Yadayadayada, Nadal hits the most topspin of all time...etc... Only on his forehand though. Believe it or not, the ground game consists of forehands and backhands. Now you could argue that Nadal only ever hits forehands anyway, but I was pleased when Djokovic made him pay for that, and now it looks like Nadal is reluctantly hitting the odd backhand now and then to save his court positioning.
So, let me explain how this 'averaging' works. We are not counting slices. If the pro dares to hit either a forehand or backhand slice, we'll pretend he never played it, and it does not count towards their average. So, for example, if Feliciano Lopez hits 300 backhand slices in a match, and 1 topspin backhand at 4000rpm, his backhand average is 4000rpm, so now we average that with his average topspin forehand to get his topspin average.
These are players who I think would a higher topspin average than Nadal;
1). Gasquet: because his backhand has a crazy amount of spin on it due to the one-handedness, the extreme grip and the whipping, supinating, vertical swing path. His forehand is very loopy as well (too loopy), not nearly as heavy as Nadal's forehand, but I think due to his backhand, Gasquet hits more topspin on average.
2). Federer: he hits almost as much spin as Nadal off the forehand (a feat of engineering in itself considering the conservative grip he employs), and his backhand is a freer shot than Nadal's and is often hit with far more topspin than Nadal can manage off that side.
3). Gulbis: he has a severe grip on his forehand and is said to have the heaviest spun two-hander on tour - heavier than Nadal's for sure.
These are players who I think would have a similar topspin average to Nadal;
1). Djokovic: hit a lot of spin off the forehand with a full western grip and lots of racket-head speed, has a moderately heavy two-hander as well.
2). Nishikori: for exactly the same reasons as Djokovic
3). Verdasco: has anyone measured his forehand rpm's? They could be up there with Nadal's.
4). Andreev: ditto Verdasco
5). Bellucci: ditto Andreev
Historically;
1). Soderling: clobbered the ball off the backhand and forehand, played with western forehand grip, very long arms for maximum leverage.
2). Bruguera: would have hit equal spin off the forehand to Nadal if given modern strings and equipment (and actually hit nearly as much spin as Nadal with the equipment he did use), had the heaviest two-handed backhand of all time.
So, let me explain how this 'averaging' works. We are not counting slices. If the pro dares to hit either a forehand or backhand slice, we'll pretend he never played it, and it does not count towards their average. So, for example, if Feliciano Lopez hits 300 backhand slices in a match, and 1 topspin backhand at 4000rpm, his backhand average is 4000rpm, so now we average that with his average topspin forehand to get his topspin average.
These are players who I think would a higher topspin average than Nadal;
1). Gasquet: because his backhand has a crazy amount of spin on it due to the one-handedness, the extreme grip and the whipping, supinating, vertical swing path. His forehand is very loopy as well (too loopy), not nearly as heavy as Nadal's forehand, but I think due to his backhand, Gasquet hits more topspin on average.
2). Federer: he hits almost as much spin as Nadal off the forehand (a feat of engineering in itself considering the conservative grip he employs), and his backhand is a freer shot than Nadal's and is often hit with far more topspin than Nadal can manage off that side.
3). Gulbis: he has a severe grip on his forehand and is said to have the heaviest spun two-hander on tour - heavier than Nadal's for sure.
These are players who I think would have a similar topspin average to Nadal;
1). Djokovic: hit a lot of spin off the forehand with a full western grip and lots of racket-head speed, has a moderately heavy two-hander as well.
2). Nishikori: for exactly the same reasons as Djokovic
3). Verdasco: has anyone measured his forehand rpm's? They could be up there with Nadal's.
4). Andreev: ditto Verdasco
5). Bellucci: ditto Andreev
Historically;
1). Soderling: clobbered the ball off the backhand and forehand, played with western forehand grip, very long arms for maximum leverage.
2). Bruguera: would have hit equal spin off the forehand to Nadal if given modern strings and equipment (and actually hit nearly as much spin as Nadal with the equipment he did use), had the heaviest two-handed backhand of all time.
