JJ Wolf & James Duckworth - Citi Open, Washington, DC 2022 Practice [4k 60fps HDR]

[@tenniskid]

Love the dancing footwork!

[@MinisterMindset369]

From a technical perspective and given today’s game it’s impressive that someone with his forehand and slice have amounted such success. Must be his other assets that play a major role in his victories. Suffice it to say that it is a breath of fresh air to see a “different” kind of player mechanics result as such. His backhand is sturdy, a la your typical continental/Eastern 2HBH. Looks like he has an eastern-almost continental forehand. His slice is reminiscent of Rafa’s; not a full 90° take-back like The Fed. That could be improved. All-in-all I like his power game and retro style. The name helps too. WOLF!!

[@codeinememeing2916]

To be fair. His forehand looked a lot different even just a few years ago

[@coquillage8211]

His forehand isn't a liability in his game. I don't think it's too surprising to see a forehand like that in today's atp tour. Straight arm at impact, very eastern grip, lots of shoulder/pectoral strength involved in the swing. It reminds me of Del Potro's forehand. (his forehand wasn't too bad lol) Other modern players with an eastern grip include : Verdasco, Federer, Gonzalez, Tsitsipas

[@huynguyentien1504]

Watching him as of late, I can definitely say that his ground strokes are not the problem, especially his forehand. It’s actually a freaking weapon, which really reminds me of Del Potro’s forehand. He is a decent baseliner, but his net game is kinda mediocre and he lacks variety, which means that anyone who can neutralize his aggressive baseline game will be a big trouble for him. A very clear example of this is his recent match vs FAA in Florence.

[@jaysherman4149]

Assuming we're talking about Wolf, he has a great forehand. It's his biggest weapon.

[@danwalsh3755]

You don't like his slice or his forehand. Lets see you do better? His forehand is his weapon and his slice is rock solid. What are you smoking to conclude that he lacks a full takeback? He's going to be timing different balls based on what type of shot his opponent is giving him. All high level players do this. He's very good at it.

[@atlas4080]

Rune match was legendary. You finished him.

[@Patrick-rz9jn]

it almost looks like and old school continental forehand (at least when I pause on the take back/lag position. Very interesting!!!

[@randomboris]

I wonder if he actually uses a continental grip?

[@Patrick-rz9jn]

@@randomboris to answer that I don't think so. It would be very hard to get good spin on a ball like the one he's hitting. I looked closer on his preparation/unit turn and when his elbow is at a 90 degree angle you can see its a little more eastern I believe

[@randomboris]

@@Patrick-rz9jn Thought so.. I doubt anyone uses a continental forehand these days.

[@Patrick-rz9jn]

@@randomboris there's a very exclusive group of them haha, but it is even uncommon to see grips close to the continental like the eastern grip now due to the spin heavy style that has taken over

[@randomboris]

@@Patrick-rz9jn Yeah. I'm glad that it works for J.J. Very talented player. I love his offensive play style.

[@buyastyle]

Duckworth's forehand back swing reminds me to Delpo 🇦🇷

[@zeddeka]

Wolf's forehand looks almost like Hana Mandlikova's, the way he sort of slaps at the ball. Definitely something from a different era. Very old style grip. His backhand is a little reminiscent of Andre Agassi.

[@ToiletTennis]

JJ has such a straight arm forehand it's awesome

[@kennyg5678]

It looks like Gasquet’s forehand

[@ryanmatthew9241]

@@kennyg5678 why would you ever compare anybody’s forehand to Gasquets 💀💀

[@growlsjean2038]

@@ryanmatthew9241 i think cuz of the big takeback. Same here. When I first saw JJ Wolf's forehand, it reminded me of Gasquet's

[@Foolwithouthumility]

@@ryanmatthew9241lol true and rude

[@FLAC2023]

JJ Wolf is an amazing player...I can't believe he has had bad luck to lose some tight matches always in the end by literally few millimeters...

[@briggsolis3627]

His forehand is like the amalgamation of gasquet's and del potro's forehand

[@SpiritDonkey]

Great ball striking

[@rtpwyk]

Bring back the mullet!

[@backhand4]

nicest back side on tour

[@zeddeka]

I think he knows it too. There's a video of him here on KZbin talking about it and saying "If you do the squats, you gotta show it off".

[@JayYeasmin]

JJ Wolf looks and shot style reminds me of a junior lol

[@LTBlightthebeam]

WTA forehand?

[@abujabi]

@@LTBlightthebeam what are you talking about? guy hits with an eastern grip, you never see that with kids or women.

[@SpiritDonkey]

I’ve never heard something so silly

[@TRASHoftheTITANS]

@@abujabi When people talk about a "WTA forehand", they're usually referring to a long backswing where the racquet ends up behind the body. This is commonly used by juniors and female players, as it helps to generate power, but less common in high-level males who typically keep the racquet on the dominant side of their body during the backswing phase (I.e the "ATP forehand"). Unfortunately it is often used in a derogatory manner, and I blame all the tennis coaches who bleat on about how much better the ATP style is. It's simply not true, as is evidenced by the fact that Gonzalez and Söderling famously had excellent "WTA" forehands.

[@ruggierojerolli]

Woow continental grip for forehand nowadays!! And applies topspin!! How does he achieve that?. Huge backswing. Must bring him some troubles.

[@calvinfong8888]

It’s a semi western but yea, pretty extreme

[@willordortanez3052]

@@calvinfong8888 its actually a high eastern grip

[@carelngounoue2008]

@@calvinfong8888 u can't possibly look at that forehand and say that is a semi-western grip

[@carelngounoue2008]

He must have insane arm and wrist flexibility. But either way, it's almost impossible to hit with a continental grip nowadays and produce that much topspin. JJ uses an eastern forehand grip, but it is a very traditional eastern grip like the one people used decades ago. But definitely not a continental grip.

[@calvinfong8888]

@@carelngounoue2008 honestly im probably wrong

[@blitshawnharney7144]

is he using the wta forehand?

[@SawyerQuinn]

Definitely not. opposite I'd say. Most WTA players have western/semi-western grips, very bent arms and they take the racket back much further than JJ. He has an Eastern grip, straight arm, and a take back that is a bit long for the ATP, but still shorter than most of the WTA players.

[@yakzivz1104]

@@SawyerQuinn that racket head is pretty far back though and it does break the plane.

[@trex1448]

You don't know what a wta forehand is...

[@Cynnik911]

Eastern grip? interesting

[@Se-ik]

Nice backhands

[@styleniko4339]

JJ has the best bum on tour!

[@leokovacic707]

Wtf if that backswing?

[@Creees]

America and Australia surely do love two hand backhand. Unhealthy bias