The Forehand Return of Serve Part 2: Extreme Grips

Djokovic and Nadal hit forehand returns with same extreme grips as their forehand groundstrokes.

In the first article in this series we looked at the compact, classical return patterns hit by Roger Federer. (Click Here.) Now let’s look at pro returns hit with more extreme grips by Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal and the similarities and the differences with Federer.

Federer hits his forehand returns with a very conservative grip by modern standards. Compared to his regular forehand grip he shifts his hand slightly toward the top of the frame to what we have called a modern eastern, the same grip used on the forehand drive by Pete Sampras and Tim Henman. (Click Here for more grip info.)

We know that on the groundstrokes that both Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal use much more extreme grips than Federer–extreme semi western grips with most, but not quite all, of the hand shifted under the handle.

But what about on the returns? Interestingly, both players return with the same grips they use on their regular forehands. So Federer, the player with a conservative forehand grip becomes even more conservative on the return, and Djokovic and Nadal, the players with the most extreme…