soderling a very hard hitter

[The Baseline]

where does robin soderling rank with these big hitters. heres my list in terms of overall game--serve backhand forehand etc.

1. juan martin del potro
2. fernando gonzalez
3. robin soderling
4. rafael nadal
5. ernests gulbis
6. james blake
7. jo wilfred tsonga
8.feliciano lopez
9. thomas berdych
10. fernando verdasco

 

[Lsmkenpo]

Looks more like a pick the one that doesnt belong list.

4.Nadal LMAO!!


1.Del Potro
2.Soderling
3.Gulbis
4.Berdych
5.Cilic
6.Blake
7.Youzhny
8.Gonzalez
9.Almagro
10.Korolev

 

[BobFL]

8.feliciano lopez?

 

[wasta]

2. gonzalez???? are you serious???

 

[vortex1]

Looks more like a pick the one that doesnt belong list.

4.Nadal LMAO!!

Nadal hits hard. You just don't tend to see it because he uses a lot of top spin as well, but when he flattens out his fh, his groundstrokes are easily one of the fastest in the game.

 

[piece]

where does robin soderling rank with these big hitters. heres my list in terms of overall game--serve backhand forehand etc.

1. juan martin del potro
2. fernando gonzalez
3. robin soderling
4. rafael nadal
5. ernests gulbis
6. james blake
7. jo wilfred tsonga
8.feliciano lopez
9. thomas berdych
10. fernando verdasco

Of the players you've listed

1. Gulbis
2. Soderling
3. Blake
4. Del Potro (hits as hard as anyone when he goes for it but the other guys ahead of him have higher average pace on their groundies - except blake's backhand - imo)
5. Gonzalez (kinda reluctant to put him down this low - his forehand is the biggest on tour and his backhand is as big as anyone's when he's bringing the heat, but I actually think he doesn't normally go for as much as guys like blake and gulbis so on average his groundies aren't as fast)
6. Verdasco/Berdych
7. Berdych/Verdasco
8. Tsonga
9. Nadal
10. Lopez

Some notable omissions: korolev, tursonov, almagro

 

[Lsmkenpo]

Nadal hits hard. You just don't tend to see it because he uses a lot of top spin as well, but when he flattens out his fh, his groundstrokes are easily one of the fastest in the game.

Sorry, I disagree have stood 5 foot away watching Nadal hit at least a dozen times, yeah he hits a lot of topspin but too much the ball doesn't penetrate the court, Federer
hits nearly as much top as Nadal and hits about 10-15mph faster on his groundstrokes.

It is a joke to put Nadal on this list. I could think of at least 20-25 players who hit bigger than Nadal using the OPs criteria.

Nadal rarely flattens anything out.

 

[ReturnWinner]

Looks more like a pick the one that doesnt belong list.

4.Nadal LMAO!!


1.Del Potro
2.Soderling
3.Gulbis
4.Berdych
5.Cilic
6.Blake
7.Youzhny
8.Gonzalez
9.Almagro
10.Korolev

It's a very good list but I'd replace Youznhy for a player like Tursunov, Querrey , Isner or even Wawrinka

 

[djokovicgonzalez2010]

Nadal? Really?

 

[matchmaker]

Why is Federer not on this list? I think too many people list him as a finesse player, whereas he is really a power player, who can outhit virtually anyone, except maybe Soderling on a slow court and Delpo on a medium fast HC.

 

[Lsmkenpo]

It's a very good list but I'd replace Youznhy for a player like Tursunov, Querrey , Isner or even Wawrinka

Youzhny hits harder than most people realize
one of the flattest hitters on tour, Querrey and Isner hit with a lot of topspin, Tursunov hits pretty big he would be close to making my list.

 

[sh@de]

Why are Nadal and Lopez on the list...? I mean, ok, they can hit very hard probably, but hey, so do a lot of pros. You gotta consider how often they hit hard as well don't you? In which case Sod would be right up there in the top 3 with DelPo and Gonzo, but Nadal and Lopez wouldn't even be near top 20...

 

[powerslave]

Youzhny's BH is huge but I don't know if his FH is that big. Our dislike for Murray's game notwithstanding I guess he deserves to be in this list , definitely if some one like Nadal qualifies to be in this list. Nadal most of the times does not even hit close to the base line he more often than not is busy hitting those loopy FHs .

Yes Federer's pace on his FH's or even Bh's is often under rated just like his serve .

 

[BobFL]

I will probably burn for this but I think that Simone Bolelli and Wawrinka hit considerably harder than Lopez

 

[jigar]

Nadal?? I bet you put in the list just to cause fire on forum.

 

[IvanisevicServe]

Horacio Zeballos crushes the ball. Only keeps it in about 30% of the time, but he knocks the cover off it.

 

[BallJam92]

1. Soderling
2. Gonzalez
3. Del Potro
4. Tsonga
5. Gulbis
6. Verdasco
7. Berdych
8. Querry
9. Blake
10.Tursunov

 

[JeMar]

Forget Nadal, what about LOPEZ???

The guy hasn't come over a backhand since that 10-and-unders tournament in Spain where he lost in the consolation final to Almagro!

 

[djokovicgonzalez2010]

1.Soderling
2.del Potro
3.Gonzalez
4.Berdych
5.Verdasco
6.Korolev
7.Almagro
8.Giraldo
9.Tsonga
10.Youzhny

 

[Radobg]

Nadal? Really?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKoUrBhhh7k

 

[Radobg]

Rafa is not hard hitter,because he don't want to be!Not because he can't hit hard!

 

[GasquetGOAT]

1.Soderling
2.del Potro
3.Gonzalez
4.Berdych
5.Verdasco
6.Korolev
7.Almagro
8.Giraldo
9.Tsonga
10.Youzhny

A better much list. Although i'd put (prime) Blake in there replace Youzhny.

 

[GasquetGOAT]

Rafa is not hard hitter,because he don't want to be!Not because he can't hit hard!

He can't hit hard.

 

[Cassius Clay]

Del Potro is the biggest hitter and the best ranked. It's a matter of being effective hitting the ball hard when it matters. Soderling hasn't won a big tournament so he is not as effective as DelPotro. Sod is just a risky ballbasher.

 

[Legend of Borg]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKoUrBhhh7k

An exception to the rule does not make it the norm. Can Nadal consistently produce those winners in the low 100s like Soderling, Delpo, etc?

 

[Li Ching Yuen]

There was a statistic where it said that Soderling had on average about 5 mph more on every groundstroke than Federer. He is by far the one that hits the hardest on the tour. And he does that consistently.

Del Potro hits some bombs, but on average, his shots are slower than Robin's. Berdych for example hits harder than him in that aspect.

Blake, Gonzalez have explosive forehands, but they only unload them when finishing the point not on a consistent basis.

Nadal is not worth even discussing here.

 

[gold soundz]

Nadal is not worth even discussing here.

Nadal trades flat out power for powerful, penetrating spin shots which work against nearly all people.

 

[Li Ching Yuen]

Nadal trades flat out power for powerful, penetrating spin shots which work against nearly all people.

This thread is not about what works against most people. It's about raw power, on a consistent basis, something that Nadal is not very good at compared to others.

Basically the type of players that everyone should be looking at are Soderling , Berdych, Del Potro. I'm sure there are some more, but these are the most successfull.

 

[gold soundz]

This thread is not about what works against most people. It's about raw power, on a consistent basis, something that Nadal is not very good at compared to others.

Basically the type of players that everyone should be looking at are Soderling , Berdych, Del Potro. I'm sure there are some more, but these are the most successfull.

Yeah I agree. I was just going a bit off topic I guess. I don't think I'd include Berdych though. He doesn't seem like he hits the ball that hard.

 

[Legend of Borg]

Yeah I agree. I was just going a bit off topic I guess. I don't think I'd include Berdych though. He doesn't seem like he hits the ball that hard.

He does. That's why Soda was so troubled in his semis and he even said it himself. Took time away from him by slapping at the ball.

 

[gold soundz]

He does. That's why Soda was so troubled in his semis and he even said it himself. Took time away from him by slapping at the ball.

I dunno. To me in that match Soderling just didn't play his game and made way too many errors. If he did, I'm convinced he would have won in straight sets easily.

 

[Radobg]

An exception to the rule does not make it the norm. Can Nadal consistently produce those winners in the low 100s like Soderling, Delpo, etc?

I don't want to put Nadal in the big hitters group ofcourse!!My point was-he can hit hard(and even harder)like them!How consistently he can do that is another question!!!

 

[Li Ching Yuen]

I dunno. To me in that match Soderling just didn't play his game and made way too many errors. If he did, I'm convinced he would have won in straight sets easily.

Well, Berdych hits very flat compared to Soderling which hits with a lot of topspin. Lately Berdych has stopped bashing the ball on a consistent basis, he is trying to stay more in rallies and such.

But yeah, before the emergence of DelPo and Soderling, if you wanted to name a guy that hits the ball the hardest, Berdych was the man.

 

[gold soundz]

I don't want to put Nadal in the big hitters group ofcourse!!My point was-he can hit hard(and even harder)like them!How consistently he can do that is another question!!!

Yeah, I remember at his 1st round match of AO 2009 against Rochus, he hit 2 absolutely monster forehands in the last game. The biggest I've ever seen him hit. Unfortunately I've never been able to find any footage of it since.

 

[Legend of Borg]

This thread makes me sad that Delpo is MIA. I wish him a speedy recovery.

 

[93sq.]

Let me understand...
are we talking about HARD HITTING or about single HARD STROKES?

DELPO,SOD and BERDYCH are IMHO the hardest hitters out there...

On the other hand...even djokovic hits some bombs...

 

[gold soundz]

Well, Berdych hits very flat compared to Soderling which hits with a lot of topspin. Lately Berdych has stopped bashing the ball on a consistent basis, he is trying to stay more in rallies and such.

But yeah, before the emergence of DelPo and Soderling, if you wanted to name a guy that hits the ball the hardest, Berdych was the man.

Well yeah, I guess I'm just going by the Soderling SF match where Berdych to me wasn't hitting that hard.

 

[muzza123]

I dunno. To me in that match Soderling just didn't play his game and made way too many errors. If he did, I'm convinced he would have won in straight sets easily.

Not the old "if he played his game he would have won easily" chestnut again...

It's a case of match-ups. Sod was not allowed to play his game and made too many errors because he was not accustomed to groundies coming at him as such speed and depth. He confirms this in his post-match interview.

 

[ChuDat]

1. Murray.

 

[gold soundz]

Not the old "if he played his game he would have won easily" chestnut again...

It's a case of match-ups. Sod was not allowed to play his game and made too many errors because he was not accustomed to groundies coming at him as such speed and depth. He confirms this in his post-match interview.

Yeah this may be true. But I noticed a lot of times when he got easy, high, short balls where he made lots of errors. Normally he wouldn't do this, and against Federer he certainly didn't.

 

[rromeo]

I don't think anybody hits the ball as consistently hard as Soderling when he has time to take his full swing. Mainly bcs he uses such a heavy swingweight racquet (~385). Only singles player I know of that's heavier is Taylor Dent (~400) and he's s&v w/150mph top serve speed. Combo of very long flat swing plus long arms and super heavy sw just crush the ball. Just upped my Head test racquet sw to 385 for comparison and power is phenomenal with full swing. Just my opinion.

 

[GasquetGOAT]

I don't want to put Nadal in the big hitters group ofcourse!!My point was-he can hit hard(and even harder)like them!How consistently he can do that is another question!!!

No Nadal simply can't hit hard like them. Don't even mention consistently.

 

[adimax8]

Soderling just slaps them, very little top-spin usually.
Rafa just overpowers you with his topspin but when he goes for the flat forehand or backhand winner they are just as good as a Gonzalez.
As for Del Potro i don't think anyone contests him for top spot.:mrgreen:

 

[GasquetGOAT]

I dunno. To me in that match Soderling just didn't play his game and made way too many errors. If he did, I'm convinced he would have won in straight sets easily.

Berdych's forehand motion is deceiving, he has what they call "easy power", it looks as though he's taking a relaxed swing but in fact the ball comes off the racquet like a bullet.

 

[hawk eye]

When you talk about peak speed, Del Potro really going for his winners hits the hardest, hands down.
Sod and Gonzo hit bombs but JMDP launches missiles.

Berdych has the most effortless power. He always seems able to swing faster than he does.
I wonder what happens when he really puts some effort in..

On a consistent basis, It's Soderling i guess.
But Tursunov comes close.

 

[gold soundz]

Berdych's forehand motion is deceiving, he has what they call "easy power", it looks as though he's taking a relaxed swing but in fact the ball comes off the racquet like a bullet.

Nah that's Federer.

 

[GasquetGOAT]

Nah that's Federer.

No, Federer generally hits with more topspin, he does hit harder than Nadal but not harder than Berdych.

 

[hawk eye]

Berdych's forehand motion is deceiving, he has what they call "easy power", it looks as though he's taking a relaxed swing but in fact the ball comes off the racquet like a bullet.

Right, but in fact he's not swinging all out, it's his impeccable timing and weight transfer into the ball that makes hit shot so heavy.

 

[gold soundz]

No, Federer generally hits with more topspin.

They're still bullets though. Maybe not recently.

 

[Bloodshed]

Yeah to me it's no a contest that Soderling, Del Potro and Berdych are the hardest hitters. Probably Soderling it's the hardest on constant rallies but Del Potro along with Gonzalez have the hardest forehands.

But what about Gulbis? I know he hits pretty damn hard as well.