The forehand in tennis is a shot made by swinging the racquet across one's body in the direction of where the player wants to place the shot. For a right-handed player, the forehand is a stroke that begins on the right side of his body, continues across his body as contact is made with the ball, and ends on the left side of his body. It is considered the easiest shot to master, perhaps because it is the most natural stroke. Beginners and advanced players often have better forehands than any other shots and use it as a weapon.

Most forehands are hit with topspin because it is easy to generate topspin. On some occasions, such as an approach shot, a player can opt to hit it with Backspin.

Players with great forehands often build their main strategy around it. They set up a point until they have a good chance of striking a powerful forehand to win the point. A well-known tactic is to run around a ball on their backhand side in order to hit a forehand, called the inside-out forehand.

Grips

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Main article: Grip (tennis)

There are various grips for executing the forehand and their popularity has fluctuated over the years. The most important ones are the Continental, the Eastern, the Semi-Western, and the Western. For a number of years the small, apparently frail 1920s player Bill Johnston was considered by many to have had the best forehand of all time, a stroke that he hit shoulder-high using a western grip. Few top players used the western grip after the 1920s, but in the latter part of the 20th century, as shot-making techniques and equipment changed radically, the western forehand made a strong comeback and is now used by many modern players.

No matter which grip is used, most forehands are generally executed with one hand holding the racquet, but there have been fine players with two-handed forehands. In the 1940s and 50s the Ecuadorian/American player Pancho Segura used a two-handed forehand to devastating effect against larger, more powerful players. His frequent adversary and even greater player Jack Kramer has called it the single finest shot in the history of tennis. Many females and young players use the two-handed grips today.

Great forehands

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In his 1979 autobiography Jack Kramer, who had a great forehand himself, devotes a page to the best tennis strokes he had ever seen. He writes: "FOREHAND—Segura was best, then Perry, followed by Tilden and Vines (although I never saw Big Bill's till he was in his forties). Of the moderns, Năstase's forehand is a superb one, especially on the run."

The forehand has been used as a major weapon by many players for years. Amongst the male players, some of the notable players with great forehands:

• Bill Johnston, 1920s amateur
• Bill Tilden, 1920s and 1930s amateur and professional
• Ellsworth Vines, 1930s amateur and professional
• Jack Crawford, 1930s amateur
• Fred Perry, 1930s amateur and professional
• Jack Kramer, 1940s amateur and professional
• Pancho Segura, 1940s and '50s professional, first 2-handed forehand
• Björn Borg,
• Ivan Lendl
• Jim Courier
• Andy Roddick
• Pete Sampras
• Andre Agassi
• Carlos Moya
• Roger Federer
• Rafael Nadal
• Fernando González
• James Blake

And amongst the female players:

• May Sutton Bundy, 1900s amateur
• Helen Wills Moody, 1920s and 30s amateur,
• Dorothy Round, 1930s amateur,
• Jadwiga Jedrzejowska, 1930s amateur,
• Christine Truman, 1950s and 60s amateur,
• Sue Barker, 1970s professional,
• Martina Navratilova
• Steffi Graf
• Monica Seles
• Lindsay Davenport
• Kim Clijsters
• Serena Williams
• Maria Sharapova

Tennis shots

Forehand | Forehand | Forehand