Samantha Stosur (Heavy Forehand, Monster Kick Serve)

Samantha Stosur (STOE sir) (click on link for official site)

She is a powerful Australian doubles specialist who decided a few years ago to really start working on her singles game. Since then she has become Australia's great hope for another singles champion. She is a great all court player who really knows how to construct points using her serve and forehand. She is dangerous for any player to come up against.

Samantha is well known for her kick (topspin) serve. She doesn't hit it with a lot of pace, but she has a lot of action on it. Action is a term that means that the ball does something once it hits the ground. In this case, Samantha's kicker jumps very high in the air (especially on clay). Usually she hits this kick serve to the backhand of a right-handed player. The player TRIES to get the ball crosscourt to Stosur's backhand. But Stosur has usually set up for the big forehand.

What makes the serve nice is that Samantha has a serve and volley serve. She keeps her elbow up as she hits through the ball with a relaxed motion.



It is the same principle behind her big forehand. It is relaxed and has a whiplike motion. She also hits it with a western grip (the same grip Rafael Nadal uses to hit his topspin forehand). As you can see in this slowmo video, Sam's arm and wrist accelerate the racket through the ball at the last moment. It allows her to hit angles and deep shots so she can REALLY run her opponents around. Variety is the spice of life!



The biggest problem in her game is that she gets really fragile at the end of tournaments. Sam definitely has the talent to be number one in the world. She has certainly beaten the best. But for some reason she gets fragile towards the end of big tournaments. She could blow through the firsts rounds on to the finals and then starts to play horribly.

Let's Just Hit!!!

"Hitting" is an exercise that most players do to get their groundstroke game together. It consists of two people standing from baseline to baseline hitting the ball back and forth.



However hitting can ruin your game if overused.

Hitting for Practice

Hitting is a warm up. It is designed to teach you how to use a proper stroke, control the ball and have patience. You want to hit the ball in such a way that the other person can return the ball within two or three comfortable steps. When hitting with a partner, you should keep those things in mind and your game will elevate.

You also want to make sure that the person you are partnered with understands this as well. You really only need 6 balls. 3 for you, 3 for your partner. If your partner steps on the court with a bag, a ball basket, or loaded with 9 or 10 balls, please stop him/her. The less balls you use, the more you will encourage longer rallies (its also cheaper).

Too many times a partner misuses the drill to showcase their awesome inside out forehand or any other shot they want practice on. If that is the case, understand that, unless you are working on defense that day, you are not going to get any practice. If it happens too many times for me, I normally say "You obviously want to play out points. Lets play a set."

Hitting for a Match Warm Up

When you are warming up for a match, you cannot pick your hitting partner. All the same rules apply though. If the partner does not open a can of new balls for the warm up, you must insist they do. It is a very different experience having new balls. If you play that first game with newly opened balls after you warmed up with old ones. You might lose your serve right off the bat. Also this confirms that they actually DO have a fresh can of balls.

Just in case you are getting tired of reading. Here is a break:


Some people use the warmup to probe for weaknesses. If this is the case, fake a weakness. Hit a few good rally shots so you are sure. Then just miss the rest.

If the other person is just slapping balls to get a particular great shot together, do not chase the balls. Understand that you are not going to get to warm up and say politely "I'm ready for serves when you are." Try to jog in place a little to make sure you do warm up though.