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TennisOne Lessons
Martina Hingis' Forehand:
Versatile, Commanding, Surprisingly Simple
Jim McLennan, Senior Editor, TennisONE
(Photography by Steve
Lacey)
To see other articles in Hingis series: Part
1
Click here to see animation of Hingis
forehand.
All the past champions have played within their own elements
of style. Chrissie Evert won with deadly accuracy and uncanny consistency.
Martina Navratilova dominated opponents with her athleticism and aggressive
style of play, always moving forward, knifing volleys and spearing overheads
from all parts of the fore court. Monica Seles (and we cannot forget her
brilliant but perhaps shortened career) punished the ball off both wings,
ferocious, fearless, pounding the ball like no one before or since. And
of course Steffi Graf, crafting a remarkable record around a killer forehand,
an unusual but effective backhand slice, and a will of steel in countless
grand slam title situations.
Martina Hingis is steady but no Chris Evert. She does move
forward to end the point, but not so much athletically as she does with
cunning. Her net forays are well constructed with wonderful approaches,
and generally decided with just one volley. Remember match championship
point at the recent US Open: wide serve to the deuce court and a sharply
angled and underspun backhand volley totally out of reach of a racing Venus
Williams. Hingis plays offense off both wings, and generally on or within
the baseline, but nothing to resemble Seles. And finally, to this author,
her game seems far more rounded than Graf's, for Hingis does not need
to (or choose) to run around the backhand, for with her equal abilities
off both wings why take the extra steps? And time will tell about
her will and determination.
Hingis commands the court and commands her opponents with
a simple topspin forehand. Using a semi-western, she favors the topspin
drive. She definitely spins the ball, but with a driving motion (I've already
done a mini-series on how my old
coach Tom Stow favored this type of hit). Contrast this with Mary
Carillo's apt description of the Venus Williams forehand, "She puts
a lot of work on the ball." In many instances, that excess work caused
some real mishits, mishits seen all too frequently with the extreme semi-western
style Williams' favors.
Hingis' topspin forehand is so simple and clean,
it offers the tennis student a classic example of how the preparation, the
contact and the finish should look and feel.
I encourage anyone who is trying to add more spin to their game to experiment
with the following.
 Racquet preparation is up and back.
In this instance it means just that. Her hand and the racquet are well up,
and her elbow is well away from the ribs. And the key to her topspin
drive, she holds the racquet with the top edge of the frame slightly over.
Everything about this position suggests a full and free topspin swing.
 Approaching contact the racquet has swooped below the ball, and
again the top edge is over. Contrast with the previous preparation picture,
and you see a full expression of her wrist. The racquet had been above the
hand and is now accelerating from below the hand.
 Finally, on the finish, the top edge is still over, the hitting
arm is well in front, but this picture (as contrasted with articles and
material on the Eastern forehand drive)
shows the modern finish: quite high, with the elbow bent the hand above
the elbow, and the wrist rolling the racquet up on the finish, the top edge
still over.
As you experiment with this spin, adjust your grip toward
the semi-western position. Start the racquet well up and well back,
relax and use the wrist as you swoop under and then up on the ball, and
stay keenly focused on the top edge of your racquet. And try and
capture some of the fun that Martina always shows us in her matches.
Click here to see animation of Hingis
forehand.
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