Hacking the Ball: the Reverse Forehand

Last night, while I was hitting with my friend Bruce, I announced to him, "Time to goof off a little". So as we continued to rally, everytime I had a chance to hit reverse forehands to his one handed backhand, I did (complete with a Rafa-like grunt). After a couple of those shots I noticed the fellas on the next court actually watching us. Now it isn't as if I've never done this before. It instinctively became my running forehand, and when the pundits pointed out that this was Rafa's go-to shot, I've started to practice this shot a bit more by using it when I have to pick up the ball off my laces when I warm up doing mini tennis. Most importantly, I sometimes pretend to be Rafa when I do some sessions with my ball machine (and I always end up laughing uncontrollably at the end) and

But I proceed too quickly. What is this new fangled thang, the reverse forehand? Well at its most essential, it's just like a regular forehand, but instead of hitting through the ball, one emphasizes brushing up and across the ball, and follows through on one's dominant side. As I've already said, this Spanish lefty has really bought the stroke to mainstream attention.



The Greatest Forehand Shanker below uses it as his backup to his preferred windshield wiper forehand (usually as his defensive shot).




Why do both of these fellows use it? Because a certain American old fogey loved to hit this shot on the run.



But really it isn't such a new thing, as gifted players have always figured out the obvious: if you brush up and across the ball, you will get more trajectory, more net clearance and more topspin. According to John Yandell, stroke guru extraordinaire, there's footage that goes way back showing luminaries such as Rod Laver, Arthur Ashe and Fred Perry the last Brit to win a slam, hitting this shot (here and here.)

So why do I laugh so hard when I try to practice this shot pretending to be Rafa? For one, it feels silly to be a total wannabee. My reverse forehand is as similar to Rafa's as your household cat is to a lion. Rafa can hit that shot in all sorts of positions and with all sorts of control. Me, I'm happy that I don't arm it, and that it ends up within a 10 degree arc of where I intended inside the court.

For another, it is hilarious to see many try to return the shot. My friend Bruce told me afterwards: it was awfully effective. The ball would clear the net by 20 feet, dive bomb near the baseline, and start to kick up over his head. Bruce told me he had to either step in and take it on the rise, or try to punch it at his shoulder. If he didn't react quick enough, the ball might sail over his head.

Third, one thing I've noticed that when I've had the privilege of playing some honest-to-god advanced players (someone who is USTA rated above a 4.0 without any sweat) is they can get some pretty wide angles with their groundies. By that I mean their balls will cross the sideline near the service box, and you might end up hitting the ball near the fence (or the next court over). If their forehand put you in that position, you can bet they hit a reverse forehand to create that kind of angle.

Next, it's just a reality of tennis that you're going to have to play defensive tennis. You're going to have to hit a forehands (or backhands) on the run. Pros have gravitated to the reverse forehand as their bread and butter shot on the run for very good reasons: it works. As the cliche goes, defense wins championships. Wouldn't it be nice to have play good defensive tennis when you have to?

Finally, it's something I don't see a lot of intermediate-level players do, and it feels great to have a trick in my bag that not many will use. Admittedly, one should learn to hit consistently through the ball first. But if you know how to do that, why not try it out? Pitchers have to throw something besides fastballs.

UPDATE: here's some great instructional videos on how to hit the reverse forehand.