Nadal: More Topsin Than Federer?

[serveboy]

I always felt Federer had more topsin on his forehand than any other player but after watching the Federer Nadal match it almost looked as though Nadal's topsin dwarfed Federer's. Not only that, Nadal seemed to have a lot more ease handling Federer's topspin than Federer had handling Nadal's.

Nadal's forehand stroke is hideous but you can't argue with that insane topspin.

 

[federerhoogenbandfan]

Federer hits forehands with alot of topspins, but I agree Nadal has even more. His only spin seems to be topspin though. I rarely see him slice, underspin, backspin, or flatten out any of his shot. He only occasionally slices or flattens one out. Federer can hit all the spins with very good confidence. Nadal should master some of the other spins are people will get used to him after playing him once or twice, as I predict Rogi will.

 

[FalconX]

I think the difference is Federer doesn't go for insane spin in each and every shot. Nadal rarely ever hits it flat.

 

[35ft6]

Nadal has the nastiest top spin on his forehand I've probably ever seen. I'm not saying he has the hardest forehand or the best, just the most potent combo of spin and pace I think I've ever seen.

And his backhand is just like Marcello Rios'. Nice and compact. And he can flatten that mug out when he needs to. If he can add some juice to his serve and learn to control his adrenaline better, he'll be top 5 for the next 5 years or so. Great kid.

 

[Type40]

Nadal also appears to have heavier spin because he's lefty, it's more a case of tricker than more of it.

 

[alan-n]

Nadal does have more topspin than anyone. Why else would players be taking ground stokes over their shoulders? He forces so many errors with his lefty topspin / sidespin which loops the ball the opposite way of a righty. His winners are just vicous, 94+ MPH short angle topspin dippers, yikes.

No one else on tour hits 80MPH ground strokes that bounce 7ft high on a consistent basis.

 

[Ariel]

he'll be top 5 for the next 5 years or so.

Nadal will be top ten by the end of the year, probably right after the US open.
He might stay in the upper 10ths for a while before doing the big break. But I agree with you, the serve and to control the adrenaline and his agressive game are the things to improve to be top three material.

 

[joe sch]

Its not just topspin, as in rpm, but topspin with very looped trajectory. I believe Nadal is about the most extreme I have seen in this combination. Now being a lefty makes it the nastiest stroke to deal with since taking the ball on the rise is the most difficult and and not doing so results in an uncomfortable error prone hitting target. I would suggest trying to volley more of Nadals strokes and this is actually what Federer did to turn the tide in the 3rd and 4th sets. Look at the approach/volley statistics.

 

[rafael]

Nadal's winners were clocking in at 93+ mph. So not only does he have a ton of spin, but he has a lot of pace as well.

 

[splink779]

A lot of players hit with more topspin than Federer, including most of the clay courters with their western grips (Moya, Coria, Chela).

 

[GRANITECHIEF]

When Nadal goes for that super heavy topspin on clay, it might just bounce right over the other players head!!!

 

[Marius_Hancu]

My impression is that on both the FH and BH (which is much flatter) he's also putting lots of SIDESPIN.

-----------
Q. From a distance it looks like there's a curious spin to the ball. How does it look on the court? Is it different?

ROGER FEDERER: It bounces very high, you know. He doesn't play it very long, but short so it bounces high. Until you actually realize that you can actually attack the ball, it's too late and it gets up high on you. From then on, it's actually a very risky shot to go for something

His backhand, hits very close to his body, but he still kind of gets it back well, you know, and hard when he's under pressure. So I mean, that's the thing that he does well. Especially he's a good defense player as well, you know, not only does he have a great forehand.
-------------

 

[pyro2990]

after watchin nadal play live, i wanted to cry with all the topspin that he hit. and at over 90 mph, u no its not a slow loopy ball all the time. he may have the spinnest forehand ever. and i mean ever. i think his strokes r so beautiful, idk y some people think they r ugly. watch out for this kid in the next 10 years, and on any clay tournament

 

[ibemadskillzz]

nadal definitely has more spin on his forehand than fed. But fed has more spin on backhand.

 

[|SLICER|]

Soon they will add RPM's to their shot monitoring system and everyones speculation will be answered.

Fed has far and away the most consistent uberspin BH on tour, maybe in history. His forehand doesn't stand out nearly as much in the spin department, it seems more famous for its combination of pinpoint accuracy, spin and velocity.

 

[!Tym]

Huh? No way Muster hit more topspin than anybody I've seen on the one-handed backhand and he was unbelievably consistent with it. Muster used an extreme backhand grip though, and played deeper in the court to get more lift.

On the forehand, many claycourters hit with more top than Federer, that's nothing new. I've said it many times, Federer hits the best HYBRID forehand, not really a pure claycourt spin forehand like Bruguera's, yet also not a pure fast court forehand like Sampras' either.

He toes the line and generally finds the happy medium between too much spin and too little in my opinion.

 

[activentures]

nadal hits more spin but fed combines his spin with greater power. It is this combination of spin and power, along with the fact he steps up and takes it early rather than standing 3/4 yards behind the baseline like the claycourters, that make his forehand, as Agassi put it, "Nasty".