a.

/lasso forehand/

first of all, if you are not an aggressive ballstriker (i.e. with a fast or very fast swingspeed), i would strongly advise ^against using a lasso forehand!

— why?
without generating a lot of pace /^and spin/, the ball will sit up and be very easy to attack.

b.

ideally, a lasso forehand should be a groundstroke *winner — and certainly be ^intended as such. it should not (ever) be considered a rallying shot.
when i did my initial training, i studied Serena and Rafa a lot. unsurprisingly, as part of my repertoire

#tennis
#technique

c.

i wanted to hit lasso forehands, exactly like them.

i studied both of their styles, obsessively — segment by segment.

for tennis, i have an intensely visual and acute memory. with all of my constant drilling, i could reproduce individual shots quite easily.

#tennis

d.

it is difficult to describe technique in this medium (— and when not being with the person) but i will try to isolate the most important features here.

for me, there are two primary reasons to use a lasso forehand:

e.

i.
as an aggressive ‘emergency’ shot, i.e. when taken past the sidelines by an opponent’s aggressive shot.

ii.
to *create acute /‘short’ crosscourt angles.

i do both, without thinking.
i hit with a lot of power and aggressive spin (— that is my thing), so this works for me.

f.

when hitting a lasso forehand, you have to make the decision •early. you should move onto the ball dynamically.
after contact, you will close the racquet face a little quickly to impart greater spin.

imagine the strings [— the stringbed] ‘whipping’ right across the ball.

g.

when finishing this shot, the racquet will be pulled /above your head/ with (and near certainly) with the upper hoop pointing directly behind you.

see pictures of Rafa here:

#tennis
#technique

h.

any player using this has to /hit this shot •aggressively/.
i cannot empathise this enough.

again, this is because the ball, hit with greater spin and thus net clearance, it will “pop up” in the court.

— so the ball has to be /moving very quickly/ and (ideally) •away

i.

from the opponent.

see Serena’s utilisation of acute /crosscourt angles here:


00:28 — crosscourt forehand winner
(pictures 1, 2)

2:31 — aggressive /damaging forehand
(picture 3)

2:43 — aggressive forehand return /winning shot
(picture 4)

#tennis

j.

note the direction of the ball and Serena’s finish (— her follow-through), the racquet above her head and behind her back.

when contacting the ball, i tend to go slightly off-centre (contact with the stringbed) but that might be more personal superstition than anything else!

k.

finally, you may have to reduce the takeback when using a lasso forehand as an aggressive /emergency shot.

i prefer to begin with my regular high /looped takeback (— exactly as Rafa below), which adds some level of ‘disguise’.

if you have any questions, please ask!

l.

Serena is the ^master of taking time away from the opponent, so you will frequently see her move into the court near the service line + use her •regular, looped takeback, preparing for a lasso forehand, when she wants to hit more acute, ‘short’ angles.


#tennis
#technique