Building the Spanish Forehand

What does it really take to develop a Spanish style forehand?

Over the last 20 to 30 years, Spanish players have evolved from relatively defensive into athletic, physically dominant baseline players who also have all court capabilities.

Part of this evolution has been the technical development of more powerful, whipping, heavy-spin, but versatile forehands. These forehands have allowed Spanish players to continue to defend unbelievably well, but also attack with aggressiveness and force. Rafael Nadal's forehand - one of the best weapons in the modern game-- is the epitome of this trend.

Many coaches would kill to have their students hit a forehand like Rafa, but very few coaches have an understanding of what it takes develop such a weapon with a beginning player, or how to take a player who has learned a classical, "old school" forehand and rebuild it into a modern form.

Some coaches are only able to teach what they know: the classical way. Others may attempt to build a more modern swing, but get caught in the many pitfalls along the way.

Spanish pilgrimages have shed light on building forehands like Rafa.

Over the last few years, while researching a book project on Spanish tennis, I have been fortunate enough to travel annually to Spain to study with some of the best Spanish coaches, and to train and study at many of the best Spanish academies. My annual "pilgrimages," as I like to think of them, have shed much light onto the way Spanish coaches build big, Rafa-style forehands.

Using my studies in Spain a starting point, I have developed my own system for building the Spanish forehand. I have proven the system works with my high performance players at my school in New York-- as I think the video that goes with the article establishes. Now in this new series, I'm excited to share this system for the first time anywhere with Tennisplayer subscribers.

As in my previous series on the kick serve (Click Here), I will begin by detailing the technical reference points that I'm looking for when building a Spanish forehand. Then I'll move into a discussion of actual drills, exercises, variations, and developmental timelines, as well as what I believe are the common coaching pitfalls.

Reference Points

In order to create a world-class Spanish forehand, we have to start with an understanding of the technical reference points. These are the critical precursors for building a sound, powerful weapon.

Racket speed: the holy grail of the Spanish forehand.

Which brings us to a paradox. Despite the obvious success of Spanish players, Spanish coaches are not systematically technical, especially when compared to Eastern European coaches, or French coaches.

Jose Altur, a leading Spanish coach in Valencia, who (along with Pancho Alvarino) developed Marat Safin, Dinara Safina, and David Ferrer actually told me that the biggest weakness of Spanish tennis was actually a lack of attention to technical detail!

I think the truth is that the technical aspects are implicit in the process by which the Spanish coaches develop players, a process that may have become second nature to Spanish coaches and players. But as a technician who was trained in another coaching culture, I have tried to extract the parameters of the basic Spanish model in order to really understand them, and then to systematize them into a developmental approach.

I believe this is necessary to clarify the basic principles for others not trained in the Spanish system, which includes virtually all American coaches and players. This understanding is the basis for using the training exercises and drills.

Based on my years of developing national and international standard junior players, I believe the system is highly effective, and that these technical specifications will be a great help to anyone seeking to understand or build a modern, Spanish-influenced forehand.

The Spanish swing shape traces a parabola in front of the player.

Racket Speed

When we look at the Spanish forehand the number one characteristic is incredible racket head speed. In a previous article I have referred to racket speed as the holy grail of Spanish tennis. (Click Here.)

Racket speed is what allows Spanish players to develop unequalled levels of spin without sacrificing pace. It allows them to hit through the court and dominate on slow red clay. It also allows them to be successful on a wide range of faster surfaces by adjusting the balance of speed and spin.

Parabola Swing

A second major reference point for the Spanish forehand is swing shape. On the basic drive, the swing takes the shape of a parabola, tracing an arc in front of the player, and then finishing across and around the body.

Airborne contact and extreme body rotation: more Spanish heresies.

There are a variety of these across the body finishes, so that the exact size and arc of the parabola can vary from shot to shot. Other coaches call this the windshield wiper and again, as John Yandell has shown, the length and height of this sweeping forward motion varies tremendously when players hit balls from different heights and positions and with different spins and shot intentions. (Click Here.)

Spanish players as epitomized by Nadal also hit a variety of reverse finishes, (a term developed by Robert Lansdorp (Click Here). In the reverse finish, the racket stays on, or crosses back to, the same side of the body the swing starts from. I'll have more to say about that in a future article. But I think these variations are something that players will either tend to evolve naturally, or that should only be developed after the fundamental technical precepts are in place.

Body Rotation

In addition to the distinctive parabola swing, the Spanish forehand is characterized by explosive body rotation, usually including airborne contact. This makes balance critical in the Spanish model, so that the player can land and recover effectively. As we saw in the previous article, balance is a fanatical point in Spain. (Click Here.)