The evolution of Jannik Sinner’s service motion has been hailed as one of the big reasons for his rise to the top of the men’s game, yet his forehand is also a huge part of his success story and his technique is far from conventional.
The world No 1 has claimed four Grand Slam titles since clinching his first at the Australian Open in January 2024, with his win at Wimbledon last month a crowning moment for the Italian.
His coaching team, led by Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill, are credited with changing elements of his game, especially a new service motion that was introduced mid-way through the 2023 season.
Cahill revealed they remodelled Sinner’s serve on big-serving American John Isner and the results have been spectacular as he now has one of the biggest and most consistent service motions in the men’s game.
There has been plenty of analysis of Sinner’s service improvement in recent years, but his forehand has also gone through a few gears and the technique he uses is unusual.
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Sinner gets power on his forehand that is too much for most of his rivals and part of that power is generated by the position of his racket at what we call the ‘power point’ in his swing.
Most players will have their racket slightly tilted with the strings in a position that appears to be a natural spot for an attack on the incoming ball.
Yet when Sinner reaches the point just before he swings his arm to hit the forehand, his racket is pointing in what appears to be a position that will make it hard to get a clean connection.
The butt of his racket is pointing to the right side of the court and the head of the frame is pointing in what appears to be the wrong direction.
Sinner then quickly whips his racket into position just before his ball strike, with that late movement giving him the whip and power that makes his forehand so formidable.
This motion requires immense strength and incredible timing and it makes Sinner’s consistency with his forehand all the more impressive.
Most players will have the racket head tilted upwards before they strike a forehand, but Sinner’s racket is in a horizontal position.
Novak Djokovic has developed a whip on his forehand that could be compared to Sinner’s, but the Italian has a more extreme whip on his forehand.
Britain’s Jack Draper also has a similar horizontal starting point on his forehand, with the extra power he gains on that side helping to take him into the top five of the ATP Rankings this year.
Club players who may look to copy the Sinner forehand should be wary, as it could induce injury due to the repetition of the extreme whip in the shot, but it is certainly working well for Sinner after relentless hours of practice have delivered stunning results in the game’s biggest tournaments over the last couple of years.
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