Do not copy Jannik Sinner’s forehand, even though he’s one of the best players in the world right now.
Yes, I use pro examples constantly in my teaching.
But there’s something specifically dangerous buried in what Jannik does that recreational players need to avoid.
Let me show you exactly what that is, and what to do instead.
Quick question first: would you trade forehands with Andre Agassi?
For most of us, the answer should be yes.
If your answer is no, I’d genuinely love to hear why in the comments.
Let’s look at a side-by-side comparison of how much world-class forehand technique has changed over the generations.
Back in Agassi’s era, here’s how players were preparing.
In Andre’s unit turn, his racket face points along the baseline, and the tip of his racket points up, away from the court.
In Jannik’s unit turn, it’s reversed. His racket tip points along the baseline, while his racket face points back toward the fence.
Completely different alignment from the very first move.
As Andre starts dropping his racket, the tip still points toward the back wall, and the face still points along the baseline. Barely any transition at all.
As Jannik drops his racket, his tip still points along the baseline, and his strings still face the back wall.
Eventually, that hitting surface has to travel a much longer, more complex path just to arrive square at the ball.
As Andre pulls his racket forward, tip still toward the back wall, strings still facing the side. No flip. No inversion.
As Jannik pulls forward, his racket completely inverts. Tip rotating toward the back corner, strings now facing down toward the court.
Eventually both players land in a similar biomechanical position, body facing forward, strings facing the target.
But the road Jannik’s racket travels to get there is dramatically more complex than Andre’s ever was.
This comparison reveals something important.
As the sport has gotten faster and spin has become more central to winning, world-class swings have become more dynamic, more elastic, and considerably more complicated to time correctly.
That said, plenty of fundamentals have stayed exactly the same, and these are absolutely worth copying.
Watch Jannik set a wide, athletic base beneath him before the swing even starts, built to transfer force up and forward into contact.
Andre did that too.
Watch his shoulders and hips turn to the side during the unit turn, with his opposite arm crossing over to help store extra energy.
Andre did that too.
Watch him initiate the swing from his chest, pulling forward through his core first.
Andre did that too.
As his body initiates, his arm trails behind, loose, relaxed, completely passive, building a wave of energy forward into contact.
Andre did that too.
All of that combined creates a long, smooth, flowing, circular swing path with real effortless energy behind it.
Andre did that too.
These fundamentals haven’t changed across generations, and they’re exactly what you should be studying.
So what shouldn’t you copy?
The specific elements Andre never needed, generations ago, to build a genuinely world-class forehand.
As Jannik’s racket tip transitions through his swing, it rotates from pointing toward the camera, to away from the camera, then all the way back around again.
That big transition generates a massive wave of energy, and it’s genuinely necessary for elite players hitting with that much pace and spin just to keep the ball in play.
But it’s not necessary for players like you and me.
The second thing you shouldn’t copy is the dramatic transition of Jannik’s racket face.
It swings from facing 180 degrees away from contact, down toward the court, and finally forward and slightly closed at the ball.
For world-class players, that closed face angle at contact has to be extremely tightly managed.
For everyday players, none of that applies, because our swing speed isn’t remotely in the same category as theirs.
We don’t need that dramatic transition to create whip or lag, and we don’t need the racket face nearly that closed at contact either.
Andre didn’t need it either, which is exactly why his swing and his racket face transition were so much simpler.
To be clear, none of this is wrong for Jannik specifically.
Sinner can execute all of this complex, nuanced movement because he’s a world-class athlete with more raw talent in one finger than most of us have anywhere in our game.
When everyday players try to copy swing elements this complex, the results are almost always wildly inconsistent, which is exactly the trap I want to help you avoid.
So what should you actually do instead?
Simplify what the racket is doing, and build your power from the body, not the arm or the hand.
If you’d like a full breakdown of this with slow-motion drills and step-by-step instructions you can actually train at home, let me know in the comments and I’ll move it to the top of the list.
Keep up the great work on your game, and I’ll catch you in the next one.
Your Coach,
-Ian
