Nadal's forehand

[Stroke]

It is clear to me that Nadal's forehand is the weapon that makes his one of the best 2 or 3 players in tennis right now. Nadal, Federer, and Roddick all have huge forehands, and as Brad Gilbert pointed out during a match this week, they all strike their forehands interestingly differently. Roddicks big forehand seems to me it is such a weapon mainly because of the weak returns he get from his best weapon, his serve. Fed's forehand, at its best, has more of knockout punch thing going than Nadal's, but to me, Nadal's forehand, blow after blow, is the most consistently damaging shot in tennis. His forehand is hit with so much spin it looks like a ping pong shot dipping into the court, especially when he gets his body set in an ideal striking position, As we all know, he often hits his forehand off balance, still a nice shot, but not the error inducing shot it is when he gets his feet set. I hope he an Aggasi meet in the finals this week, no one still hugs the baseline, and rushes an opponent like an in form Agassi.

 

[Matthew]

What I think makes Nadal's forehand such a weapon is his consistency. Both Fed and Roddick have great forehands, but they turn on and off mid match, mid tournament, mid year. Nadal on the other hand, does not miss. If he gets a racquet on it, its coming back. Nadal leaves so much margin for error with the top and is able to do a number of different things, both offensive and defensive, with his forehand. His speed is also another thing that contributes to his forehand success.

 

[Galactus]

It is clear to me that Nadal's forehand is the weapon that makes his one of the best 2 or 3 players in tennis right now. Nadal, Federer, and Roddick all have huge forehands, and as Brad Gilbert pointed out during a match this week, they all strike their forehands interestingly differently. Roddicks big forehand seems to me it is such a weapon mainly because of the weak returns he get from his best weapon, his serve. Fed's forehand, at its best, has more of knockout punch thing going than Nadal's, but to me, Nadal's forehand, blow after blow, is the most consistently damaging shot in tennis. His forehand is hit with so much spin it looks like a ping pong shot dipping into the court, especially when he gets his body set in an ideal striking position, As we all know, he often hits his forehand off balance, still a nice shot, but not the error inducing shot it is when he gets his feet set. I hope he an Aggasi meet in the finals this week, no one still hugs the baseline, and rushes an opponent like an in form Agassi.

It's done with a full-on Western Forehand grip too - although I'm not sure how effective this will be on courts with faster/lower bounce...

 

[Turning Pro]

If he flattens it for the hard courts more then it should be the forehand of the us open series.However even if he just takes everything on the rise,his forehand will be even more exceptionally dangerous/formideable than it already is.