Cruz Hewitt is now a 12+ UTR at 15 years old and has beaten a player ranked 622 in the world in a challenger event. Will this forehand technique hold him back in the future? Is it too late to change it? -Jason Frausto
I think the issue with his forehand technique is that the game of tennis, especially on the men’s side, is really starting to speed up. The top players are now hitting triple digits on their forehands and they’re averaging 80’s on some occasions. Additionally courtspeeds seem to be universally speeding up. This means timing is insanely important and this seems like it’s overcomplicating that aspect.
I think you hit the nail on the head. The game is getting faster, and that means technique will need to be as simple and clean as possible. -Jason Frausto
Definitely has a Tiafoe, Kyrgios, Sock, Musetti look to it with that very relaxed slightly drooping wrist position. Tiafoe was asked one time about it, and he said he was just really struggling on his forehand at one time and just kind of adopted that. I guess that very loose wrist must help them in getting that tip flip?
I was part of the team of folks at the USTA during the effort to “change the Tiafoe forehand”. This was back in 2015 when he was a junior. Jose Higueras was hell bent on shortening it up and I watched him try to do it for days on court with Frances. No matter what Jose did, he couldn’t get Frances to change it. So Jose requested it to be filmed, my boss filmed it and the three of us looked at it in slow motion together. I told Jose at that time to stop trying to change it. My reasons were, he has unbelievably fast hands and he gets out of the problematic positions of the swing quickly, it’s not causing an injury, it’s not affecting the quality of his ball, and it’s not causing him to make errors or lose points…..99% of the time. It’s only a factor in his ball quality, a very minimal amount of the time. My final point was Frances does not want to change it, he’s not going to, so stop wasting your time and energy Jose. And that was the last conversation we had about his forehand. He went on to become a top 10 player……and the rest is history. So the forehand he had in 2015, is the forehand he still has today. In terms of tip flip, that relaxed wrist position could be something that helps Frances get to where he needs to be. -Jason Frausto
@TennisUnleashed I actually remember your piece on the Tiafoe forehand and you telling the whole story of your involvement with Tiafoe and his forehand. I don't think it is even a "big" swing. I think if one just looked at his swing, without the racquet, it is actually pretty compact. Anyway, obviously you could not have been more spot on on your advice/take on his forehand. Khachanov even seems to have more severe bend/droopy wrist on his forehand.
Thanks for the insight. Agreed, Khachanov is more “droopy” as you said, when you combine that with his grip, his forehand is much more of a liability compared to Tiafoe’s. If Khachanov had a more standard forehand technique/grip he would be a regular inside the top 10. -Jason Frausto
Good question. UTR has him as their 7th best player 18 years old or younger. Hayden Jones is #1 at 13.09, Cruz is currently a 12.33. My guess is Cruz is probably the youngest of anyone in the top 7. -Jason Frausto
It’s interesting with Lleyton as his dad, a guy who reached #1 and saw the evolution of the game with Federer, that his forehand has all the extra components. Let’s see if he changes it or hits a rankings wall at some point. -Jason Frausto
This is the way the game grows and evolves. This youngster may or may not hit a ranking wall, nevertheless young players will continue to imitate current players and yet change the very fabric of the game. It is fascinating to study the history of the game and how it has evolved from generation to generation.
Good question Sean. For this video I used the “OnForm” app. For other videos I may use”Dartfish” for match analysis and another app called “Binary Sports X” also for technique and match analysis. I use whichever app suits the video best. I hope this helps. -Jason Frausto
The "Tiafoe" position that Cruz is getting into appears overly forced and doesn't appear to have good natural flow. Probably experimenting with different styles at this stage. Let's see if it remains in the futures. Kyrgios would also have some influence on this, I suspect.
It doesn’t look 100% natural as you said. A little bit of Tiafie mixed with a little bit of Kyrgios. These pro swing styles have a lot of influence on junior players as they grow up. -Jason Frausto
That Tiafoe-esque takeback is like wut. I have a technical question I don't see talked about often: at what point does the wrist start turning so that we aren't leading with the wrist on our forward swing? At start of initiation of the swing or before contact with the ball?
There are a lot of movements that are unnecessary, and these extra complications will only lead to unforced errors. It's a visual disaster for me, and seems much less reliable than his backhand, which is not what I would expect at all. I'd go as far to say that unless he cleans up his forehand, it will be a real liability when he comes up against players that hit with power and pace, because he has too much going on, and wont have the time to swing and contact the ball optimally, simply because of the extra things he's doing. His racket travels quite a long way behind his body, and this is all lost time, because that time being spent on the backswing, needs similar time to contact. If he can reduce the swing, he gains double the time, and this is invaluable in the modern game, which is getting faster and faster. Simply put, I really don't like this forehand.
All good points. It will be interesting to see how far he gets on tour ranking wise. Let’s see if his forehand evolves any further in the next year or two. -Jason Frausto
Cruz Hewitt is now a 12+ UTR at 15 years old and has beaten a player ranked 622 in the world in a challenger event. Will this forehand technique hold him back in the future? Is it too late to change it?
-Jason Frausto
I think the issue with his forehand technique is that the game of tennis, especially on the men’s side, is really starting to speed up. The top players are now hitting triple digits on their forehands and they’re averaging 80’s on some occasions. Additionally courtspeeds seem to be universally speeding up. This means timing is insanely important and this seems like it’s overcomplicating that aspect.
I think you hit the nail on the head. The game is getting faster, and that means technique will need to be as simple and clean as possible.
-Jason Frausto
Definitely has a Tiafoe, Kyrgios, Sock, Musetti look to it with that very relaxed slightly drooping wrist position. Tiafoe was asked one time about it, and he said he was just really struggling on his forehand at one time and just kind of adopted that. I guess that very loose wrist must help them in getting that tip flip?
I was part of the team of folks at the USTA during the effort to “change the Tiafoe forehand”. This was back in 2015 when he was a junior. Jose Higueras was hell bent on shortening it up and I watched him try to do it for days on court with Frances. No matter what Jose did, he couldn’t get Frances to change it. So Jose requested it to be filmed, my boss filmed it and the three of us looked at it in slow motion together. I told Jose at that time to stop trying to change it. My reasons were, he has unbelievably fast hands and he gets out of the problematic positions of the swing quickly, it’s not causing an injury, it’s not affecting the quality of his ball, and it’s not causing him to make errors or lose points…..99% of the time. It’s only a factor in his ball quality, a very minimal amount of the time. My final point was Frances does not want to change it, he’s not going to, so stop wasting your time and energy Jose. And that was the last conversation we had about his forehand. He went on to become a top 10 player……and the rest is history.
So the forehand he had in 2015, is the forehand he still has today. In terms of tip flip, that relaxed wrist position could be something that helps Frances get to where he needs to be.
-Jason Frausto
@TennisUnleashed I actually remember your piece on the Tiafoe forehand and you telling the whole story of your involvement with Tiafoe and his forehand. I don't think it is even a "big" swing. I think if one just looked at his swing, without the racquet, it is actually pretty compact. Anyway, obviously you could not have been more spot on on your advice/take on his forehand. Khachanov even seems to have more severe bend/droopy wrist on his forehand.
Thanks for the insight. Agreed, Khachanov is more “droopy” as you said, when you combine that with his grip, his forehand is much more of a liability compared to Tiafoe’s. If Khachanov had a more standard forehand technique/grip he would be a regular inside the top 10.
-Jason Frausto
Is he currently Australia 's top junior?
Good question. UTR has him as their 7th best player 18 years old or younger. Hayden Jones is #1 at 13.09, Cruz is currently a 12.33. My guess is Cruz is probably the youngest of anyone in the top 7.
-Jason Frausto
@TennisUnleashed cool. Happy for Lleyton, was a fan of him back in the day.
How Casper ruud won the atp finals is the next title I want to see.
If that happens…….you can count on it Burzynski ;) Hope all is well.
-Jason Frausto
Those “extra components “ in these swings drive me insane. Does nothing but give problems
It’s interesting with Lleyton as his dad, a guy who reached #1 and saw the evolution of the game with Federer, that his forehand has all the extra components. Let’s see if he changes it or hits a rankings wall at some point.
-Jason Frausto
This is the way the game grows and evolves. This youngster may or may not hit a ranking wall, nevertheless young players will continue to imitate current players and yet change the very fabric of the game. It is fascinating to study the history of the game and how it has evolved from generation to generation.
Just watched him play live
Forehand did not miss
Awesome. Thanks for the info. Forehand looks really big and aggressive.
-Jason Frausto
Jason - What software do you use to do your analysis? Your ability to have the arrows, lines, joint angles etc.
Good question Sean. For this video I used the “OnForm” app. For other videos I may use”Dartfish” for match analysis and another app called “Binary Sports X” also for technique and match analysis. I use whichever app suits the video best. I hope this helps.
-Jason Frausto
The "Tiafoe" position that Cruz is getting into appears overly forced and doesn't appear to have good natural flow. Probably experimenting with different styles at this stage. Let's see if it remains in the futures. Kyrgios would also have some influence on this, I suspect.
It doesn’t look 100% natural as you said. A little bit of Tiafie mixed with a little bit of Kyrgios. These pro swing styles have a lot of influence on junior players as they grow up.
-Jason Frausto
That Tiafoe-esque takeback is like wut. I have a technical question I don't see talked about often: at what point does the wrist start turning so that we aren't leading with the wrist on our forward swing? At start of initiation of the swing or before contact with the ball?
Good question. More towards the start of the forward swing. If the wrist is relaxed at that stage that big tip flip will happen.
-Jason Frausto
@@TennisUnleashed Good to know thanks!
Krygios effect
There are a lot of movements that are unnecessary, and these extra complications will only lead to unforced errors. It's a visual disaster for me, and seems much less reliable than his backhand, which is not what I would expect at all. I'd go as far to say that unless he cleans up his forehand, it will be a real liability when he comes up against players that hit with power and pace, because he has too much going on, and wont have the time to swing and contact the ball optimally, simply because of the extra things he's doing. His racket travels quite a long way behind his body, and this is all lost time, because that time being spent on the backswing, needs similar time to contact. If he can reduce the swing, he gains double the time, and this is invaluable in the modern game, which is getting faster and faster.
Simply put, I really don't like this forehand.
All good points. It will be interesting to see how far he gets on tour ranking wise. Let’s see if his forehand evolves any further in the next year or two.
-Jason Frausto