U.S. Open Player Spin (Page 4)

More than any other factor, the forehand determines the technical style a player will develop, and how much spin he or she will use in his overall game. Baseline players in general tend use more extreme western grips with the hand under the racket handle, and to hit with more topspin, particularly if they learned to play first on clay courts, more common in Europe and South American. All court and serve and volley players tend to use grips that are more classical, with the palm more aligned with the racket head, and to hit the ball with less topspin on their groundstrokes.

With a few exceptions, our findings matched the perception of expert observers concerning the relative amount of spin hit by the players, for example, that Sergi Bruguera hit more topspin than Pete Sampras. What surprised us most was the amount of spin hit by all the players, even among the more "classical" players.

Of the players studied, American Mary Jo Fernandez, with her minimalistic, classic strokes, hit the "flatest" forehand. But her ball was still spinning on average in excess of 1000rpm! (To be precise, her average was 1068rpm on 12 forehands.) At the other end of the spectrum was the Spanish player Sergi Bruguera, who generated topspin at an incredible rate that averaged over 3300rpm, more than 3 times as much spin of Mary Jo. Bruguera's average on 8 forehands was actually 3331rpms, and included the single fastest spinning forehand we recorded, an amazing 3751rpms in a match against Marcelo Rios.

In men's pro tennis it normally takes about 1 and 1/3 seconds for the ball to travel from one playerUs racket to the other in a baseline exchange. In the case of Sergi Bruguera's forehand, this means the ball is turning over itself 70 to 80 times as it travels to his opponent!

These extremes--from Fernandez to Bruguera--defined the parameters of spin on the forehand in pro tennis, roughly from about 1000rpms to over 3000rpms, a range of more than 2000rpm, depending on the player and the type of forehand.

Spin and Technique

On the men's side, the players with the classical grips averaged roughly 1300 to 1800rpm. This included players such as Petr Korda and Tim Henman, known as compact technical players, and also Todd Martin. Interestingly Pete Sampras hit the most forehand spin among players with classical style, an average of 1842rpm. Surprisingly, Andre Agassi's forehand actually measured slightly less spin than Sampras, despite his semi-western grip, averaging 1718rpm.

Men players with the more extreme western grips all hit with substantially more average topspin, with the averages starting well above 2000rpm. This range began at the low end with Michael Chang at 2334rpm, with Marcelo Rios at 2647rpm, and Tomas Muster at 2882rpm. Sergi Bruguera, who observers agree has the most extreme western motion in tennis, was at a level by himself, the only player averaging well in excess of 3000rpm.

Shot: Men's Forehands

Player:	No. of Forehands:	RPM Range:	Avg RPM:
Sergi Bruguera	9	2941-3751rpm	3331rpm
Tomas Muster	22	1500-3750rpm	2882rpm
Marcelo Rios	13	1875-3750rpm	2647rpm
Mark Philippousis	8	2143-2727rpm	2546rpm
Jim Courier	12	938-3264rpm	2527rpm
Michael Chang	17	1271-3192rpm	2334rpm
Pete Sampras	17	1000-3409rpm	1842rpm
Andre Agassi	19	1154-3333rpm	1718rpm
Todd Martin	5	1154-2308rpm	1659rpm
Tim Henman	7	833-2000rpm	1288rpm
Petr Korda	15	968-2500rpm	1333rpm

Women's Topspin Forehands

The range between the high and low on the women's side was less extreme, but still in excess of 1000rpm. Mary Jo Fernandez, as noted, was at the low end at 1068rpm. Venus Williams was the only player to average in excess of 2000rpm, averaging 2154rpm.

The players with classical grips such as Jana Novotna and Lindsey Davenport were in the same range as their male counterparts about halfway between 1000 and 2000rpm, with Davenport at 1346rpm and Novotna at 1673rpm. Players with the more extreme grips such as Mary Pierce and Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario averaged slightly above 1900rpm, 1941 and 1916rpm respectively.

Despite a semi-western grip world #1 Martina Hingis hit less spin than every player other than Fernandez, averaging 1147rpm. Another interesting result was that Monica Seles, who hits her forehand with two-hands, had the third "flatest" forehand at an average of 1215rpm.

Shot: Women's Forehands