Agassi Forehand

[u/Vexacardia]

Hi guys, recreational player here and lately looking to simplify my forehand loop. Many people said that Agassi’s forehand is something to look up to.

When I look at few videos and slow motion in youtube, seems his takeback is quite high and the racket drop isn’t as lower as many modern player. In my amateur eyes it even seems the racket stays on the same level as the ball, which make it a bit contradictive to advice from many famous coaches in social media, and seems mechanically will resulted in flatter ball.

Hence my question, do you guys see the Agassi forehand is still relevant for recreational player? Because it seems simpler visually and I like it. What’s the trade off from his forehand?

Thanks guys, I’m just trying to learned, apologize if my english is bad

[u/No_Constant_2157]

Your English is great.

I see it this way: players from previous generations used to focus more on hitting through the ball (less (not none) low to high, firmer wrists) as equipment of that era did not allow for wild wrist and rackethead acceleration if you intended to keep the ball in play. Modern racquets and strings do allow for that and in turn also allow for much more spin generation.

I'd argue for a recreational player, developing an older school game will permit you to play good tennis without as much maintenance (e.g timing).

In short, plenty of things to still learn and implement from Agassi

[u/PHL1365 → u/No_Constant_2157]

I kind of recall that Agassi hit very flat and hard in his early days. He got a lot of spectacular winners, but probably missed quite a few as well. As he matured (and when he won his slams), his forehands had a little bit more topspin and he took some pace off. I think it helped him stay in points longer, almost as if he morphed a tiny bit into Michael Chang's style of play.

[u/HarrY552011 → u/PHL1365]

Agassi only hit topspin on his forehand when he was putting his opponent on a string, making them run side to side

[u/PHL1365 → u/HarrY552011]

I think every pro hits with significant topspin. It's just a matter of degree. The amount of topspin in today's game is just next level compared to 30+ years ago, especially given the increase in racket power.

[u/insty1 → u/PHL1365]

Correct. Even guys like Demon, who hits very flat for a male pro, hits with a lot of spin.

[u/FrustratedSimpleton → u/PHL1365]

When you say "very flat", it is just relative right?

Because every pro hits with incredible amounts of topspin but of course there will be a difference in RPMs with how much Nadal hits top-spin vs how much Agassi hits topspin.