass have to do with where you finish your forehand?

 

[35ft6]

Actually the over the shoulder finish is because they go for more topspin.
The biggest difference is bigger, stronger men with 20% more muscle mass on average.

Actually, finishing over the shoulder means a flatter shot. The around the waist follow through means it was a windshield wiper follow through, which means the racket didn't drive through the ball as much, meaning a more severe brushing motion, which equals more top spin. Yes, generally speaking, the big hitters on the WTA hit a much flatter ball than their counterparts on the ATP. You really don't see anybody on the ATP who hits as flat as Davenport, Sharapova, Venus, and etc. Maybe Berdych's forehand. Not anymore anyways. Maybe 20 years ago there were a lot of guys who hit as flat as the present day WTA.

 

[dmastous]

What does muscle mass have to do with where you finish your forehand?

"Difference between the men's forehands and the women's forehand on tour."
That's the question I was answering.
But since that's the direction you wanted to go, I would have to say that the men are more capable of flatening out a forehand and hitting a unreturnable forehand while the women are not as capable of doing that and need to be more consistant and work the point. Thus the emphasis on topspin, control and placement for the women, and flat power shot for the men. Though that's not absolute by any means, more of a generality. Sharapova and many of the chinese women hit pretty flat and Nadal is one of many men who hit with excessive (but not in a bad way) topspin. They said Kent Carlson, a Swedish clay courter back in the 80's could have played tennis comfortably over a volley ball net.
Good answer???

 

[sandiegotennisboy]

Actually, finishing over the shoulder means a flatter shot. The around the waist follow through means it was a windshield wiper follow through, which means the racket didn't drive through the ball as much, meaning a more severe brushing motion, which equals more top spin. Yes, generally speaking, the big hitters on the WTA hit a much flatter ball than their counterparts on the ATP. You really don't see anybody on the ATP who hits as flat as Davenport, Sharapova, Venus, and etc. Maybe Berdych's forehand. Not anymore anyways. Maybe 20 years ago there were a lot of guys who hit as flat as the present day WTA.

yeah true. the guys usually just hit flat to put away the shots. i think it was chris evert that said that the girls hit harder than the guys (in her dreams). her statement does have flaws though. i think the girls use flat shots more and of course flatter shots have more velocity, but the guys put more action on the ball with the crazy spins. and of course, if an atp player decides to hit flat, its gonna hit the court harder than any top wta player's shot.

 

[Freedom]

Actually the over the shoulder finish is because they go for more topspin.
The biggest difference is bigger, stronger men with 20% more muscle mass on average.

I guess you never saw Serena when she actually played tennis.