Nadal’s Playing Style

I need an in depth playing style description of Nadal. I have been struggling to find a good one and I am relatively new to tennis, so formulating my own idea of how he plays is tough. Please describe his playing style as best as you can
 

jga111

Hall of Fame
His stance is unorthodox. More open than closed.

His grip is unorthodox - videos showing him play with western, S/W variations.

Swing follow through is unorthodox.

Wrist looseness is unorthodox.

He likes to play with tight angles (which he for some reason did not feel confident to do enough of in the FO final - probably coz of Djoko)
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
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SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
I need an in depth playing style description of Nadal. I have been struggling to find a good one and I am relatively new to tennis, so formulating my own idea of how he plays is tough. Please describe his playing style as best as you can
I would seriously reconsider attempting to emulate Rafa's playing style -- as impressive as it might appear. His style of play is particularly brutal on his hands (blisters), wrists, shoulder, abs, back, feet, knees, hips and his legs, in general.

In the Fall of 2005, Rafa suffered a foot that injury prevented him from competing in the Tennis Masters Cup. He also missed the 2006 Australian Open due to foot injury. He had also injured his shoulder in a grass tournament at the Queen's Club in 2006.

In the second half of 2007, Rafa battle any injury suffered during his Wimbledon final. Later in 2007, Toni Nadal had indicated that Rafa had some long term damage because of an earlier foot injury.

In 2008, Nadal withdrew after the QF round at the Paris Masters because of a knee injury. Because of this injury he also went through from the Tennis Masters Cup and from a Davis Cup final against Argentina.

Subsequently, Rafa withdrew from the 2009 Wimbledon Championships because of his recurring knee injury. In the QF at the 2011 AO, he suffered a hamstring injury. At Wimbledon that year he sustained a foot injury.

For three years running Nadal had missed a major tournament. In 2012 he missed the U.S. Open with a knee injury, missed the 2013 Australian Open with an illness and then the 2014 U.S. Open due to his wrist.

in 2014 Rafa suffered a back injury during a warm up for the AO final. After Wimbledon that year, Rafa withdrew from several tournaments due to a wrist injury. In 2016, Rafa withdrew from competition due to a left injury suffered during the Madrid Open. He's definitely withdrew from the French Open & Wimbledon because of that injury.

In the QF at 2018 AO, Rafa retired due to a hip injury. He also withdrew from the Mexican Open, Indian Wells and Miami Open due to injury. At the US Open SF, Rafa retired due to knee pain. He withdrew from Paris Masters that year due to an abdominal injury.

In 2019, Rafa withdrew from Brisbane you to an injury. A bit later that year, he withdrew from Indian Wells and the Miami Open cuz of a right hip injury. At Paris Masters he reached the SF stage but pulled out due to another abdominal injury.
 
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SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Because of his particularly harsh / brutal style of play, many had expected the Nadal to retire before the age of 30. However, Rafa has undoubtedly engaged in numerous exercises & quite a bit of physical training that has actually reduced some of the effects of his demanding playing style.

The average player who tries to emulate Rafa's style rarely engage in enough physical training to counteract the demanding style.

Another factor is that, Rafa has made a considerable amount of money (millions) playing tennis and has access to some of the best (expensive) medical care available. No doubt, some outstanding physical therapy as well. The average player could probably not afford the amount of money that Rafa has had to pay to minimize the effect of his numerous injuries.
 

user92626

G.O.A.T.
Reading the predictions, etc in the graphic, I suppose the predictors eat crows now that Nadal consistently makes deep rounds in tournaments in his mid 30s?


Oh damn, maybe I should eat a bit of crows as well, lol.:censored::oops:

Headline:
Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics in shock announcement
Rafael Nadal made a shock announcement this lunchtime: he won’t be playing at either the Wimbledon Championships or the Tokyo Olympics to give himself the best opportunity to recover from a draining clay-court season
.
 
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SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Reading the predictions, etc in the graphic, I suppose the predictors eat crows now that Nadal consistently makes deep rounds in tournaments in his mid 30s?
Not really. I explained in post #11 why Rafa was able to play past his late 20s. After so many injuries, he and Uncle Toni were taking significant countermeasures in his mid/late 20s onward to ensure that Rafa would not have to retire by 30.

Also, $$$$$ helped considerably toward that end.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Headline:
Rafael Nadal pulls out of Wimbledon and Tokyo Olympics in shock announcement
Rafael Nadal made a shock announcement this lunchtime: he won’t be playing at either the Wimbledon Championships or the Tokyo Olympics to give himself the best opportunity to recover from a draining clay-court season
.
Add this to the lengthy injury list I posted in #10. Not even certain that it is a fully comprehensive list of Rafa's numerous injuries.

The graphic was spot on regarding some of the stresses that Nadal endured with his aggressive, extremely demanding playing style. Most mere mortals would not be able to withstand that kind of abuse to the body.
 

pencilcheck

Hall of Fame
Why ask anything when the answer is always is on Google.

What an unhelpful comment
Yea, that's why I google a lot. Since google usually return tons of answers that have already asked. And his question is not original enough that no one has answered them or showed on youtube before.

Also the best source to understand Nadal's play is to watch him play, which is on youtube.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Yea, that's why I google a lot. Since google usually return tons of answers that have already asked. And his question is not original enough that no one has answered them or showed on youtube before.

Also the best source to understand Nadal's play is to watch him play, which is on youtube.
Some ppl can easily pick up things from YT, many cannot. I've gotten quite a few students who learned some of their strokes from YT videos. They thought they were doing pretty much what they saw on those videos. Often, They were not.

A number of times I've had to fix these YT-learned skills. I will show the student what I believe was on those videos. Then, I will show them what they were actually doing. (Or vice versa).

Furthermore, if the OP had simply Googled or YouTubed Rafa's playing style, he probably would not have gotten the extensive feedback I provided -- that, perhaps, emulating Rafa's style might not be the wisest / healthiest thing to do.

@jga111 provided some useful input as well
 
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Bender

G.O.A.T.
His stance is unorthodox. More open than closed.
Most players hit with open or semi-open stances these days, Nadal is not different in this regard.
His grip is unorthodox - videos showing him play with western, S/W variations.
There is nothing unorthodox with a SW grip. In fact it's the most common grip on tour. He's also never hit with a W grip, and even in his early years he hit with at most a strong SW grip, and these days looks to be using something closer to an extreme eastern grip.
Swing follow through is unorthodox.
Reverse forehands were around for decades before Nadal; Borg used it, and more recently Sampras used it to great effect. Federer hits tons of reverse forehands as well.

Wrist looseness is unorthodox.
This guy also hits with a similarly unorthodox loose wrist, but most people say he's a technical role model:

AthleticBelatedCopepod-small.gif


So no, it's not, unless you're comparing Nadal's wrist to McEnroe's.

In fact, if you search any mirrored videos of Nadal hitting forehands, you'll notice that it bears a remarkable resemblance to a certain 20 slam champ:

 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Most players hit with open or semi-open stances these days, Nadal is not different in this regard.

Reverse forehands were around for decades before Nadal; Borg used it, and more recently Sampras used it to great effect. Federer hits tons of reverse forehands as well.
I am a huge fan / proponent of employing a good mix of neutral stances and semi-open stances. Judicious or limited (moderate) use of extreme open or extreme closed stances for most rec players.

The issue that I have with employing primarily semi & fully open stances is that it can be particularly stressful to the loading hip. Modern players, who primarily use these stances, will sometimes develop a hip problem (but can sometimes easily afford to have it repaired).

However, most modern players who employ these stances, prolifically, put their time in with a lot of monster walks & other countermeasures to strengthen the area. Some rec players who emulate this type of footwork may also put the time in to bulletproof their hip. But many rec players are not willing to put in the time or are unaware that they should. These players should stay away from a prolific use of open stances. This is the very reason that I stress primarily neutral and semi-open stances to students.

No one in the past, not even Borg, Sampras, Davenport, Capriati, etc used the reverse finish to the (extreme) extent that Nadal & some other modern players do. While Federer and others often use a reverse finish, I do not believe that anyone uses it nearly as much as Nadal does in competition.

Rafa has a somewhat unique implementation of reverse finish -- a lasso or helicopter (around the head) variation. Most other players tend to finish with their hand staying on their Fh side or going directly over their head (like Sampras et al did) rather than around the head.

A huge problem with people who emulate the reverse of Rafa is that they tend to grossly overuse it. They tend to hit with a very late contact point -- even when they don't need to. They get into a bad habit of preparing and hitting late rather than using the reverse more judiciously.

Note that Sampras primarily used the reverse finish when taken out wide on his Fh side. His goal with this was often to hit a sharp angle with a good amount of spin. Some pro players use the reverse primarily when they are late.

I do not recommend any rec players using the reverse in the manner or to the extent that Rafa does. Even Rafa uses it only in competition -- not in practice sessions. That's not what you see with rec players who try to emulate him.
 
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pencilcheck

Hall of Fame
Some ppl can easily pick up things from YT, many cannot. I've gotten quite a few students who learned some of their strokes from YT videos. They thought they were doing pretty much what they saw on those videos. Often, They were not.

A number of times I've had to fix these YT-learned skills. I will show the student what I believe was on those videos. Then, I will show them what they were actually doing. (Or vice versa).

Furthermore, if the OP had simply Googled or YouTubed Rafa's playing style, he probably would not have gotten the extensive feedback I provided -- that, perhaps, emulating Rafa's style might not be the wisest / healthiest thing to do.

@jga111 provided some useful input as well
Playing style is not about strokes though. I also don't think he is asking about nadal skills. Also whether he can really pull off playing like nadal that is a totally different question.

I thought he just want to know how he starts a point, ends a point, how he neutralize and come back from defense. It is hard to describe in words since every point is different, and nadal evolved a lot over the course of a decade of him playing. To learn his playing style, it is the best to simply bring up a couple videos of him playing and just watch and take notes. There are videos in satallite view and now people are posting him playing at court view as well so there are multiple viewpoints that helps a ton.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
I am a huge fan / proponent of employing a good mix of neutral stances and semi-open stances. Judicious or limited (moderate) use of extreme open or extreme closed stances for most rec players.

The issue that I have with employing primarily semi & fully open stances is that it can be particularly stressful to the loading hip. Modern players, who primarily use these stances, will sometimes a hip problem (and can easily afford to have it fixed).

However, most modern players who employ these stances, prolifically, put their time in with a lot of monster walks & other countermeasures to strengthen the area. Some rec players who emulate this type of footwork may also put the time in to bulletproof their hip. But many rec players are not willing to put in the time or are unaware that they should. These players should stay away from a prolific use of open stances. This is the very reason that I stress primarily neutral and semi-open stances to students.

No one in the past, not even Borg, Sampras, Davenport, Capriati, etc used the reverse finish to the (extreme) extant that Nadal & some other modern players do. While Federer and others often use a reverse finish, I do not believe that anyone uses it nearly as much as Nadal does in competition.

Rafa has a somewhat unique implementation of reverse finish -- a lasso or helicopter (around the head) variation. Most other players tend to finish with their hand staying on their Fh side or going directly over their head (like Sampras et al did) rather than around the head.

A huge problem with people that emulate the reverse of Rafa is that they tend to grossly overuse it. They tend to hit with a very late contact point -- even when they don't need to. They get into a bad habit of preparing and hitting late rather than using the reverse more judiciously.

Note that Sampras primarily use the reverse finish when taken out wide on his Fh side. His goal with this was often they hit a sharp angle with a good amount of spin. Some pro players use the reverse primarily when they are late.

I do not recommend any rec players using the reverse in the manner or to the extent that Rafa does. Even Rafa uses it only in competition -- not in practice sessions. That's not what you see with rec players who try to emulate him.
By most players I meant pros because that's the context in which the question (and answers) were framed. My point was that calling Nadal's stance unorthodox because it's more open than closed is nonsensical unless you woke up from a coma yesterday and missed the last 20 years of tennis because open and semi-open stances were becoming "meta" even before Nadal had his breakout year in 2005.

I'm not convinced Nadal's reverse finish is particularly unique, other than his tendency for wrist flexion as his hand + racquet approaches his head, whereas most other players relax their wrists, letting it get to neutral.

Again, not really my point as my intent was to disagree with the notion that the reverse finish is something inherently unorthodox, which it clearly isn't, and hasn't been for decades. Personally I'd chalk it up to shot selection rather than a technical one, and the same applies to Nadal emulators especially if they lack the technique to execute as well as he does relative to their respective level. But I do remember reading somewhere that the stats for Nadal's forehand don't change much regardless of the finish, which if true, would mean that it wouldn't even be a shot selection issue but more akin to switching to and fro between old school over-the-shoulder finishes and WW finishes.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
Playing style is not about strokes though. I also don't think he is asking about nadal skills. Also whether he can really pull off playing like nadal that is a totally different question.

I thought he just want to know how he starts a point, ends a point, how he neutralize and come back from defense. It is hard to describe in words since every point is different, and nadal evolved a lot over the course of a decade of him playing. To learn his playing style, it is the best to simply bring up a couple videos of him playing and just watch and take notes. There are videos in satallite view and now people are posting him playing at court view as well so there are multiple viewpoints that helps a ton.
Tbh, Nadal's style is overrated in terms of how unique it is because of his intensity and technical flair. Even more so these days.

Usually, it's serve + 1, or if the return isn't weak enough then it's serve + CC FH + wider CC FH + even wider CC FH + inside-out FH winner.

Those are bread and butter tactics for any lefty, and it can be done with or without Nadal's reverse finish (although it'd be easier with since you can get a bit more sidespin with that reverse finish)
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Playing style is not about strokes though. I also don't think he is asking about nadal skills. Also whether he can really pull off playing like nadal that is a totally different question.

I thought he just want to know how he starts a point, ends a point, how he neutralize and come back from defense. It is hard to describe in words since every point is different, and nadal evolved a lot over the course of a decade of him playing. To learn his playing style, it is the best to simply bring up a couple videos of him playing and just watch and take notes. There are videos in satallite view and now people are posting him playing at court view as well so there are multiple viewpoints that helps a ton.
The OP indicated that he is "relatively new to tennis". As a novice / neophyte, I'm not so certain that your interpretation is what the OP is after. I would think that it is probably not. But I may be wrong.

And how is a novice supposed to pick up on the nuances of what you suggest by watching YT videos?
 

pencilcheck

Hall of Fame
Tbh, Nadal's style is overrated in terms of how unique it is because of his intensity and technical flair. Even more so these days.

Usually, it's serve + 1, or if the return isn't weak enough then it's serve + CC FH + wider CC FH + even wider CC FH + inside-out FH winner.

Those are bread and butter tactics for any lefty, and it can be done with or without Nadal's reverse finish (although it'd be easier with since you can get a bit more sidespin with that reverse finish)
yea, so in essense, nadal is playing by taking advantage of his FH CC, therefore his style is basically about attacking backends of righty. And that's just a trademark of being lefty if you can pull that off.

The reason he is successful is because he is very smart in terms of his CC and make his opponent guess so their opponent can't do a CC backhand that pull Nadal wide on his forehand much. Meaning his spin prevents his opponent from doing wider CC and attack. I think that's one thing Nadal did really well about that most other lefty don't. And the reason 2017 Fed won was because he seems to find a way to hit that wider CC backhand high up in the air that nadal didn't anticipate. That's why 2017 Fed was really amazing.
 

pencilcheck

Hall of Fame
The OP indicated that he is "relatively new to tennis". As a novice / neophyte, I'm not so certain that your interpretation is what the OP is after. I would think that it is probably not. But I may be wrong.

And how is a novice supposed to pick up on the nuances of what you suggest by watching YT videos?
It's like someone asking a video game pro what's someone play style. I wouldn't start assuming he is asking about how to pull off a combo, which character is the best, and what kinda combo he would pull off for what scenario, etc or the practice he went into doing so and the pixel count and lag to make sure he can pull of a certain hit to get him off the stage, etc.

I would just simply say he is an aggressive player, but he likes to counter that's why he is tough to play against. Or I would recommend him to just have him watch that player play. As that is the quickest way to learn about how someone plays without being too misleading or adding too much personal bias.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
By most players I meant pros because that's the context in which the question (and answers) were framed. My point was that calling Nadal's stance unorthodox because it's more open than closed is nonsensical unless you woke up from a coma yesterday and missed the last 20 years of tennis because open and semi-open stances were becoming "meta" even before Nadal had his breakout year in 2005.

I'm not convinced Nadal's reverse finish is particularly unique, other than his tendency for wrist flexion as his hand + racquet approaches his head, whereas most other players relax their wrists, letting it get to neutral.

Again, not really my point as my intent was to disagree with the notion that the reverse finish is something inherently unorthodox, which it clearly isn't, and hasn't been for decades. Personally I'd chalk it up to shot selection rather than a technical one, and the same applies to Nadal emulators especially if they lack the technique to execute as well as he does relative to their respective level. But I do remember reading somewhere that the stats for Nadal's forehand don't change much regardless of the finish, which if true, would mean that it wouldn't even be a shot selection issue but more akin to switching to and fro between old school over-the-shoulder finishes and WW finishes.
Not quite following the thought process here. The OP indicated that he is fairly new to tennis. I believe the responses are directed with that in mind. It might be best to address the norm for lower level rec players rather than what the norm is for elite players or more advanced rec players.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
It's like someone asking a video game pro what's someone play style. I wouldn't start assuming he is asking about how to pull off a combo, which character is the best, and what kinda combo he would pull off for what scenario, etc or the practice he went into doing so and the pixel count and lag to make sure he can pull of a certain hit to get him off the stage, etc.

I would just simply say he is an aggressive player, but he likes to counter that's why he is tough to play against. Or I would recommend him to just have him watch that player play. As that is the quickest way to learn about how someone plays without being too misleading or adding too much personal bias.
In the past few decades, I've worked with scads of novices & low intermediate players. What you suggest does not sound like what these players are asking about -- particularly if they are asking about wanting to play like Rafa or Player X.

Doesn't even look like the OP has even been around for the past 3 days. So it's difficult to know what he is actually after.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
Not quite following the thought process here. The OP indicated that he is fairly new to tennis. I believe the responses are directed with that in mind. It might be best to address the norm for lower level rec players rather than what the norm is for elite players or more advanced rec players.
By that logic then pretty much literally every pro player on tour is unorthodox because what is the norm for advanced rec to elite players is very different to what low level rec players do.

In that case, the "orthodox" forehand with that in mind should be a flat-footed, straight-legged chop shot or bunt forehand hit with a stiff wrist and falling forwards with the dominant leg in front of the non-dominant leg, but I doubt any of us would be happy with that.
In the past few decades, I've worked with scads of novices & low intermediate players. What you suggest does not sound like what these players are asking about -- particularly if they are asking about wanting to play like Rafa or Player X.
Strictly speaking he didn't actually say he wanted to play like Nadal though (yet), he just wanted to know how best to describe his style.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
By that logic then pretty much literally every pro player on tour is unorthodox because what is the norm for advanced rec to elite players is very different to what low level rec players do.

In that case, the "orthodox" forehand with that in mind should be a flat-footed, straight-legged chop shot or bunt forehand hit with a stiff wrist and falling forwards with the dominant leg in front of the non-dominant leg, but I doubt any of us would be happy with that.

He also didn't say he wanted to play like Nadal though (yet), he just wanted to know how best to describe his style.
Perhaps you should take those things up with jga. The gist of my responses was that the playing style of Rafa might be one that he should really think twice about adopting. I had not actually brought up specifics about stroke mechanics or shot selection.

When a novice player asked about a playing style of Player X without going into details about what they are after, it's difficult to interpret what they actually are looking for. If it came from a solid intermediate player, I might be more inclined to agree with you.
 

Bender

G.O.A.T.
Perhaps you should take those things up with jga. The gist of my responses was that the playing style of Rafa might be one that he should really think twice about adopting. I had not actually brought up specifics about stroke mechanics or shot selection.

When a novice player asked about a playing style of Player X without going into details about what they are after, it's difficult to interpret what they actually are looking for. If it came from a solid intermediate player, I might be more inclined to agree with you.
Well we can only really answer the question as worded since OP has yet to say anything in this thread.

In terms of classifying his playing style, it’s really a high octane version of the aggressive lefty baseliner. He just hits a lot harder with more spin, and runs around the backhand a lot more, which opens up angles.

If OP is a lefty there are definitely things he can emulate from Nadal’s game. The patience and discipline in his forehand to backhand exchanges being the most obvious one.
 

SystemicAnomaly

Bionic Poster
Well we can only really answer the question as worded since OP has yet to say anything in this thread.

In terms of classifying his playing style, it’s really a high octane version of the aggressive lefty baseliner. He just hits a lot harder with more spin, and runs around the backhand a lot more, which opens up angles.

If OP is a lefty there are definitely things he can emulate from Nadal’s game. The patience and discipline in his forehand to backhand exchanges being the most obvious one.
If the OP really is a novice, as he appears to say, I would I think that much of this is beyond his ability to implement. Needs to learn the basics before thinking about being a lefty (if the OP is, indeed, a lefty).

Even as an experienced Lefty, myself, there are only a few things that I look to Rafa's playing style to emulate. In the past few decades, I had primarily looked at right-handed players like Agassi, Sampras, Chang, Safin, Federer and others. Early on I had been looking at lefties like Laver & Navratilova. Connors & JMac to a lesser extent. But, overall, mostly right-handed players.
 

FiddlerDog

Hall of Fame
If you're new to tennis, find a local coach and take some lessons.
You will never emulate an ATP pro from some written descriptions posted on a tennis forum.
 

Jay_The_Nomad

Professional
Rafa version 2021 is a counter puncher / aggressive baseliner /shot maker who has excellent hands at the net.

His entire service game is based on dominating the opponent from the back of the court with his high and heavy topspin forehand, pushing them further and further behind the baseline to open up the opportunity for him to hit his sharp angle winners. He relies heavily on his very quick feet and his stamina to get in position to hit as many forehands as possible in a match. His serve is quite underrated and is actually quite effective with that lefty spin particularly with the natural advantage he gets from having access to the slice out wide serve on the ad court during most of the important points.

For his return game, Rafa relies on his athleticism and natural high safety margin afforded by the trajectory of his topspin shots to counter punch effectively to absorb an opponent’s power and try to work his way into each point in order to getting a break.

Rafa also has the skills at the net to mix it up and finish points at the net.

Rafa is also a shot maker and is able to hit spectacular shots from various parts of the court.

In a match, Rafa’s go to shot is the high and heavy cross court forehand. When he starts getting confident, he will begin ripping down the line flat forehand shots. When he is extra confident, he will start ripping that backhand cross court hard and flat. Rafa seldom ever hits down the line backhands.
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
Rafa seldom ever hits down the line backhands.

Hmm, disagree on that one: one of the ways he neutralizes the point is to hit a loopier BH DTL to A) force his righty opponent to hit a BH; and B) to give himself time.

He also flattens it out and goes DTL when his opponent is too wide CC.

It might come down to your definition of "seldom". I'd guess he does it more than 10% of the time.

Watching the highlight reel at RG, the ratio of DTL to CC was roughly 1:2, which is way more than seldom. But that could be too small of a sample size.
 

Jay_The_Nomad

Professional
Hmm, disagree on that one: one of the ways he neutralizes the point is to hit a loopier BH DTL to A) force his righty opponent to hit a BH; and B) to give himself time.

He also flattens it out and goes DTL when his opponent is too wide CC.

It might come down to your definition of "seldom". I'd guess he does it more than 10% of the time.

Watching the highlight reel at RG, the ratio of DTL to CC was roughly 1:2, which is way more than seldom. But that could be too small of a sample size.

Ah yes you’re correct. He does hit that loopy DTL backhand quite often. To force a reset of the pattern.

But when it comes to that flat driven DTL backhand, he almost never hits that shot.
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
He did a lot in the Madrid final, if memory serves me well.

If memory serves well, how do you return?

I have in my mind's eye Nadal near the Deuce alley pummelling a flatter BH DTL after taking his opponent out wide with a sharp angle CC BH. I just can't quantify how often he does it.
 

Fintft

G.O.A.T.
If memory serves well, how do you return?

I have in my mind's eye Nadal near the Deuce alley pummelling a flatter BH DTL after taking his opponent out wide with a sharp angle CC BH. I just can't quantify how often he does it.

I don't remember seeing him doing it much on the return, I was referring to match/rally situation and I am tempted to agree with the begining(he also sometimes hits flatter FHs) of this paragraph, except for the last sentence:

In a match, Rafa’s go to shot is the high and heavy cross court forehand. When he starts getting confident, he will begin ripping down the line flat forehand shots. When he is extra confident, he will start ripping that backhand cross court hard and flat. Rafa seldom ever hits down the line backhands.
 

S&V-not_dead_yet

Talk Tennis Guru
I don't remember seeing him doing it much on the return, I was referring to match/rally situation and I am tempted to agree with the begining(he also sometimes hits flatter FHs) of this paragraph, except for the last sentence:

The "memory serves..." part was just a play on words; my attempt at humor.
 
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