Racquet face facing the ground just before hitting the ball on the forehand...pros and cons??

[zill]

There are a few pros out there who have their racquet face facing the ground when their racquet holding hand is beside their body (which is already facing the opponent) and only after that do they open the racquet face to make contact with the ball. Examples are Stosur, Kyrgios, Khachanov, Cilic, Dzumhur,

Some pros are half open/closed eg Murray, Wawrinka, Djokovic, Thiem when their arms are parallel to their body just before contact. Whereas the best forehands in the game like Federer, Nadal and Del Potro have their raquet face completely open at lot earlier in the swing.

What are the pros and cons of this type (extreme closed) of forehand? All these players I pointed out hit with a lot of topspin. So I assume that is a pro. Why aren't their forehands considered great though?? Is it because its actually bad to hit like this?

 

[Kevo]

I don't think it's particularly indicative of the level of forehand. It's related to the grip they choose to use and their preparation in the back swing. You'll see this vary to some degree even with one particular players strokes during a match. When developing your own stroke it's good to experiment with different things every now and then. Different things will work better or worse for a particular player for different reasons.

 

[sovertennis]

Khachanov has a very idiosyncratic forehand so leave that one out of your examination.

Look at Stosur's. The hitting side of the string bed is facing downward just as she's pulling the butt cap of the frame forward to contact. The "pulling" increases the racket head speed* and enables her to go low to high through contact, imparting heavy topspin and enabling her to "shape" the shot. Mortals and other rec level players will never achieve the full effect of Stosur's stroke, but it's worth emulating, but not to the exclusion of the other aspects of the stroke, eg footwork, prep, balance, etc.

*Some will undoubtedly disagree, as is their prerogative.

 

[TennisCJC]

Another thread to screw up games. The racket face is closed during take back and loop to forward. If you watch closely, the face opens as you pull the racket forward. Most pros hit with a slightly closed to perpendicular face at contact. Lots of potential to screw up your game if you intentionally close face unless you have an issue with hitting with an open face