Ultimate Fundamentals:
The Forehand

John Yandell


The modern pro game is phenomenally varied and technically complex, something we have spent the last decade studying on Tennisplayer! But pro players still provide the ultimate models for fundamentals.

In this new series we address these foundational elements in the strokes of the world’s best players. To do this we'll drill down to the core commonalities, the small number basic positions and motions that underlie the diversities, apparent and real.

These are the prerequisites every player needs to create a rock solid technical base for the present, and for the future.

In this article we’ll address the foundational shot for most players: the forehand. Let’s look at three seemingly very different forehands: Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal. Despite the many variations between them, they all share 3 key positions—and here they are! The same positions you can develop no matter what your level.

Click Here to see my more detailed analysis of the modern forehand in numerous articles in the Advanced Tennis section. Click Here to see Part 1 in Ultimate Fundamentals on the Serve.




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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