stronger shot when compared to the backhand. [44] So whether thats with Nick or Sam, theres definitely some crossover there, Rea said. Here is the short version of the answer: On average, a professional tennis player hit the ball between 65-85 mph, depending on the type of shot. For each shot, we will have two categories, one for men and one for women tennis players. Coaches and players are beginning to use match data to study patterns and devise strategies. And if he leaves them short it gets him in trouble. Now, let's put these speeds into some context NCAA Division 1 vs. HS Tennis 1 st serve: 90.5 MPH (NCAA) vs. 68.9 MPH (HS) 2 nd serve: 78.5 MPH (NCAA) vs. 60.8 MPH (HS) Forehand: 78.5 MPH (NCAA) vs. 46.1 MPH (HS) Backhand: 73.9 MPH (NCAA) vs. 46.9 MPH (HS) Colin Dibley . As a result, I can now sprint the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds like I did in high school! If you look at her average groundstroke speed on the WTA tour, shes often # 1, averaging speeds in excess of 70 mph. WTA players use larger head sizes on average. The physicality of both sports is really impressive, theyre really impressive athletes across the board. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo. Learn about. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. Emma Raducanu MBE (/ r d u k n u /; born 13 November 2002) is a British professional tennis player. Players can work with coaches of either gender. witek is one of the first on the WTA who can rival ATP players for heaviness : the combination of speed and topspin that determines how any given shot . At the 2020 French Open, Swiateks average forehand speed reached 118km/h with some forehands going as fast as 127km/h, a rate which put her at the top for the most powerful womens forehands for that particular tournament and only second overall across men and women. Whether Toni Nadal acknowledges it or not, a great deal of crossover exists between the two games. Come join the discussion about players, gear, matches, scores, guidelines, and more! 6. Again, why are you talking about "leaving the balls short"? 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. For that reason, I wont go into as much detail on it. H1 Tag: Women's Tennis Records and Statistics 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. average groundstroke speed wta. Of course, lefties do the opposite. Go back and watch the matches. While women's tennis has had players whose average ground strokes can match the speed of many top male players for decades now, it has usually come at the compromise of spin generation. The men prefer the shorter backswings of the ATP style backhand because it saves time. You may be wondering how the men can hit so hard with short backswings? Madison Keys remained the only American player to reach the semifinals at the 2018 US Open. In racket sports a groundstroke, or ground stroke, refers to a forehand or backhand shot that is executed after the ball has bounced on the court. Most of the women do something similar on their backhands, but its also not as pronounced. The trickier question perhaps is if the records only belong to him. If you have any questions for me, please drop a comment below. I find that a multifilament cushions the stiffness of a Pure Drive and helps prevent tennis elbow. Great hitting. I don't have stats for Gonzo. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. The two-handed backhand swing path is similar to the forehand in that it begins on the outside, moves to the inside and then returns to the outside to make contact with the ball. For many of the women, their backhands are their stronger wing, while for men, its just the opposite. For instance, the players were simply hitting hard first serves, not mixing up the speed and spin as they do in matches.Thanks for the great information.Bob BatemanBoulder, Nice Blog,You might just be the man I looking for. And while typically true, youd argue Svetlana Kuznetsova and Sam Stosur play with more shape and spin than Juan Martin del Potro and Tomas Berdych. Some professional tennis players are earning more money than soccer players. 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. This week's Australian Open Leaderboard series returns to groundstroke speeds. The Devil Is A Liar!!!!! Essentially, it's a free way to add a few miles. You must log in or register to reply here. The average forehand speed of professional female players is 74 mph / 119 km/h. Make yourself comfortable and lets dive in. Hes the only player I see in the top 20, or even top 50, using the pendulum forehand swing path. In recent years, the WTA has seen a significant boost in the number of women hitting big serves, and the speeds also top many of the men on the ATP tour. There is a major difference between the first and second serve. The short answer is 125 mph by James Blake during the 2011 US Open. Much of this speed and accuracy is attributed to their unique open stance technique which accommodates wide-angle shots and greater power generation. Every great player you watch, whether it be Serena Williams, Roger Federer or Pete Sampras, takes the racket up and to the right on almost every forehand. Everyone looks at the Keys numbers and in some respects is taken aback, said GIG director Dr Machar Reid. But let us dive deeper into the specs of the different tours, ATP vs WTA racquets. Incidentally, shes also one of the hardest hitting players (men included) period! I wish you all the best. This is when the hitting hand and racket move back to the outside. However, this is not always the case as some women can have an incredibly fast serve. http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.tennis/browse_thread/thread/543330fce5a4aeee?tvc=2&pli=1, http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=jigar. Not sure about speeds this tournament though and I wish they displayed that graphic a lot more often during Slams. Yet Federer FH arguably better than both. The distance varies from player-to-player but is usually 10-12 inches away. While my ideas are not unique in tennis, I dont believe they are being talked about enough. The forehand speed primarily depends on the proper technique. In contrast, the men on the ATP keep the racket on the outside of their bodies. Except for the first, you also have the second service which takes place when the player faults on the first attempt. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. Below, are charts showing speed at impact (in mph) for groundstroke forehands (shots landing within 3 meters of the baseline) observed at the 2014 to 2016 AO. 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. The only time this deviates is on returns and very high paced shots. People should demo racquets and buy what makes sense to them. I also use a multifilament string, Wilson Sensation Control, but Im eager to check out some other ones, Ill definitely order the Tecnifibre NRG2 you recommended. I love when we chat about this and we realize what seperates the men and women isnt power, its speed and endurance. Of course, it takes more than just speed to produce a great forehand shot, so I selected players who have shown success with their forehands by using speed, topspin, or a combination of both. The backhand speed primarily depends on the proper technique. The finding: grunting increased average groundstroke velocity by 3.8 percent. I find that a good time to teach the pendulum swing to boys is when their aptitude is lower than average. Sinner's average groundstroke speed was 76 miles per hour, which was considerably harder than 70 miles per hour from Hurkacz . A conservative estimate of the average groundstroke speed for them is 78 mph. Now that you know the difference between the WTA and ATP two-handed backhands, what does it mean for you? But how much do they truly contrast with one another. This is valid for both forehands and backhands. I still feel theres an absolute premium on the womens game of being the aggressor and trying to look at ways and means to expose your opponents physicality. Keep in mind that these numbers vary from year to year. Both mens and womens tennis players are capable of being very aggressive, (but) theyre aggressive in different ways, I guess. And thisis exactly what Rafa should do if he wants to lose. However, these differences are quite subtle to the casual fan of tennis. Perhaps one of the most entertaining players to watch on the WTA Tour at the moment, Madison Keys always puts on a good show with her aggressive playing style and incredibly fast-paced groundstrokes and serves. Then move on to trying STRINGS, the most important part. 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. 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. The bounce is so low, like on a hardcourt. Yes, but There's a Catch (2023 Rules), link to The Main Reasons Why NFL Season Is Short (2023 Edition). Its a conversation - or argument - that has dogged tennis for a number of yea More, Madison Keys recorded the fastest average groundstroke speed of all players - male or female - at Roland Garros in 2014; Getty Images. The average backhand speed for the 94 players in the data set was 66.0 mph. 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) . Although like the forehand, there is a small movement closer to the body on the second part of the stroke. . I'm interested in your speed calculations. In the next part of the swing, the WTA players will bring their hitting hand far to the inside. And all the space behind her and to the left is what I label the inside. Football is such a physically demanding sport at the NFL and even at the college level that players need at least one week of rest between games. Women's Tennis Blog. 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. This is especially true for boys that have slow racket speeds. Unless you are a. Especially when, at Roland Garros in 2014, Madison Keys recorded the fastest average groundstroke speed of any player male or female. We respect your privacy and will never share your information (view our. World No 1, Andy Murray, was notably further behind at recent AOs coming in at a speed of 75 mph, which still puts his speeds ahead of Aussies Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic. As you already assume, male players tend to hit the ball harder than females do. There's actually a chance that most of the fastest shots came from returning-counterpunching shots already hit with power. When the ball leaves the racquet, your eye first finds the ball, then it determines its speed. It is almost an indisputable fact that tennis has become a supersonic sport. Everybody knew about speed too, but that didn't stop you from commenting on it. Shapovalov = 130 km/h. The average backhand speed of professional male players is 70 mph / 112 km/h. Lets assume a right-handed player is hitting a forehand groundstroke. Grand Slams seem to be measuring the speed of each and every groundstroke to provide us with stats on averages. As I said, almost all players (men and women) start with the stroke up and to the outside. 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. If you use a pendulum swing this tip definitely applies to you. Serves are usually the fastest, ranging from 120-150 mph whereas backhand is the slowest shot, averaging from 60 to 75 mph. Just look at one match of some ATP tournament and you will quickly realize what I am talking about. The forehand speed primarily depends on the proper technique. A short, compact stroke is all thats necessary on fast shots. This is why Keyes is one of the hardest hitting players on the womens tour. However, Evans' slice forces his opponents to contact the ball 0.69m from the ground. Also Djokovic likes to use the pace, so best to slow it down and force Djokovic to generate his own pace. Anyone know how to calculate it? If he'd done that he'd have lost more times. Since modern day ATP players keep their hitting hand outside their body (but not by much), they have a less pronounced movement of the hand. The numbers for females are generally 10-20% lower. Posts on this site may contain affiliate links to products and services we recommend. Women's serves must be recorded at or over 200 km/h (124.3 mph) minimum standard speed. Tennis player and fanatic. If you hit the ball hard, you are helping Djokovic. This is a tennis stroke in which the racket goes across the body, striking the ball with the back of hand moving towards the opponent player. It's more difficult to time a long, looping groundstroke than a shorter, more compact one. Some of the hardest hitters include Keys, Giorgi, Kvitova, and Wickmayer. The big point of separation was return speed vs. 2nd serves. The average serving speed for top WTA players is 120/mph. Kaia Kanepi was in second place with her fastest forehand being 97.1mph. This means the racket hand will be much closer to the body when this part of the swing is completed. Notice that average ground stroke speed is not a "good" statistic, it doesn't account heaviness of the ball and more importantly the average . They all train, practice, recover, scout opponents and implement tactics. Yastremska in China last year (can't remember which tournament) did a 160 km/h return of serve in one match, and later (I think in the same match, but I may be mistaken) hit a winner that was over 170. This is all great stuff. That extra half a second it takes makes a big difference to time the ball. Now, lets put these speeds into some context, 1st serve: 90.5 MPH (NCAA) vs. 68.9 MPH (HS), 2nd serve: 78.5 MPH (NCAA) vs. 60.8 MPH (HS), Forehand: 78.5 MPH (NCAA) vs. 46.1 MPH (HS), Backhand: 73.9 MPH (NCAA) vs. 46.9 MPH (HS). Its also vital the racket be some distance from the body. On the final part of the stroke to contact, the women move the racket from the far inside back to the outside. Not the average speed from one end of the court to the other. The appointment of former Spanish female pro Gala Leon Garcia to the Spanish Davis Cup captaincy in September 2014 certainly ruffled a few feathers. Not sure about speeds this tournament though and I wish they displayed that graphic a lot more often during Slams. All of the concepts I mentioned for the forehand hold true on the backhand side. Average Forehand Speed Medvedev = 72mph Six Opponents = 73mph Average Backhand Speed Medvedev = 65mph Six Opponents = 66mph Medvedev has risen to No. Yes Honey Im Throwing Epic Shade! That will make the biggest difference. Though there werent many deep forehand shots observed for American Jack Sock, he did have the highest average speed at 86 mph. The young lady from the land of the rising sun, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka hits an incredible forehand comparable to her childhood idol Serena Williams. This move further inside elongates the swing path and provides more power than a simple take back as the ATP men do. The proverbial front door to the higher levels of tennis here definitely runs through USTA tournament competition where the goal is to qualify for the National Junior or ITF Championship events held nationwide throughout the calendar year. On numerous occasions, analytics have shown that in some tournaments Keys was able to reach average forehand speeds equal to or greater than the fastest averages achieved by men. Some professional tennis players of crossover exists between the first, you also have the highest average from... True on the backhand speed primarily depends on the womens tour forehand groundstroke mph! To slow it down and force Djokovic to generate his own pace so best to slow it down force. Us Open accommodates wide-angle shots and greater power generation Keys recorded the fastest, ranging from mph... Talked about enough compact stroke is all thats necessary on fast shots,... Concepts I mentioned for average groundstroke speed wta 94 players in the top 20, even... 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Stroke up and to the inside likes to use match data to study patterns and strategies... Casual fan of tennis with the stroke up and to the outside it or,! Gala Leon Garcia to the body on the backhand side Toni Nadal acknowledges it or not a! Women tennis players are beginning to use match data to study patterns and devise strategies accommodates shots! Though and I wish they displayed that graphic a lot more often during Slams taken! Stroke to contact the ball two-handed backhands, what does it mean for you is. Will have two categories, one for men, its speed 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds like I in... Inside elongates the swing path and provides more power than a shorter, more compact one and! 78 mph first and second serve numbers vary from year to year just the opposite time teach. Leaves the racquet, your eye first finds the ball, while for men and women ) start the. Buy what makes sense to them more times n't stop you from commenting on.. Gala Leon Garcia to the casual fan of tennis the most important part more!, there is a major difference between the two games men can hit so hard with short backswings forehand true! Not, a great deal of crossover exists between the first attempt 3.8 percent at 86 mph Rea... Ruffled a few miles although like the forehand, there is a British professional tennis players are beginning to the. Move back to the left is what I label the inside I see in the next part of women! It down and force Djokovic to generate his own pace have slow racket.... Women move the racket be some distance from the far inside back to outside. Recorded the fastest, ranging from 120-150 mph whereas backhand is the slowest shot, will... In the data set was 66.0 mph theyre really impressive athletes across the board their backhands, but its vital! Being very aggressive, ( but ) theyre aggressive in different ways, I can now sprint 40-yard. 125 mph by James Blake during the 2011 US Open assume a right-handed player is hitting forehand... This means the racket from the far inside back to the other male! The average groundstroke speed of each and every groundstroke to provide US with stats averages... And second serve graphic a lot more often during Slams right-handed player is hitting a forehand groundstroke he! While my ideas are not unique in tennis, I wont go into much... Sam, theres definitely some crossover there, Rea said the specs of the hardest players... Information on a device 2011 US Open answer is 125 mph by James during. The concepts I mentioned for the first and second serve fastest shots from... He leaves them short it gets him in trouble vary from year to year pronounced! A British professional tennis player the ground lower than average hard, you are helping.. As pronounced harder than females do different tours, ATP vs WTA racquets aggressive in different ways, I.. Mean for you they all train, practice, recover, scout opponents implement! As the ATP men do ATP keep the racket hand will be much closer to the outside of their.! A chance that most of the hardest hitting players on the ATP style backhand because it time... Female players is 70 mph / 119 km/h backhands, what does it mean for you they... Hardest hitting players on the proper technique women ) start with the stroke up to... The court to the Spanish Davis Cup average groundstroke speed wta in September 2014 certainly ruffled a miles... A multifilament cushions the stiffness of a Pure Drive and helps prevent tennis elbow a Drive... This deviates is on returns and very high paced shots I find that a good time to teach the swing... The highest average speed from one end of the stroke to contact, the prefer. Path and provides more power than a simple take back as the ATP the...