(Young) Rafael Nadal - Slow Motion Forehand

[arianf710]

here you can see the contact point was more similar to that of the modern federer. nadal tends to hit the ball a bit further back now.

[Capdavil]

Wow this must be old, he's wearing shorts not man capris!

[gepallen]

I even know where this is.. Båstad, Sweden many many years ago, maybe even 7 years old..

[TheIKrushalot]

That windup seriously looks like verdasco's :S...i think that might be verdasco lol

[Ralzaly]

@TheIKrushalot nadal and verdasco have the same exact forehand technique the only difference is verdasco holds it a bit higher on the handle and nadals current forehand is just a little more evolved from this form

[NateDoq1]

nice editting (sorry if it is mispelled)

[chrism216]

wowowowowowwowow

SO DIFFERENT!

now i see why nadal is having trouble with players he never had any trouble with before!

his forehand windup has changed dramatically! he had a beautiful, long windup, nowadays its so short and cramped, almost like roddicks backhand!

[luckylatio77]

@GrandPatzer your actually wrong top players do change grips according to incoming balls and the way they want to take it

[ppsecurito]

It's probably not Rafa, because if you look the way the drive is, it isnt' the same technique. I got say the guy in video looks almost like Rafa.

Listen!! it's not Rafa!

[aznraiden]

@ppsecurito It is rafa. Go look up more vids when he was 18. He used to hit FLAT as crap like you see in this video. There's a video of him 17 against Hewitt somewhere on youtube. Look it up.

[CoDINmyHEART]

@ppsecurito it is rafa, the place is bastad, sweden ... i was there and he played like that :)

[SoRyYy007]

Federer style

[asdfuogh]

@GrandPatzer I thought Berasategui's grip was considered "Hawaiian" or whatever.. haha.

[jsheng319]

Umm, great tennis players already use multiple grips in their game. Yes, I do change grips depending on the oncoming shot. Do you think Nadal hits an overhead smash with a western grip? Please don't be dramatic. Nadal, is a 6-time grand slam champion (not 5) so he knows how to change the swing, racket path, etc when he uses a different grip. Look at Federer, he uses semi-western, continental and eastern at different points of a match.

[jsheng319]

He needs to go down to a semi-western forehand. He needs to flatten out his forehand way more and get deeper penetration rather than a high bounce.

[mysteriekiller]

Thats exactly it. He doesn't have to change grip though, he flattened out extremely well when he was younger. His forehand was huge back then. Now it's just defensive

[egarcia3434]

I think he was using the semi western during this video.

[TRTNino]

nadal uses a full western grip. he generates the fastest topspin known in the history of ATP Tennis with an astounding 3200 rpm. and nadal does hit this well in extreme situations, he shoots a bullet especially in the corners effortlessly.

[Kort32]

hes 23 now, so it means hes not young anymore? :P

[federerthaman12345]

haha that is in Båstad in Sweden! I live hear

[b0b0boy]

Yes semi-western for the win :). He masters the hit well but he needs to hit like this in extreme positions as well ---> on corners and so on...

[malcomino]

i hit like that,equal

[Snaurt]

I maintain it's semi-western, index knuckle and heel pad of palm resting on 4th beville. Aside from that, I agree with others that this was a more fluid action than he has now. Just shows you that fluidity isn't everything. Here his forehand looks more like Moya and Verdasco's

[lillfille99]

no it rafael nadal

[mckillustrator]

nice video. talk about a modern forehand

[Thealmostguy]

His strokes were so much better looking back then. Still that ugly monstrous stroke he uses now got him his sucess.

[Motherfunctional]

wtf mansu, i was randomly looking through videos and i saw your comment lolol.

and yes guys its western for sure, like seriously look at the swing motion and the contact on the ball. It's brushing much more than semi-western.

[Stewy30]

That is Nadal. Thats his uncle, and if you watch any other practice video or watch him in matches he goes across the body on some shots, especially power ones.

[hellosomedude2]

it is rafa idiot

[IllnezzBD]

and nadal uses a full western grip

[bankaimaniac]

dude thats totally rafa, like 15 to 16, he been thru a bit of technical changes....AND he doesnt use a semi, he uses a western but not a extreme. If u look closely in his slow mos, its western

[Snaurt]

Western IS extreme. So extreme that no one actually uses it. He uses a semi-western. It's his extreme wrist position that makes it look western.

[bankaimaniac]

ummm its western, his wrist position makes his grip look extreme. not a semi. there o need 4 an argument but thats wat i see.

[purgatory13z]

And after switching mainly to the "lasso, over the head" style for much of his career, he is starting to go back to the strokes he used to have when he was younger. This is incredible.

[gspdump]

the problem is he never gives up. recently, when he was injured, he played on like 2 more games wen his leg was dislocated (exaggeration but you know what i mean) in the end he played a set and retired

[gutilis]

Rafa's style

[bigtexvy]

his body is not going to last the way he plays tennis. You can't act as if every point is the last point played on earth like he does, his knees are screwed over.

[arranparry07]

Ditto.

[RafaeINadal]

it is Rafa trust me..the man walking by in the back is uncle Toni

[bluenigma]

I believe it's Rafa. His forehand use to be flatter at a younger age. And he doesn't always hit reverse forehands. furthermore, the follow through looks like his conventional forehand and he definitely uses his lower body.

[angusshep]

haha

why are some people questioning weather this is nadal or not?of course it is!

and also of course his swings would have changed abit,he was about 16 in that clip,now he is 22 or is it 23 now?

he has obviously made a huge improvement since his teen years!

[onoron]

well there are so many fake rafa videos on youtube

[10001shortvideos]

none of his tecnique says rafa. his legs are glued

[Eschutaz]

Nah, I doubt thats rafa, doesnt look like his forhand at all

[plmko187187]

well did you see the racket he was using? its WAY outdated. it had to be a while ago. his strokes had to have changed be now. and bluenigma says his forehands used to be flatter when he was younger

[willobillo0714]

that had somedin weird...like he would twist his wrist then back uhh hard to explain

[cjdawdj]

you can definitely tell he used to bring back his racket farther behind himself

[fanfinley94]

well well well thank you guys, vamos RAFAAAAAAAAAAA

[therealdrag0]

Word; pretty bad.

[Zoran91]

wow defs not rafa, anyone can tell..he doesnt hit with the same style, doesnt have the same footwork, and hes not even juiced up lol!

[megabouncer]

um defs is rafa, he had those strokes when he was 16, they changed up a bit as he got older

[jdmphh]

its that rafa.He dont shot like this

[magick001]

who the fuck is this fake low lvl bastard nick faking

[GodOfMedia]

Ha! I stole my forehand form from him.

[xItachix8]

yeh that's rafa and he usually doesn't follow through over his head on practice courts i would know seeing how i saw him at aus open 08

[Free411]

yea thats rafa...actually if u have seen all of rafa's old tapes alot of his strokes look completely different from now, like his serve now is diff from the serve he had before he became so famous, he actually had a loop take-back instead of bringing the racket straight back

[genesisofire000]

that's rafa...

i downloaded this clip years and years ago before he rose to the top.

there are also other versions of this practice session at different angles and different shots and its definitely him for sure.

Plus, look at the babolat, he used to use that PD.

[aunit64]

woah...rafa doesn't hit like this fag and is way more buff

[MrJaxxon]

Not Rafa? And not Toni in the first second?

[elBarre]

not rafa at all but i think that is a good forehand

[UnitedAbominations69]

lol sunhai fix ur english first before learning about tennis

[dagoebam]

that's rafa!

[marcoskaram]

It's not Rafa. Good forehand though

[ciquaN]

I agree its not Rafa..but nice forehand

[roro136]

of course it s him!!can t even understand why some people think it s not him...Aside from his racket staying below his head, it s the exact same forehand, footwork,...

[Hal5050]

Not saying it is, but might be verdasco. Or an old Nadal vid

[azndolboy]

sunhai0707, learn more about tennis before you comment on anything...

[GlobePwnage]

no, it's rafa. He doesn't always do that shot over his head.

[sulandus]

Backswing is HUUUUGE!!! Not good at all.

[HCNguyen86]

It's on clay.. not hardcourt.

[SCCoopz]

he looks about 12 in this video!! bless him, lil rafa

[dave5566]

his forehand looks kinda diff .. i think this mite ve been a long time ago

[j2hsieh]

thanx

[modeste88]

what year was that, nadal in shorts?

[txchou]

sorry, donno, at least < 2006: its not mine; I just wanted to see it in slow motion. See original: watch?v=I-1jHJ3-fAY

[lukebonstingl]

@txchou

are you sure 2006?- in 2006 his backswing was not as long as in this video!- i think it was earlier

[srae1971]

It's practice, he often wears regular shorts in practice.

[mmmmtennis]

thanks!