Medvedev Forehand

Chas Tennis

G.O.A.T.
Watching Medvedev at the AO, he seemed to have intense and very quick head movement to look at the ball during forehands.

Here is a big forehand, that appeared awkward in some way, but was a very strong shot.

His ball watching was very locked on. See 27 sec for the best clip. To single frame on Youtube use the period & comma keys. You can go full screen and come back down and the video stays on the same frame.

Video starts at 27 sec. Compare any two frames from the clip at 27 seconds. To compare one frame to another always select the video with the alt key + left mouse click, otherwise the video starts playing. Compare impact frame to each frame leading to impact.

This video shows his separation (hips line to shoulders line), the timing of his hip movement and the amount of shoulder horizontal adduction or ISR he has done leading to impact. He does not appear to accelerate his off arm straight out and pull it in. Significant power on this forehand appears to come from abdominal muscles that turn the uppermost body (line between the two shoulders). Look at the rotation axis located neck area/spine as the head stays still. The hips do not appear to lead his uppermost body in the turning when the forward swing first starts.

Using the court sign as a reference, his body does not move forward very much during the forward swing.

Comparison of the frame before impact to the one after impact show wrist flexion in the forward direction.

This high camera view - 45-45-45 degrees to trajectory vs a ground level camera - tends to show all stroke motions. This high camera position works for the serve also if a high vantage point is available.

I have not looked at other forehands to see how typical any of these observations are of his usual forehand drives.

Does he look through the back of the racket strings at impact? See thumbnail.

Is he jammed? The camera angle at 23 sec shows that he is moving the rotation axis back (neck area) to make room to swing. That is how it looks to me.
 
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ewiewp

Hall of Fame
I don't think he terribly needs "C" loop in his forehands.
Still appears to have a lot of modern horizontal swing near impact. If that's the case, his "C" loop is not super beneficial, IMHO.
 

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
Some of your obs are in line with what Tim Henman commented for Eurosport. The translator got in the way, but here is the gist:
- "Medvedev seems to be always hitting the balls somewhat late (not in front), while his body moves in a strange way (it looks to the left to me, like you said "not forward"), yet he never misses".

Looking at the first video, Medvedev switches to a close/neutral stance, so he plants his left foot late, although his racquet prep is on time.

Federer does the same in the attached video, but his contact point is more in front and his body doesn't move to the left.

Now Pat McEnroe said earlier that is amazing how Medvedev can change his mind last minute, during the shot and execute a different shot.

Other people (me included) have noticed in the past how lose his arm is...

 
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Fintft

G.O.A.T.
I've corrected myself, but the moral of the story is that these guys are very fast on their feet:

"Looking at the first video, Medvedev switches to a close/neutral stance, so he plants his left foot late, although his racquet prep is on time.

Federer does the same in the attached video, but his contact point is more in front and his body doesn't move to the left. "
 

Mountain Ghost

Professional
Is he jammed? The camera angle at 23 sec shows that he is moving the rotation axis back (neck area) to make room to swing. That is how it looks to me.
He's positioned and lined up as if he's about to hit cross court ... and then he contorts everything to hit the other way ... which would fake out anyone playing him. It looks weird ... but he's actually very much in control ... and he compensates for being jammed in a unique and effective way.

No one would teach this ... but he's got skills beyond normal people ... and he can obviously get away with a lot of "interesting" form.

~ MG
 

5263

G.O.A.T.
He's positioned and lined up as if he's about to hit cross court ... and then he contorts everything to hit the other way ... which would fake out anyone playing him. It looks weird ... but he's actually very much in control ... and he compensates for being jammed in a unique and effective way.

No one would teach this ... but he's got skills beyond normal people ... and he can obviously get away with a lot of "interesting" form.

~ MG
Medvedev is mostly just a "fade" ball hitter and one of the few who uses it as a primary shot for both sides. This shot is characterized be the wrist being laid back to some extent at contact and normally a very horizontal or level swing with what we call a high slot entry. These shots will often fade to the right for a righty Fh, but are often so hard and laser-like that you can't see much of the fade.This shot is good for taking balls aggressively 'on the rise'. If the ball is dropping, then you can go with a lower slot entry for a bit more 'low to high' to "lift and spin" this fade shot as well if needed.
 
Looks a bit old school
With the over the shoulder finish albeit with modern take back. A bit like agassi but longer swing and bigger take back
 

MaxTennis

Professional
Med is does not it flat - just flatter then some other ATP players. Probably hit 1200 RPM or something like that on that flat ball..

Damn, Medvedev and I hit about the same rpm on the backhand (obviously his is 1000x better).

Forehand, I average about 1600 rpm, but for a pro, his forehand is pretty flat at 2200 rpm.
 

Rubens

Hall of Fame
One peculiar aspect of his motion is that his elbow starts far from the body, then he tucks it in his torso at contact point and then keeps it close to his body for the rest of the motion, even at follow-through, hence the finish with the arm wrapped around his neck. Reminds me of something the infamous Oscar Wegner said about pulling the racquet back violently, or something like that.
 

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
One peculiar aspect of his motion is that his elbow starts far from the body, then he tucks it in his torso at contact point and then keeps it close to his body for the rest of the motion, even at follow-through, hence the finish with the arm wrapped around his neck. Reminds me of something the infamous Oscar Wegner said about pulling the racquet back violently, or something like that.

At contact point:

3:10 in this vid:
 

5263

G.O.A.T.
I'm more interested about Medvedev net cleareance.

For his passing shots D. Cahill court side, claimed to be between 2-3 inches up to a foot (12 inches) and that's way lower than 63 inches for Djoker and 70 inches for Federer:

you have to take note that one is talking about above the ground and the other is about how far over the net height.... the chart is labeled poorly and causes some confusion.
 

5263

G.O.A.T.
Medvedev is mostly just a "fade" ball hitter and one of the few who uses it as a primary shot for both sides. This shot is characterized be the wrist being laid back to some extent at contact and normally a very horizontal or level swing with what we call a high slot entry. These shots will often fade to the right for a righty Fh, but are often so hard and laser-like that you can't see much of the fade.This shot is good for taking balls aggressively 'on the rise'. If the ball is dropping, then you can go with a lower slot entry for a bit more 'low to high' to "lift and spin" this fade shot as well if needed.
Interesting note for me at least, is that over the last year, Medvedev has moved from a mostly Fade hitter to working the Draw mostly... which Imo relates to why he is now playing further back in the court.
 

Jonesy

Legend
Eastern grip with a bent elbow is a recipe for ugliness. That being said there is nothing wrong with it.
 

tendency

Rookie
Well, I would feel comfortable saying, with a high degree of probability, that medvedev would have no idea what any of you guys are talking about, lol.

To me, he just gets jammed but still crushes an inside out with his mad improv skills.
 

Dragy

Legend
Interesting note for me at least, is that over the last year, Medvedev has moved from a mostly Fade hitter to working the Draw mostly... which Imo relates to why he is now playing further back in the court.
Do you buy into Patrick M eye-dominance ideas? I see how what he say corresponds with using fade from open stance with more in-front contact vs more of draw from neutral stance dependent on which eye is dominant.
 

Jonesy

Legend
Do you buy into Patrick M eye-dominance ideas? I see how what he say corresponds with using fade from open stance with more in-front contact vs more of draw from neutral stance dependent on which eye is dominant.
Do you believe in this mumbo jumbo?
 

Dragy

Legend
Do you believe in this mumbo jumbo?
I’m sure it’s a factor, but how significant and weather dominant? Open question.

We talk a lot about hand-eye coordination being more important than exact technique, so why drop the eye out of discussion? It belongs in there.
 

Jonesy

Legend
I’m sure it’s a factor, but how significant and weather dominant? Open question.

We talk a lot about hand-eye coordination being more important than exact technique, so why drop the eye out of discussion? It belongs in there.
Which is your dominant eye?
 

Dragy

Legend
Mouratoglou would tell you to avoid hitting closed stance FHs. I'm a righty with left eye dominance plus OHBH yet PM didn't provide a solution to that case except saying to not copy Fed, who is also cross dominant.
Go Wawrinka style with more open chest! I’d go 2HBH.

Most rec players actually don’t turn away too much preparing OHBH.
 

5263

G.O.A.T.
Do you buy into Patrick M eye-dominance ideas? I see how what he say corresponds with using fade from open stance with more in-front contact vs more of draw from neutral stance dependent on which eye is dominant.
about 20 yrs ago I was pretty interested in this, but couldn't really see any way it was a factor since you pretty much should be facing the ball as it comes in.
 
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