Interactive Forum March 2021: Danill Medvedev Forehand

[John Yandell]

This is an insight and a good question.

[bababa]

i have been reading about the forehand in various sections of the site. Not so sure that ideal models really apply!

[klacr]

I don't understand all of the criticism of his forehand based on its appearance. Is this some form of tennis racism? Judging by appearances? Just threw that in there. I'm no social justice warrior. I believe in responsibility. Everyone has rights but it is their responsibility to capitalise on them. I defend his right to be different, although from what I can tell he is fundamentally correct in all phases if not politically correct. No...this is a beautiful tennis player by modern standards. He doesn't meet the cookie-cutter criteria perhaps. And so what? It's not like he is that far off if you are looking closely.

Looking at Daniil execute his forehand he doesn't appear to be preoccupied with getting excess "net clearance" with excessive top spin. That isn't in his lexicon. He is playing the game in a much different manner than the cookie-cutters and they seem to have their difficulties in dealing with his "style". With an noticeable absence of style in the game today...I find him to be somewhat refreshing. Mr. Pencil is certainly delivering a little diversity to the game that it so sorely needs. Everything he does seems to be a trifle unorthodox but upon closer inspection I cannot find anything fundamentally lacking other than his margin for error. He likes to play it tight and that is the way he sees it. It might cost him in the end...in the final analysis. I'll never forget the performance he gave at the U. S. Open that night in New York where he basically told the whole entire rabid crowd to go screw themselves. That took a lot of balls. He pulled it off too without looking overbearing. He stated his case in his own terms and let it be. I like this guy and any quirks that might be attributed to him.

I just want to see him man up in the huge matches. Preferably sooner than later. He seems like he has the guts to do it. You just have to clear that final hurdle the first time and it gets a bit easier...or not. Ivan Lendl comes to mind.

Medvedev too good and too high of a tennis IQ to not win the big ones. His highest level is scary and has proved that numerous times with his performances. He may be my new favorite player now that Berdych is retired.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

[stroke]

Lendl sure did. He absolutely took over after that FO win over Mac.

[don_budge]

I don't understand all of the criticism of his forehand based on its appearance. Is this some form of tennis racism? Judging by appearances? Just threw that in there. I'm no social justice warrior. I believe in responsibility. Everyone has rights but it is their responsibility to capitalise on them. I defend his right to be different, although from what I can tell he is fundamentally correct in all phases if not politically correct. No...this is a beautiful tennis player by modern standards. He doesn't meet the cookie-cutter criteria perhaps. And so what? It's not like he is that far off if you are looking closely.

Looking at Daniil execute his forehand he doesn't appear to be preoccupied with getting excess "net clearance" with excessive top spin. That isn't in his lexicon. He is playing the game in a much different manner than the cookie-cutters and they seem to have their difficulties in dealing with his "style". With an noticeable absence of style in the game today...I find him to be somewhat refreshing. Mr. Pencil is certainly delivering a little diversity to the game that it so sorely needs. Everything he does seems to be a trifle unorthodox but upon closer inspection I cannot find anything fundamentally lacking other than his margin for error. He likes to play it tight and that is the way he sees it. It might cost him in the end...in the final analysis. I'll never forget the performance he gave at the U. S. Open that night in New York where he basically told the whole entire rabid crowd to go screw themselves. That took a lot of balls. He pulled it off too without looking overbearing. He stated his case in his own terms and let it be. I like this guy and any quirks that might be attributed to him.

I just want to see him man up in the huge matches. Preferably sooner than later. He seems like he has the guts to do it. You just have to clear that final hurdle the first time and it gets a bit easier...or not. Ivan Lendl comes to mind.

[stroke]

Certainly agree about Medvedev's movement. For a 6'5/6'6" guy, his movement is the best ever, though Tsitsipas is very very close at 6'4" or so. Basically with Medvedev, he is just so solid off both sides. His backhand is just unbelievably solid. He is the best lockdown no where to go player out there with the notable exception of an in the mood Novak. Medvedev has shown this very plainly win his encounters vs Rublev and Tsitsipas, 2 great players.

[klacr]

It's not the aesthetics that are going to attract people to this forehand. But his mastery of the timing and rhythm of the contact point are impressive and worth our admiration. There is a fluidity to its unorthodoxy. Like an albatross trying to take off and fly.

What isn't depicted in this video is just how good his movement is. He is the best mover I've ever seen for someone his size. 6'6". Heads and shoulders above everyone else. Not even close.

Whatever we think about his forehand, we should get used to seeing it more often. Next week he will be ranked #2 in the world.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA, PTR
Delray Beach
SETS Consulting

[doctorhl]

That lack of extension certainly allows more body rotation at follow through to create more power if he can time it. One can almost envision him doing a 360 degree Nastase showboat move!

[jthb1021]

It is surprising the lack of extension on these forehands as Jeff mentioned. Thats what jumped out at me as well. I’d think there’s gonna be some elbow issues coming down the line. In these we see he can use topspin but the one I think about him is that flatter ball that probably has a little side spin to it. There is a genius to his game that he only understands and his forehand is a huge part of that. His timing has to be perfect and I’m sure that’s why he struggles and is out early on the clay courts and grass courts because I bet a strange bounce gives him fits!

[stroke]

His backhand is at the very least equal to his forehand. That in itself unusual and usually bodes well for a career. He certainly should never be running around his bh to hit forehands. That article on the men's pro backhand, in which the author had a mathematical formula for measuring the effectiveness of the player's bh(he called it BHP), had Kei as the most effective for current players. Sock was at the bottom. Medvedev has to measure out very well on his BHP.

[stotty]

As forehands go it's not pretty to look at. I do like it when anomalies crop up because it restores my faith that strokes can self develop and be just as, or nearly as, effective as the optimal way. It's a world-class forehand by any stretch of the imagination.

In rallies he will sometimes get way to close to the ball which is most odd for a world-class player. Whether that is nerves or genuine misjudgment is hard to tell. If there is a weakness on his forehand it is when returning serve. He prepares too late on returns he plays hugged up closer to the baseline, which may explain why often he opts to return sitting virtually in the linesman's lap. He often gets too close to the ball on returns too.

Nice forehand. If I could borrow it for the afternoon, I feel confident I might win my club's championships with that one shot alone.

[stroke]

I think we really need BG or long gone poster 10splayer to put a bow on this, but I think we have a lot of good thoughts on this.

[jeremy93]

Wawrinka has a very limited unit turn and does not get much knee bend or tilt in the trophy phase. He uses more arm then most players get bu he still has a pretty decent serve for a pro.

[arturohernandez]

He follows through a lot like how many pros teach it to beginners. He doesn’t stretch his off arm as much as most players. He has a very high hitting hand at end of preparation. He has limited extension at and after contact. Less of a pronounced windshield wiper then most of the top men. What do you all see?

my observations..

It is unorthodox to say the least. He does have super long arms so maybe with such long arms he can get away with what seems to be a shorter extension. Osaka does a lot of not advisable things.

Technique and orthodoxy work, until you find an exception. Look at Wawrinka's serve. Tennis pros think he could hit it even better with better technique.

But this is all about hitting a stroke that makes you feel good and that you can repeat. Se la vie.

[jeremy93]

Jeffrey I agree with everything you said. As for the WW he rotates the arm from the forearm because he has such limited extension. Guys like fed and rafa use a lot of their shoulders internal rotation due to their arm being straighter.