The average backhand speed of professional female players is 70 mph / 125 km/h. ://twitter.com/Lewis_Carroll32/status/928304634804015105. This article looks at how fast pro tennis players on the ATP and WTA Tours hit their forehands. average groundstroke speed wta. JavaScript is disabled. From what I understand the speed of the ball reduces by almost 50% by the time it gets to the far baseline after the bounce.In a previous blog you posted:Topspin Forehand: 65 to 110 MPHTopspin Backhand: 65 to 105 MPHSlice Backhand: 45 to 60 MPHVolleys: 20 to 60 MPHOverheads: 75 to 120 MPHAgain I assume these are 'peak" speed averages? For example, at the 2014 French Open Madison Keys had recorded the fastest average groundstroke speed for both men and women at 127km/h, topping Novak Djokovics average speed of 124km/h which was the fastest on the mens side. Most male players reach average speeds of 71 to 83 mph on the forehand (Figure 1). Required fields are marked *. Very little separates the speeds of deep forehands for Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Grigor Dimitrov who all come in at 79 mph. And thisis exactly what Rafa should do if he wants to lose. However, the ATPs official record for the fastest hit holds John Isner in the 2016 Davis Cup. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Were going to side-step the fact Toni Nadal has no professional-level playing or coaching experience whatsoever outside of his relationship with nephew Rafael. Although there are a few 340+ SW racquets I really love to play with: the PT57A 1619, the Dahcor AK97S, and racquets like the HEAD Graphene 360+ Prestige MP I can not be as consistent with my depth and power with those racquets. Kaia Kanepi was in second place with her fastest forehand being 97.1mph. Will Wimbledon continue the Russian/Belarusian ban in 2023? At 127km/h, she eclipsed Novak Djokovic and Andrey Golubev, ranked equal second on 124km/h. (I like it since I have arm issues and cortex really helps but I struggle with control. Of course in these conditions Djokovic hits harder. Unless you are a. I also want to make something clear about the one-handed backhand. I didn't mention depth because I thought everybody knew about depth. But your analysis is incomplete if you don't explicitly consider depth. However, moving the hand slightly closer to the body may give you that extra 5-10% of power youre needing. Like the forehand side, the women are using a longer, pendulum-like motion with gravity and momentum to generate power. Trends or stereotypes in mens and womens tennis can be bucked. Are they also for Pro players or Juniors?I'm interested because of a little research project that I'm doing.Thanks again for your blog. Notably, shes been coached by both men (Thomas Hogstedt, Jesse Levine) and women (Lindsay Davenport, Lisa Raymond). The average forehand speed (during neutral rallies) was 46.9 MPH. The finding: grunting increased average groundstroke velocity by 3.8 percent. But I still want to talk about the backhand, as it is a different stroke from the forehand and on the opposite side of the body. Shapovalov = 130 km/h. It also did not impair oxygen consumptionwhich came as a surprise. The fastest tennis ball ever hit was done by Sam Groth at the 2012 Busan Open Challenger Tennis but unfortunately, it wasnt recognized by ATP. Reporting for ESPN, Greg Garber wrote that Keys backhand and forehand speeds ranked seventh- and eighth-fastest among all players faster than most men. That's the fastest I've ever seen, and even the commentator was in raptures. However, I want to explore a few misunderstood concepts when it comes to the differences between the ATP and WTA swing paths in professional tennis and how you can learn from them. Women also are hitting speeds of 70 - 79 mph on their forehand, though fewer of them are hitting speeds of 80 mph or higher frequently. Tennis coach explains: Training tips to get advantage over your rivals, Adidas releases tennis colab with South African designer Rich Mnisi, Krejcikova upsets Swiatek to triumph at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, Krejcikova, Swiatek to meet in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final, Gauff wins her rain-interrupted opener, Collins, Pegula, Vekic advance to San Diego quarterfinals. Criteria to be listed in this article Men's serves must be recorded at or over 230 km/h (142.9 mph) minimum standard speed. The racket then moves slightly back outside at this final stage to contact. But of those topspin and flat strokes, women stick with the backhand 94% of the time, compared to 82% for men. In contrast, the men on the ATP keep the racket on the outside of their bodies. This move further inside elongates the swing path and provides more power than a simple take back as the ATP men do. Make yourself comfortable and lets dive in. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. When the ball leaves the racquet, your eye first finds the ball, then it determines its speed. Women bring the racket inside their body and men keep it on the outside but close their body. Eric,Thanks for the kind words about the blog.The speeds quoted in your comment(and from an earlier blog post) are peak ball speeds of male tour pros measured and reported by IBM PointTracker at the 2006 US Open.PointTracker is a great public source for ball speed data.You are correct about the changes in ball speeds during its flight, pre- and post-bounce.And another interesting fact about ball speed relative to its flight--and bounce--path is that it is well documented that shots struck with heavy spin decelerate *less* than shots hit with less spin (i.e. At the French Open in 2014, Keys registered the highest average groundstroke speed of any player, male or female. Really appreciate the bigger sweet spot in a 100 sq inch racquet. Some of my personal favorite two-handed backhands on the WTA tour are Monica Puig, Victoria Azarenka, and Caroline Wozniacki. They also did one for Fed-Safin at AO 2004. 6. [44] Believe it or not, tennis is actually full of physics and math. Once the player achieves this position, the racket arm and hand will begin to drop and move to the inside. Do not find that the extra precision I get from a smaller head size benefits my game as much as the extra free power and spin from the larger head size. Nadal has been hitting slow balls to Djokovic in ALL their clay matches. **Average Speed for Roger Federers forehand at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. A graphic was shown in one of the matches. what in the US is called hitting a "clean" ball).If I may ask, what's your little project about?If I can help in any way, just email me (info@tennisspeed.com) anytime. Also, I am a retired carpenter and have considerable grip strength and upper-body strength. They do this by initiating a unit turn with the racket up high. yeah that Safin was a powerfull beast:twisted: Well this gives us better idea about speed. ***Average Speed of Serena Williams forehand was according to Stats on the T. The fastest forehand recorded at the 2021 Australian Open by a male player was 105.3 MPH, which was hit by the American Reilly Opelka. Interestingly, Juan Martin del Potro, one of the more successful players on the ATP, uses the pendulum motion to great effect on his forehand. Its amazing how close she approximates what men do, the ball flight and how close to net it is. Aggression and offense are paramount on both the ATP and WTA tours. But let us dive deeper into the specs of the different tours, ATP vs WTA racquets. Yes Honey Im Throwing Epic Shade! 3. This is the second location of the swing path of the racket. In the list below, you can see some of the top serving speeds of top women players in the WTA. This site is owned and operated by Oriental Decor Com. Serena has a weaker forehand which is why you dont give the average speed or spin in her blurb. Shapovalov was crushing these returns at 130 km/h on average while Sonego was much slower at 111 km/h. If it were a podium finish then Serena Williams (average groundstroke speed 69mph) would take the bronze, with Maria Sharapova (70mph) sneaking the silver. Its more difficult to time a long, looping groundstroke than a shorter, more compact one. Both the WTA and ATP players will begin the stroke by making a unit turn and bringing the racket to the outside. "Memo to American college and junior tennis players: Find another 30 MPH ASAP! Over the course of their careers, their forehand speed averages are the same, 79 mph, slightly faster than Federer at 77 mph. Madison Keys regularly clocks in above the ATP guys, didn't find the shots in any of the highlight but did find a tweet that confirms the 160km/h return. This is one of the most fundamental tennis shots. Swing weights are moving downwards on both tours, 2. This is because they want to generate power using biomechanics rather than muscle. Djokovic at 77 mph. The only time this deviates is on returns and very high paced shots. Doubles players use racquets with a higher static weight but a more head-light balance than ATP singles players. My current setup is definitely more towards a WTA style player than an ATP, but my swing weight is still lower than the average pro on both tours. For other players, like Aga Radwanska and Roberta Vinci, the slower forehand speeds suggest a more defensive style of play. Nadal doesn't even need that much speed when his spin does all the work. The average speed of the fastest serves is 148 mph (238 km/h) The median speed of the fastest serves is 146 mph (235 km/h) Serve speed in mph ranges from 143 mph to 163.4 mph (20.4 mph) . Note that they can be hit with extremely varying degrees of slice or spin to surprise the opponent. Almost every other ATP tour player, however, has a slightly different swing path at this point of the stroke. Baseball is a classic sport steeped in tradition and emotion. 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