This is an old stroke mechanism I've been using for 15 years, it's funny how you add a name to it and it becomes something new or that someone started 😂

Thanks Teacher Mario, your advise always are useful, greetings!

Great seeing you and your channel back online. Very helpful video 👍 Interesting to see the coaching evolution from your two 2013 videos called “the angle and after the angle” to the Next Gen “square FH”. Much of the swing mechanics were already demonstrated in those 2013 videos (on this channel). Good to watch them and do a compare and contrast exercise. The origins of the “pet the dog” come from a coach/poster way ahead of his time on the TennisWarehouse forum using the handle “BungaloBill” around 2006. He was legendary for his insights, knowledge and take no prisoners approach to debates that sprang up regularly, especially around stroke biomechanics, and especially the FH. We now see many coaches using/referring to this “pet the dog” analogy in their coaching, both online and on court. Kudos to BungalowBill!

Excellent info Mario Thank You!

Mario... You are a great coach.. I have no doubt... Congratulations

Aha! 3:03 - 3:08 shows exactly why Djokovic does this move. First freeze it at 3:07 to view the classic "pat the dog" and "lead with the flashlight" positions first presented in the modern forehand by Braden and then made mainstream by Macci. These are the non negotiables. "Pat the dog" guarantees no last millesecond adjustments in the wrist in order to get to square impact and "lead with the flashlight" guarantees an inside out motion which adds some linear motion to this big rotary engine and lengthens the hitting zone. Getting from the "square" position shown at 3:05 to the classic Braden/Macci position at 3:07 requires a noticeable inward rotation of the humerus which guarantees the maximum amount of what golfers call "lag" heading into impact. And more lag equals more stored energy heading into impact. The evolution never seems to stop even as the true fundamentals stay the same. Thanks for this video.

I like it. Thanks.

Thank you Mario for the video and the explanations. Since I saw that on your site and others I have tried to practice the concept of the "next Gen" Forehand and to do similar change in Backhand. If I get it right the main outcome of the style change is a Whip motion that give you much more spin and power - resulting in more aggressive Tennis. After some practice it pays and I love to see the changes ! :-). Some questions on the down sides of the technique are: 1st - reduced stability - I would like some tips on how to improve control on this style (beside practice); 2nd - how to handle hard balls where quicker and shorter preparation is beneficial (like serve returns etc.); 3rd - how to improve versatility and disguise - with flat, slice and drop shots with this style; 4th - last but not least - the physical pressure on the hand joint is increased no doubts on including shoulder, elbow and wrist - while it is understood that the responsibility choosing this style more and not risking yourself is on the player - or at least on the direct coach - you may want to provide some fitness drills to support that by strengthening the muscles and how to help people keep the motion within the reasonable limits and avoid "over hitting" that may increase the risk; Thank you again for the great video and in advance for your response Omri

This forehand technique gives a LOT of easy power and natural spin... just don’t be late with that take back

Cool tips

Sock, Kyrgios, Kokinakkis (just to mention) and "old" Thiem Next gen forehands are/were the "test and error" though work well (not always) for them nevertheless the state of the art next gen forehand (less extreme, less upper body drama, the most ductile) is Jannick Sinner´s like you excellently explain in another video.

@Ritennis Mario: in all humility, your explanation about next Gen technique is very good but Djokovic actually uses the traditional modern FH technique as his contemporary (Federer, Nadal and others) since he still does the looping/coil and drop the racquet's head next to his body before hitting the ball as opposed to Thiem, Zverev, Sinner, Tsisipas etc who do the hands inverting motion instead of looping and use their left hands to time the ball. Djokovic quasi western grip and elbow lifting that makes his movement look like next Gen technique IMHO 🙏.

Wow, crazy how much the technique has changed from what I learned as a kid.

Thiem doesn't use that forehand anymore. He has shortened his take back and his racket is now more vertical like Federer. Nice to see you making videos again. I've watched your videos for years and they're great. Thanks

I think this “square forehand” is a result of the players with western grip to return to semieastern or even easten to have more pover without loosing spin.

What is the grip? Perhaps I missed it. Not sure

nole's is different than Thiem forehand's, the mechanism. What you think about it?

haha, Mario, of course, it's not just Djokovic and others who use that shot...Eric :) does too! (of course you know)...I call it rainbows too...girls love that. btw, Brian Gordon is the biomechanics who did the analysis for Rick Macci. Brian and I were trying to do some research together like 9 years ago when it first came out (the flip, pat the dog, etc).

Can we do next gen forehand with eastern grip?

I thought it was more of a flip than patting. Isn’t that where the extra racquet head acceleration come from??

What about grip style ? No matter ?

So why this is good

“ Pet the dog “is from Rick Macci ‘s explanation of the modern forehand .

Obviously this is old but they all end up that position so idk what your point was with this switch other than riding the bandwagon

I mentioned the different types of forehands after hitting today but I could not accurately describe this forehand. It looks like my partner's coach was trying to teach him this from what he described when we started. I started playing in the 1970s with a classical forehand and migrated to the modern forehand about a decade ago. It took quite a while to make the transition. I don't think that I'm going to migrate to this forehand though - changing strokes takes such a large investment in time.

Are you sure about Novak?!

Tried it but it feals unnatural for me. I started playing in 1982 at 7yo so this maybe explains my struggle🤔. And watching tennis today is not fun at all anymore. Miss the guys as Sampras, Edberg, Forget, Leconte, Rafter, Stich etc. Very stylish and distinctive players. Luckily Federer is still around😊

That way of hitting the FH is because of the Western grip. I don't recommend that technique for us recreational players.

But Thiem has been changing a lot of his forehand in these 2 years , turn to not that “modern” any more.

Fed pets the dog better than the rest of the bunch. I am not sure if other guys even pet the dog as it is meant to be...

Pal, djokovic does not have a next gen forehand LOL

Well who calls it the "Next Gen Fh" and why call it the Square Fh when it's been around over a decade and already has a name?

I PREFER THE MODERN FOREHAND AND CLASSIC ONE.. IT IS SAD TENNIS IS BECOMING A LOST ART. POWER, SPIN, POWER, POWER, POWER, POWER.... DUH....😲😲😲😲😲😲😯😯😯 SORRY FOR THE RANT.....