Andy Murray is one of the top professionals in the world today, and tennis students should watch him playing to pick up tips on technique and tactics.
It is a good idea to involve your tennis coach or tennis friends to sit with you as you watch videos of replays of Murray’s games. Your coach and playing buddies will know your faults and will point out how Murray copes with the same situations.
In this blog we analyse Andy’s game and sees how he plays the game. In general Andy is a very smart player, and his game differs slightly to most of the other pro’s on the tour.
Forehand
Murray’s forehand is strong, and he regularly runs around his backhand on the higher balls to hit powerful forehands. In general as larger muscle groups are used the forehand allows to hit bigger shots in general.
Murray generally uses a semi-western grip and the knuckle is on bevel 4, this allows him to hit heavy spin as well as flatter penetrating shots.
Andy is quite defensive with his forehand and sometimes he does not flatten it out as much as he could.
Backhand
Andy has a terrific backhand and one of the best in the business, he can hit it with heavy topspin and he flattens it out for winners. It is this versatility that makes it so dangerous.
The technique is virtually flawless, his grip is good and Murray can turn quickly in a fast fluid movement. He hits the ball with great inside-out swing pattern using his whole body to generate power.
Slice
Defensively Murray is a good exponent of the slice, he also is adroit at mixing his slice shots to change the pace of a rally. He tends to hit the ball from left to right but many pro’s do this.
Volleys
When hitting forehand volleys, Murray keeps the racket head flat at point of contact and moves forward with the swing. He generates pace from this technique and can put opponents under pressure.
His backhand volley is more open, which is not as effective for the ball to go through the court which allows the opponent a chance to hit passing shots.
Serve
Andy’s serve is one of his most powerful shots, there is no stop of the racket and his whole body is fluid, using the turn of his shoulders more than his hips. This is called the separation angle and one of the skills great servers have.
Murray has great variety in his game and can cope with most opponents style of play. Without doubt he is a fine exponent of defensive play and is quite happy mixing up the pace of the game.
