Interactive Forum September 2010: Soderling: Serve, Forehand, Backhand Volley

[John Yandell]

Soderling: Serve, Forehand, Backhand Volley

This month we take a look at Robin Soderling's technique on his serve, forehand, and a backhand volley in high def and at 500 frames a second. Quite a combination of technical elements! His serve and his forehand are in many ways unusual for a top pro. What do you see and what do you think?

[John Yandell]

Quicktime version

Soderling: Serve, Forehand, Backhand Volley

[oliensis]

Clearly he's an awesome player.

I don't love watching him, though.

Interesting how far past the line of the ball is his backswing on his forehand (like many WTA players).

Man, does he take a hack at that high forehand!
Could chop down a tree w/ that swing!

Loads of power and a free swinger, but seems that much of his gift is built into his size and strength more than in a classic technique. But, clearly the technique sufficiently free to get him through the hitting zone w/ all the velocity of an Apollo rocket!

[John Yandell]

I've always said when the Viking longboats landed on the coast of Britain, the first guy I'd want coming off the boat swinging the big axe would be Solderling.

[blake_b]

On his serve, his tossing arm is pointing more towards the net than most other top players, and his toss does not arch from his right to his left.

On his forehand, his outside foot does not point directly towards the sideline like many top players. His foot is at more of a 45 degree angle. This seems to limit his hip rotation.

[humildad]

robin soderling

I think it is great! he doens't turn the shoulders much when serving (like Roger or Pete), high ball toss; forehand simple, moderate take back, nice looking volley, proving that the two handed backhand players can volley really well! The importante to volley from service line! A LOT OF PEOLPE BELIEVE that you have to just practice volleys standing to close to the net! great lesson for club and junior players! Great film Thanks!

[humildad]

daniel spatz about mental toughness

Dear John,
What a wonderful job you are doing man! Quick comment: After more than 28 years developing junior players, I am so convinced that besides other important factors, becoming mentally tough is just teaching the kids to KEEP A LOT OF BALLS IN PLAY!, as simple as it may sounds! Just run, be solid and do not miss! have a great defense, and be willing to stay in the point longer that your opponent! Power is being too much discussed lately!
Thanks, I do know this basic formula works! Take care guys! Daniel Spatz www.spatztennis.com

[zakito]

on the serve the racquet stays on the right more than usual and it looks this way when it finally goes on the left for the drop at impact he get some additional wrap.look like his trunk counterbalance a strong arm action.
on the forehand he stays with the left hand on the troath of the racquet longer than i remember any other player and put so much power that he has not so much time to cover the court on the following bh volley.

[zakito]

and may be those aspects of his forehand make him a player better suited for clay than one could expect, as shown by the recent results at roland garros.

[bmonsour]

Incredible trunk rotation and loading on the right leg

His trunk rotation is incredible on the forehand, seeming to nearly face the back fence. That seems to help yield what I'd call a massive take-back.

Looking at his feet on the forehand, see how he loads all his weight onto the right leg as he coils, with his left foot merely stabilizing his body and barely touching the ground. He loads on that right leg with a good bend and then he appears to push off hard with the right leg as he uncoils. This incredible kinetic build-up and release makes me wonder how the ball he hit even came back for him to volley (must be Nadal on the other side).

Great stuff John!

Regards,
-Bob

[bmonsour]

The pace of his forehand left him little time to close

He seems to be hitting the forehand at about 2-3 feet inside the baseline. However, given the pace on his shot (and then subsequent return), he's barely at the service line when he's doing his split-step. I'd guess that his opponent was near his own baseline when responding to the massive forehand, very quickly blocking back a crosscourt shot for Soderling to volley. It's great to come in behind pace, but it sure steals time away from getting to net. A good problem to have, I suppose.

Regards,
-Bob

[madcheese]

Super Heavy Weight Division

Johnny Mac, in his role as commentator, said of Robin and his win over Roger at The French this year; this is like a new division in professional tennis, "The Super Heavy Weight." Soderling was hitting the ball so hard that it was moving through the red clay as though it was a hard court.

[GeoffWilliams]

He chins it against his deltoid, hip is open, torso is coiled against the hip, and then he whips the fh. Hip opens up first on serve too, just not as much as fh.

[oakinwande]

The first thing that stands out about his superb tracking, he uses his non-dominant hand for balance but also to execute. The second thing that jumps out is his massive shoulder turn on his serve and on his forehand.

Soderling: Serve, Forehand, Backhand Volley

This month we take a look at Robin Soderling's technique on his serve, forehand, and a backhand volley in high def and at 500 frames a second. Quite a combination of technical elements! His serve and his forehand are in many ways unusual for a top pro. What do you see and what do you think?

[llll]

what surprises me is he doesnt seem to coil away from the court to start his service motion so his chest seems more open to the court on contact.
also his left arm coming down to tuck seems alitlle different than other servers.