Has Nadal abbrieviated his forehand?

Clay lover

Legend
When Nadal first came onto the scene he had a pretty high and long backswing and drives through the ball more often.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-1jHJ3-fAY&feature=related
Over his career he seems to have shortened his backswing (now he seems to just take the racquet down instead of pulling it back) and goes to his reverse finish more often. (Reverse finishes not in the video but you can observe this in matches)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B1PWHqy7ns

What do you guys think? I personally think it is to improve his recovery between shots so he can run down the next shot faster. Has it got anything to do with his improved success on hard courts?
 

35ft6

Legend
His forehand definitely looks different. Not sure when he made the change but the last month or so I've noticed that his motion looks more abbreviated than before, and this video makes me realize he closes his racket face way more than he used to. His forehand used to be more of a continuous motion and now there's a brief pause in the middle of his backswing, right before he swings forward to hit the ball, and during this pause, his racket face is completely closed. The closed face is a relatively new addition to the modern pro swing. I've tried it and it's amazing how much more power you can get by pronating through the forehand. But I would need a long time to make it a natural part of my swing, so my forehand is more like the old way, with the racket face very very slightly closed but more or less perpendicular to the ground as it moves forward.
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
Yeah it has been a big improvement for him on faster surfaces. He can still wind up with a long shot but can abbreviate if needed.
 

ty slothrop

Semi-Pro
THere is no doubt about it. Uncle Toni has referenced it as a work in progress numerous times, and there was a lot of talk from his camp about abbreviating his forehand take-back last offseason. The idea is to help flatten the ball out and help him respond to quicker courts.
 

jelle v

Hall of Fame
Yes.. it was somewhere last year, second half or so, that I noticed it for the first time. I have the notion that it has effected his clay court forehand just a little bit (less spin, less bouncy). But then again, there has only been one clay court tournament.
 

jules2

New User
He's pronating his arm as he hits through the ball (a la Federer) more recently. It looks like he used to have a more traditional "modern" forehand in the older vid.
 
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