The 4G Forehand: Maximizing Acceleration through Disassociation

Over the last 40 years, tennis has become much more of a baseline-based game.  Along with that, forehand technique has changed considerably. While the forehand was historically used as a shot to propel a player to the net, it is now used to dictate points and devastate, as best demonstrated currently by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner and also by such recent Grand Slam champions as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Juan Martin del Potro.

Understanding how we got here is critical to grasping the stroke’s changes. Having been involved in this evolution, initially as a player and then as a coach, I believe that the best way to learn and teach the stroke is to master all the stages in sequence. My mentor for this was tennis coach and physician Dr. Thomas Elgin, who characterized the evolution from “1G” (first generation) to the modern day “4G” (fourth generation).

[tp-video 2336efBw w=560 h=417 loop=”true” autoplay=”true” muted=”true” playsinline=”true” controls=”false” caption=’The 1G was struck superbly by Pancho González (above), Stan Smith and Billie Jean King—racket mostly straight back, and then straight through with some hip and torso rotation. Players such as Smith and King would generally employ this technique less…