I love to watch Francesca Schiavone play tennis! It is easy to embrace her passion for the sport which is reflected in her style of play! When I was looking through her videos for this article I began to think I was watching tennis from another era…Specifically one when many players played an “all court” game!
Click photo: Sometimes the tendency on groundstrokes is to think either "open" or "closed" stance yet in this situation we see Schiavone keep her lower body in a more open position while the upper body is closed. This "half and half" approach is good to add
to your game!
Schiavone does not possess the biggest serve or the most forceful groundstrokes on the WTA tour. Overall, her game isn't very punishing – It seems far removed from what Mary Carillo likes to call "Big Babe Tennis." But what she does have, and this distinguishes her from most of her contemporaries, is a wonderful use and execution of many different tennis shots! One thing Schiavone is not is a one dimensional tennis player.
Her recent successes in the majors demonstrate there is still a place in top level tennis for women over 30-years old; under 6 feet tall who hit one-handed backhands!
Click photo: What Schiavone does very well with this backhand groundstroke is she gets all her footwork and racquet preparation finished so she can plant her feet (think stable base) before
starting her swing, a good lesson for all of us.
So what can we learn from and adapt in our own tennis games from studying Schiavone? Here are three qualities I see in no specific order of importance…
Great racquet control. Sometimes the perception of tennis players who have a “flair” to their games is that their racquet heads are flying all over the place. There seems to be a lack of structure and discipline to their strokes. But if you delve deeper and study how someone “plays” as opposed to how someone “looks,” I assure you, that is not the case.
In the first video above, Schiavone does three very important things on this forehand groundstroke. 1) She maintains her balance from beginning to end. 2) Shows great use of her non-hitting hand to help both stabilize and prepare the racquet head. 3) Has a nice, clean contact area.
Click photo: On this high forehand, despite being behind the baseline, Schiavone does an excellent job of positioning herself so as not to let the ball get above shoulder level and eventually she is able to hit a fairly aggressive shot when many people would simply hit more defensively.
Similar to her forehand, the same three important important areas are on display in the Schiavone backhand (above)…Balance, use of the opposite hand to prepare the racquet, and a solid contact. Often there will be unnecessary emphasis (In my opinion) directed towards how Schiavone finishes her swing with the racquet head going behind her right shoulder. But that does not matter! The ball is gone! Look at her contact area through the hitting zone…There she is long and solid.
Ability to make adjustments and hit a variety of shots as the situation dictates. Even at the top levels we see players who are limited in their style of play. Schiavone has more different ways to hit the ball in her “bag of shots” than most of the other women and men on the professional tour!
Click photo: Here, Schiavone is forced to hit a forehand off her back foot so she uses a “reverse finish.” The racquet head finishes over her hitting shoulder instead of in front, across her body.
Click photo: As she moves forward, Schiavone executes a “windshield wiper” type of swing. This type of racquet path will add more spin to a shot allowing the ball to come down inside the court.
So three different forehands with three different swing paths!
Looks to come to the net and play an aggressive all-court game. Unfortunately with today’s professional game we see far less “shot combinations” than from other eras. Big serves and groundstrokes are the main weapons of choice. Yes we have seen more specialty shots in the last couple of years…Nadal and Federer using the drop shot is one example which comes immediately to mind.
However, putting a couple of different shots together in order to win a point is not a frequent happening in many matches. I think the ability to do this is very important especially at the club level where most people play doubles. You may begin the point at the baseline (Serving or returning) yet finish it playing the net! So what about the shots which got you from the baseline to the net?
Click photo: Using 3 different shots – forehand approach, backhand volley, and overhead smash, Schiavone keeps her feet moving the entire time and uses a “split step”(Not “split stop”) to maintain her balance.
Click photo: While one could make an argument against rushing from behind the baseline; here, Schiavone must have put her opponent in major trouble so she attacks. She hits her first overhead from behind the service line and the second one inside the service line. Again, her feet keep moving the entire time and she uses the “split step” to maintain her balance but never comes to a complete stop.
Schiavone is an excellent player to watch in this regard. Her shot combinations are seamless!
How Can You Add a Little More “Schiavone” to Your Game?
If you are locked into one way of hitting the ball then maybe it is time to experiment a little bit and see what happens! Here are three simple ways to practice…
Get on the ball machine, it is a great option for trying new swing paths and working on a variety of spins.
Your teaching professional will have some great drills and exercises for practicing shot combinations. If you tend to do basically the same lesson each time, try working on shots and styles of play you have not done in a while. For example, if you play a lot of doubles, when was the last time you spent time on high balls going over your backhand side? i.e. High backhand volley or backhand overhead!
When hitting or even playing points, whatever are your predominant shots are use others! For example, if you hit 80% of your forehand groundstrokes with topspin then hit 80% with underspin. If you rarely come to the net returning a second serve then practice it! If you play a baseline game then come to the net; if you attack the net then stay back!
If you look through the video library on TennisOne you will find a great variety of different shots used by Francesca Schiavone! Take a look and you may just improve your tennis game!
Your comments are welcome. Let us know what you think about Dave Kensler's article by emailing us here at TennisOne.
Dave Kensler has 29-years of teaching experience with Peter Burwash International (PBI), the highly successful international tennis management company. PBI directs tennis programs at exclusive hotels, resorts, and clubs in North America, Europe, Caribbean, Asia, Middle East, Pacific, Central America, Mexico, and the Indian Ocean. Over 3 million people have received instruction from PBI Professionals during the 35-year history of the company. For information on PBI tennis destinations and employment opportunities please go to www.pbitennis.com.
