Tour Strokes:
Coco Gauff Forehand

Analyzed by John Yandell

Compare the differences in the racket tilt for Coco Gauff and Serena Williams but also the similar positions at the end of the backswings.

When we put up two high speed video clips of Coco Gauff's forehand up in the Interactive Forum two months ago it drew almost 1000 views and a lot of thoughtful discussion. (Click Here to see the full clips.)

The forehand appears to be her weaker or at least less consistent side. The discussion centered on why.

Her backswing is definitely larger than the compact so-called ATP backswings. But it's very similar to Serena Williams who has one of the greatest forehands in the history of women's tennis.

One difference with Serena though is that Gauff tilts the racket tip more forward toward the opponent during the mid part of the backswing. That element is similar to Naomi Osaka, another great WTA forehand player. But at the completion of the backswing Serena and Coco look similar.

But Madison keys who has the biggest woman's forehand points the racket tip straight up in the backswing and goes further behind the body than either Serena, Naomi, or Coco.

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John Yandell is widely acknowledged as one of the leading videographers and students of the modern game of professional tennis. His high speed filming for Advanced Tennis and Tennisplayer have provided new visual resources that have changed the way the game is studied and understood by both players and coaches. He has done personal video analysis for hundreds of high level competitive players, including Justine Henin-Hardenne, Taylor Dent and John McEnroe, among others.

In addition to his role as Editor of Tennisplayer he is the author of the critically acclaimed book Visual Tennis. The John Yandell Tennis School is located in San Francisco, California.

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