Interactive Forum October 2013: Sergi Bruguera Forehand

[klacr]

Yeah...it hurts alright. It hurts my sense of sensibility. It hurts my eyes. It hurts my homage to fundamentals. This baby is ugly...it doesn't matter how you try to dress it up.

Doesn't matter how you dress it up. It's like putting lipstick on a pig. I understand your pain don_budge. I'm a bit classical and it is not something I could watch on heavy rotation, unlike the Federer forehand, an Edberg volley, Don Budge Serve etc...

I see the points that Chris and licensedcoach makes and accept and respect their opinions.

No doubt Bruguera was a great player, it's just an aesthetic thing for me.

It may have foreshadowed the modern game and created a revolution in Spain, but I'd be interested to know how many Spanish players openly credit Bruguera or tried to model their forehand after his? There may be ones that follow the same principle but there is only one Sergi Bruguera forehand.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Doesn't matter how you dress it up. It's like putting lipstick on a pig. I understand your pain don_budge. I'm a bit classical and it is not something I could watch on heavy rotation, unlike the Federer forehand, an Edberg volley, Don Budge Serve etc...

I see the points that Chris and licensedcoach makes and accept and respect their opinions.

No doubt Bruguera was a great player, it's just an aesthetic thing for me.

It may have foreshadowed the modern game and created a revolution in Spain, but I'd be interested to know how many Spanish players openly credit Bruguera or tried to model their forehand after his? There may be ones that follow the same principle but there is only one Sergi Bruguera forehand.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

There was one that was close, now that I have seen how close Sergi is to the Hawaiian grip on that forehand. How about Berasategui, who as I'm sure a lot of folks here remember lost to Sergi in one of Sergi's French Open Finals win. Chris, I too really enjoyed your post.

[klacr]

There was one that was close, now that I have seen how close Sergi is to the Hawaiian grip on that forehand. How about Berasategui, who as I'm sure a lot of folks here remember lost to Sergi in one of Sergi's French Open Finals win. Chris, I too really enjoyed your post.

Yes, Berasategui had an extreme forehand as well. Holy cow. Just thinking about that makes my elbow hurt and my volleys turn away in disgust. But considering Bruguera and Berasategui are only two years apart, not sure how much Sergi's game rubbed off on him.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Yes, Berasategui had an extreme forehand as well. Holy cow. Just thinking about that makes my elbow hurt and my volleys turn away in disgust. But considering Bruguera and Berasategui are only two years apart, not sure how much Sergi's game rubbed off on him.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Berasategui's spin rates on his forehand, if measured, would have probably been up there with Sergi's. I would like to hear Chris' thoughts on Alberto's forehand also.

[stotty]

Berasategui's spin rates on his forehand, if measured, would have probably been up there with Sergi's. I would like to hear Chris' thoughts on Alberto's forehand also.

Wasn't Berasategui the guy who hit his backhand using the same side of the racket face as his forehand?

[tennis_chiro]

Eastern backhand grip?

Wasn't Berasategui the guy who hit his backhand using the same side of the racket face as his forehand?

Yes, but the backhand was hit with a relatively conservative grip; I believe it was pretty close to an Eastern backhand grip. And it was a beautiful one-handed backhand!

don

[don_budge]

Bruguera and Berasategui French Open 1994...

I loved his backhand too...unusual take back he had.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0l97WLuF0M

Interesting short take on the French Open Final between Bruguera and Berasategui. I think that the Bruguera forehand is more interesting within the context of his whole repertoire of strokes and game. The backhand is interesting from take back to follow through as licensedcoach suggests.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2WvQM6GH0I

Bruguera vs. Sampras at the French Open as well...1993. Young Sampras...both dressed in almost identical Sergio Tachini clothes. I like the backhand of Bruguera and find that viewing more of his game helped me to understand the forehand a bit better. The more that I see the backhand the more that I like it. Looking at both helps to appreciate the forehand a bit more.

From a teaching perspective this is not what I would teach and it is possible that Sergi may have had better results on other surfaces if his grip and the overall approach to the forehand had been somewhat engineered differently. Historically speaking...this was before the engineering of the court surfaces so it may have been more difficult to get away with such extreme technique which may explain and account for his somewhat mediocre results on surfaces other than clay. Hypothetically...he may have had a better record if he has been playing under the current conditions.

Obviously Sergi was a great player and super talented. It's only a question of teaching philosophy for me. As a coach I wonder if he may have done better. I cannot help but think that he may have...his athleticism is quite impressive.

The view of the serve helps also. I believe that this supports my request for more that just one stroke of players in the interactive forum series. Hypothetically speaking of course.