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VOLUME 1: THE FOREHAND
Part 12: Tennis (R)evolution 2
I've said that periodically, a player will come along who takes a group of
known elements and re-interprets them with individual talent and (in Nadal's
case) ruthless determination.
In the previous chapter we saw how Alberto Berasetegui used an extreme palm-under
grip, to stick incredible amounts of topspin onto aggressive forehands.
Rafa Nadal can do that.
We also saw Anke Huber hitting mainly from the elbow (rather than the shoulder).
This produced a forearm fling that put much whippy topspin on the ball, and
also allowed her to change the direction of her shot at the last instant.
Nadal can do that.
In Chapter 9 we saw the young Andy Roddick generate a ton of power by using
what I describe as an underarm throw, and unleashing it flatly on a far-out
contact.
Well, Nadal can do that.
What we haven't seen yet is how Thomas Muster used considerable muscle to
add to the racket head speed, and produce obscene amounts of topspin.
And Nadal can do that, too.
But do you know the really scary thing?
Nadal seems able to pack each of the above elements into a single forehand
stroke, and a forehand containing so much topspin has no right to be as meaty
and powerful as those brought to life by Rafa’s racket head.
And it is the way Rafa combines these elements that makes Nadal’s racket
head one of the fastest-moving in the history of the game, and his forehand
one of the seven wonders of the tennis world.
Moving Backwards
First of all run 15 & 16 and check Rafa’s grip.
Where is his palm?
Now run the first few buttons and watch Nadal back himself into the backhand
corner of his baseline. There’s a specific skill to moving backwards
and you should study how Rafa does it the next time you are watching him play.
In 1 thru 5 Rafa accomplishes his nimble shift into the backhand corner without
ever losing the aggressive angle of his body, which is tilted in to the court
(rather than leaning away from the court and the shot).
So highly tuned is Rafa’s fitness and speed of foot, that he can back
peddle along his baseline as speedily as some players move towards a normal
forehand, which allows him to unleash his biggest shot from both sides of
his baseline.
Not that his backhand is bad. It's just that his forehand is so darned good.
In 1 Rafa helps the racket head into the loop with his second hand.
From the next few frames we can see that Rafa doesn't take his elbow (and
arm) up too high: rather, he makes his racket head do the looping around his
elbow.
When we get to 3, Nadal's hand is almost as far back behind his body as his
racket head, and it's here that the head speed gets a real boost.
In 3 thru 5 we see a swift swoosh of the racket head, which makes a shape
in the air that is not unlike the Nike swoosh (and if his swoosh racket trail
ends up in an ad, you know it was MY idea. Make the cheque payable to...!).
In these three frames the racket head really picks up speed, as it is shifted
through a loop by the muscular force of a strong, bent arm.
When racket head meets ball in 5, we see the now familiar forward contact
and the shape of the shot, which tells us this is a cocktail of power and
spin.
Note Rafa's contact in 5.
Would you say this was the contact of a passive, topspin merchant? (who, apparently,
dosen't hit through?)
Or is it the out front contact of an aggressor?
As we've seen, the muscles in the arm are truly engaged when they are bent
and, and having turbo-charged the loop with some arm strength, Rafa's arm
straightens out for contact.
In 6, however, we see the bent arm again.
Any idea why?
Actually, to better understand Rafa's hitting style, you could first of all
hit a few practice swings with your racket (no ball or court necessary...just
don't break your mother's ornaments).
First, try looping the racket head with a straight arm.
Second, do the same with a bent arm similar to Rafa's.
Which affords you most strength in wielding the racket?
'The bent arm, easily'.
Right. Now feel your arm straighten as you meet your imaginary perfect contact.
'Yep. I feel it.'
Broke any ornaments?
'No. I'm in the garden!'
Now why do you suppose Rafa might want to straighten the arm he swings through
towards contact?
'I'm not sure.'
Then I'll approach it from a different perspective: why is Rafa bending the
arm again in frame 6?
'Something to do with power. He's used his muscles again.'
Yes he has. But why not just hit with a bent arm throughout the whole shot?
'Aaah. Now I get it. He straightens his arm so that he can bend it again!'
Good. Rafa uses two bends of the arm in one stroke.
The first bend utilises the arm muscles to help him whip up a speedy loop.
The second bend happens at (or starts fractionally before) contact.
But in the second instance, it is the actual bend that is the power.
Rafa is engaging muscle to accelerate the forearm, which (from contact) shifts
on ahead of the upper arm.
'Yep. I got it. If he hadn't straightened the arm he wouldn't be able to flex
it again! '.
Well, yes. But it's not quite that simple. By loosening and tightening the
arm muscles at different stages of his underarm throw, Rafa mixes loose whip
with tighter, muscular influence.
You might say his stroke is two parts muscle to two parts whiplash.
Run frame 11 and you'll get a second angle on the Nadal forehand.
Look again at the low elbow, the bent arm and the high hand and racket head.
Now watch in subsequent frames how Nadal opens out the bent arm as he whips
the head into a looping frenzy.
In 17 and 18 Rafa whips the racket head through an aggressive forward contact:
at contact you can see the engaged arm muscles, as Rafa powers the palm up
from underneath the racket.
In 19 the upwardly mobile force runs it's course and the muscular influence
of Rafa's arm is plain to see.
Body Shape
Run both animations again and this time concentrate on Rafa's feet and look
again at the angle of his body.
In the first animation Rafa backs off into his backhand corner, but the forward
tilting angle of his body hints at forthcoming aggression: as the stroke unfolds
we see that the initial shape of his body does not lie.
Rafa's contact is suitably far forward of his body, which allows more weight
forward and encourages the right side of his body to spin through and into
the shot.
In 8 and 9 you can see that (first) his hitting shoulder and (then) his left
hip spin through and into this forehand.
By contrast, Rafa sits more on the back foot in frame 16. Although he doesn't
neutralise his body weight by suspending it fully on the back foot (see the
Wilander forehand in Chapter 7), and there is a noticeable push up and in
off the back foot, Rafa nevertheless gets far less weight forward and body
spin (than in the previous shot) because his back foot is rooted to the court
and therefore acts as an anchor.
Finally, the palm under grip was made for Nadal's style of extreme power and
spin, and in both these animations you get a perfect demonstration of the
dual action that is necessary for adding power to the spin (or vice versa).
As Rafa's elbow powers through in the direction of the hit his palm whips
up for extreme topspin.
The combination comes as close to perfection in this shot as any forehand
I have seen.
Television doesn’t do full justice to the game of tennis and to truly
appreciate the skill of the top players, and the brutal and breathtaking precision
of Rafa in particular, you should try and get court side. And if you only
get to see one match in your life, you'll be hard pressed to get better value
for your money than Rafael Nadal.
And if you get to see him on clay you will be doubly impressed.
