Your Strokes: Rohan Gupta Forehand

Rohan: a modern forehand but is it too modern?

This month let’s take a look at the forehand of junior player and recent Tennisplayer subscriber, Rohan Gupta. If you read the Forum he has also become a frequent poster under the login Eaglesburg and is giving our regular contributors some things think about. (That’s always good.)

When you watch video of Rohan hitting you can feel his excitement for tennis. To me his forehand looks pretty explosive and he is obviously generating racket speed.

But when you look at his swing shapes, there is no doubt he can make a big leap in the quality of the ball he produces on his forehand. How? By understanding two points about the so-called “modern forehand,” and then one point that is timeless to all eras.

Rohan’s forehand definitely is a “modern forehand.” Too modern. It has two elements that are often considered “foundational” to modern tennis. The reality is they aren’t. This makes them limiting factors in his basic swing. The first is his consistent use of fully open stance. The second is his super radical wiper finish.

Both those elements are part of modern tennis and have important situational applications. But…