Building The Perfect Tennis Player Part 2 - Best Forehand

Here we go folks!

For me this will be probably the most argued category out of the bunch. So why not get out of the way whilst it is quiet on the tennis front. Simply who has the best forehand? Is it Rafa and his banana? The Federer Forehand? How about Lendl? The Sampras monster forehand? How about wristy Del Potro?

I will kick things off just to annoy as I am good like that and you all love it by throwing Andy Murray's FH out there as the best!

Seriously for me the one I like the most....Soderling

Over to you to throw the names in the hat for the vote.

"Men's Tennis: Ranking the Top 18 Forehands from 2000–2010"


http://bleacherreport.com/articles/616272-top-shot-ranking-the-top-18-forehands-in-mens-tennis-2000-2010


I can't really argue too much with this but, one thing to mention, is that I think that Murray's forehand has improved since this list was put together.

Although Nadal is No2 on this list I think his is now the best. He's improved it by flattening it out more on the faster surfaces.

Soo theyre on the list, the obvious ones
Federer
Nadal
Sampras
Fernando Gonzales
Missed some obvious one im pretty sure

Nadals forehand relies on enormous arm strength, soo i woudlnt go for that personally, id say forehando or more likely federer

Soderlings is a brick breaker but it has such a wind up... on fast surfaces on under pressure itll break down too easy

Murray highlighted Djokovics forehand recently, he said it can be devastating and he can change direction quicker than anyone with it.

Agassi's is right up there, Sampras said he tried to avoid it as much as he could because otherwise he will be doing a lot of running

I'll give Del Potro an honourable mention for having the forehand that is the most visceral thrill to watch.

But I find this one easy.

Federer's forehand was not just the best forehand I've ever seen, it's possibly the best shot I've ever seen!

Power, precision, subtlety and imagination all in the same package.

Giving it to Nadal... His banana forehand is pretty much an eighth wonder. I remember watching him vs Berdych, and on one particular point he was not more than two metres away from the backhand tramlines, and still managed to find an almost impossible angle... playing the inside-in forehand.

Federer is up there too,

DelPo's forehand is beatiful... but its pretty limited, in reality.

Federer without a shadow of a doubt.

Nadal
Gonzalez
Verdasco
I suppose I should give the Maestro a mention !!!

Verdascos forehand is peerless when he is in the mood... Pity the mood doesnt strike too often

Nadals is definitely the best now, however Federer has so many facets to his forehand. Nadals is absolutely devastating but its kind of predictable without trying to put it down, you know what you are gonna get, you just can't do anything about it 99 percent of the time. Federer, he can do so much with it you have no idea whats coming at you. He misses it a lot more these days, which I think has highlighted just how consistent Rafas forehand is. For me its simple, on a fast court I would want Federers, on a slow court Rafas.

Also, if you choose Rafas does that mean this 'perfect player" would need a right handed back hand? Just a thought

kingraf wrote:DelPo's forehand is beatiful... but its pretty limited, in reality.

Yep. It basically has only one trick.... but, wow, what a trick!

Federer got wide range of skills on his forehand, but there are forehands that will do the damage bigger than Fed's forehand like Del Po's power forehand, Gonzo's burning forehands etc,..

If I have to take one, I will surely take either of Del Po's forehand or Gonzo's forehand, but just like how tallies serve better and that ended up being a negative for the rest of the game, these two never had the stamina and injury free career coz of the power they exerted in their wrists.

So given the longitivity, consistency, skill , variety ,power and talent I would go for Fed, otherwise Del Po would win it easy.

So basically - as long as you ignore all the important things, DelPo has the best forehand...

Murray's forehand has improved dramatically, but in the discussion for best ever? No way.

When we say forehand I assume we mean the full package, on the back foot, front foot, retrieving, half volley, squash shot, flat, topspin, angles... Etc.

If we're just talking attacking then it's Nadal or Federer. If it's all the above then it may still be those two ahead, but it probably needs a bit more thought.

Thought about it... Federer.

In his peak that forehand is the best all round tennis shot I've seen.

falzy21 wrote:Nadals forehand relies on enormous arm strength

No it doesn't. Explain why it does technically?

Go and read about stretch shortening cycles to understand why Nadal's FH has pushed the boundaries forward.
It's so good that Federer chose to copy it later in his career by copying the windscreen wiper and helicopter follow through.

No-one has nowhere near as much versatility with their FH than Nadal...CC, inside out, DTL, inside DTL, running passing shot. He can take it early too. For me it's completely peerless and an utterly unique shot in the game. It's not muscle, it's talent. You don't get 5000+ rpm by strength alone otherwise many could do it.

2nd place to Sampras, in its time it was absolutely deadly, amazing on fast courts and able to hit winners from anywhere plus he still has the best running CC FH of all time.

3rd place to Federer, amazing early ball taking but not quite as deadly or dominating in general as 1 and 2 IMO.

Personally I'd put Rafa, Gonzalez and Soderling at the top

Oh, and Federer, after Rafa

lydian wrote:No-one has nowhere near as much versatility with their FH than Nadal...CC, inside out, DTL, inside DTL, running passing shot.

Can he hit flat though?

That's a genuine question. I'm not an avid Rafa watcher but so many of his forehand shots seem to be arcing and spinning the ball in some way... And I prefer flat Exocets like Del Potro! Am I missing something from Rafa?

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

He can, he just doesn't

Lord have Mercy thats big!!!

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=464883

Found this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikNlsRBT8-0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CvCxCnOC7Q&feature=related

Young Rafa used to use the flat forehand a lot more

This is scary - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7puhn6lIUp0

@EricTheBlue - quite agree with the Bleacher collection.

A pretty good match - IMHO - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB4LuA81YuE

Gonzalez was a good player, hence the Silver medal

ChequeredJersey wrote:Gonzalez was a good player, hence the Silver medal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E40rfx3rYc

Holy Poopie...

Gonzalez for me takes this. His forehand was immense.

James Blake also worth a mention.

When one of the games greatest ever players (and ralliers) point blank refuses to hit the ball to your forehand, you can be pretty much rest assured that that is the greatest forehand the game has seen.

What did Nadal say in his autobiography? If I have to hit the ball to his backhand 20 times out of 20 to win, I don't do it 19 times. I do it 20 times.

At his peak, people just refused to hit/serve the ball to his forehand. It was borderline ridiculous.

I'm talking about Federer btw!

Johnyjeep wrote:When one of the games greatest ever players (and ralliers) point blank refuses to hit the ball to your forehand, you can be pretty much rest assured that that is the greatest forehand the game has seen.

What did Nadal say in his autobiography? If I have to hit the ball to his backhand 20 times out of 20 to win, I don't do it 19 times. I do it 20 times.

At his peak, people just refused to hit/serve the ball to his forehand. It was borderline ridiculous.

I'm talking about Federer btw!

Wasn't that more because a Fed error off the backhand became inevitable against Rafa due to the kick up and spin on his FH?

johnny - Interesting quote, although Im not sure if thats a glowing endorsement of Federers fearhand, or a statement of intent regarding how sure Nadal is the Backhand will breakdown.

ChequeredJersey wrote:

Johnyjeep wrote:When one of the games greatest ever players (and ralliers) point blank refuses to hit the ball to your forehand, you can be pretty much rest assured that that is the greatest forehand the game has seen.

What did Nadal say in his autobiography? If I have to hit the ball to his backhand 20 times out of 20 to win, I don't do it 19 times. I do it 20 times.

At his peak, people just refused to hit/serve the ball to his forehand. It was borderline ridiculous.

I'm talking about Federer btw!

Wasn't that more because a Fed error off the backhand became inevitable against Rafa due to the kick up and spin on his FH?

Yeah fair enough. On the clay especially. Not sure it hurt him off the clay so much as it wouldn't kick up as much on the grass or indoors. But it wasn't as though his backhand was terrible. It's all relative. Let's not forget without Rafa (the greatest clay courter to have ever lived) he might have multiple FO titles! And we wouldn't be talking about his backhand as being a relative 'weakness'.

But it wasn't just Rafa. I watched some games, it was just ridiculous how they never hit anything to his forehand.

Saying that, I watched the US Ope final he lost to Del Potro. And I can understand why people are talking about his forehand. I love the way he just slaps it!

Can we take Rafa's Topspin FH, Gonzo's flat FH and Fed's forehand variety?

kingraf wrote:johnny - Interesting quote, although Im not sure if thats a glowing endorsement of Federers fearhand, or a statement of intent regarding how sure Nadal is the Backhand will breakdown.

Yes I agree KR it was a matter of playing on Roger´s weakness rather than his strength. It was painfully obvious after Rafa´s 2008 win at Wimbledon. Other players followed in Rafa´s footsteps from then on

kingraf wrote:johnny - Interesting quote, although Im not sure if thats a glowing endorsement of Federers fearhand, or a statement of intent regarding how sure Nadal is the Backhand will breakdown.

Compared to the forehand...probably very sure. But as I say, its all relative. KP had a 'weakness' to left arm spin. So teams would bring on any left arm spinner to bowl at him. Then inevitably he'd get out (perhaps having scored a few runs) and it'd be....ahh its his weakness to left arm spin. But he can't not get out to left arm spin if that's all they bowl at him!

Its a similar tale for me with Federer's backhand. Rafa would pummel his backhand. A backhand that was good enough to beat the rest of the tour and then some. Because he know his forehand was so much better.

ChequeredJersey wrote:Can we take Rafa's Topspin FH, Gonzo's flat FH and Fed's forehand variety?

For me yes but with a little of Verdasco ON A GOOD DAY thrown in for good measure  

I think Rafa wins it for agression, defence and consistency.

The beautiful quote about Federer, "moves like a whisper and executes like a wrecking ball" was surely said with the forehand in mind. It can be sublime, however the consistency is not always there. It's something close to perfection, but too brittle to actually achieve it. A slightly better W/UE ratio in his career, and I might have gone for Federer.

I also think Gonzalez should be in there. His best shots are as a good as anyone's on the forehand, maybe better that Fed's, at least more powerful, but the technique is not quite in the same class I suppose.

Ive never seen a shot go through the air and through the court quite like Delpos does, it irritates me so much when he just hits it really tamely like he did again Hewitt, he was so defensive. When he comes to play I dont actually think you can stop it

Best forehand to be considered has to be one with consistency as its main point. Not huge and shot from a cannon, but forehands that win points with precision rather than brute force. Speed certainly is a factor, but it's prone to errors if a strong arm is used all the time.

IMO....

1 - Nadal
2 - Agassi
3 - Berdych
4 - Gonzales
5 - Federer or Djokovic

Deffo your imo.

Lendls was still so intimidating too, the hammer

Federer. You can play to Nadal's forehand and still win the match, even if it doesn't break down (Novak). At Federer's peak, if you couldn't keep it away from his forehand for long enough, then you lost, hence why everyone's been bombarding his backhand for the last decade.

Nadal's is more revolutionary (no pun intended) in terms of bringing the game forward though, and for consistency it would be the top choice. Gonzo is a great shout also! I would put Novak's on there as well, that thing can cause some major bruising. Agassi too, and Sampras could get in on the running forehand alone.

out of curiosity any Federer fans say Nadal and any Nadal fans say Federer?

CAS wrote:out of curiosity any Federer fans say Nadal and any Nadal fans say Federer?

I was tempted!

To be fair, this is all IMO and subjective. Very tough to actually compare chalk and cheese, especially with those two.

Silver wrote:

CAS wrote:out of curiosity any Federer fans say Nadal and any Nadal fans say Federer?

I was tempted!

To be fair, this is all IMO and subjective. Very tough to actually compare chalk and cheese, especially with those two.

I agree, prefer Federer to Nadal but sometimes I watch Nadals forehand and think my god. I think though Federers forehand hasn't been monstrous since 2007.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b84ltFcT-_Q

Not many clips of Soderling FH. Lot's of slow motion vids though. Interesting he looks like a crazed wife whacking her annoying husband with a frying pan!

Still great to watch though

lydian wrote:

falzy21 wrote:Nadals forehand relies on enormous arm strength

No it doesn't. Explain why it does technically?

Go and read about stretch shortening cycles to understand why Nadal's FH has pushed the boundaries forward.
It's so good that Federer chose to copy it later in his career by copying the windscreen wiper and helicopter follow through.

No-one has nowhere near as much versatility with their FH than Nadal...CC, inside out, DTL, inside DTL, running passing shot. He can take it early too. For me it's completely peerless and an utterly unique shot in the game. It's not muscle, it's talent. You don't get 5000+ rpm by strength alone otherwise many could do it.

2nd place to Sampras, in its time it was absolutely deadly, amazing on fast courts and able to hit winners from anywhere plus he still has the best running CC FH of all time.

3rd place to Federer, amazing early ball taking but not quite as deadly or dominating in general as 1 and 2 IMO.

What I might add to the Nadal FH is his positioning when striking ball. To still manage to have the ball hang and hold up whilst out of position and still have control on the ball is ridiculous. I have seen matches literally when he is out of the rally and he still manages to throw a ball up that gives his opponent absolutely no shot to hit a winner from.

Does anyone think Nadal's forehand benefits from being left-handed?

Had he been hitting cross court into Federer's forehand down the years, I think the dynamic of that match up would be massively different. Would that in turn have changed our view of Rafa's forehand?

Is that relevant? The fact is that it is (and was made to be) left handed. If Fed had chosen a DHBH their match up might have been different too

Well he is right handed HM and as leftie thinking like a rightie makes him the worst kind of player you can play.