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Pete’s forehand reached speed of over 80mph off the racket.
The Groundstrokes
This was in fact almost exactly the same speed the ball was traveling before
the hit on Sampras’s groundstrokes, an average of 19mph.
Our data showed that 9 Pete Sampras forehands had an average initial velocity
of 76mph, with the fastest being 82mph. On the backhand, we measured 2 Sampras hits
that averaged 69mph.
This equaled an average increase of over 50mph in the speed of the ball compared
to its speed just before the hit, which averaged about 20mph.
The pattern of deceleration on the groundstrokes closely matched that of the
serve and return. On average Sampras’s groundstrokes started at about 70-75mph
and finished at about 30mph.
Sampras Forehand:
Number of Forehands
Pre-Hit
Speed
Max MPH After Hit
Pre Bounce MPH
Post Bounce MPH
End MPH
9
19 MPH
76 MPH
49 MPH
34 MPH
31 MPH
Sampras Backhand:
Number of Forehands
Pre-Hit
Speed
Max MPH After Hit
Pre Bounce MPH
Post Bounce MPH
End MPH
2
17 MPH
69 MPH
49 MPH
32 MPH
28 MPH
Pete’s backhand volley averaged a little over 40mph off the racket.
The Net Game
Our study was able to analyze…
