Hit The Forehand Drop Shot Like Alcaraz

Carlos Alcaraz is not a stranger to anyone. Well, maybe if you don’t follow tennis he is. The young Spaniard is destined to be the future of the sport and will undoubtedly take over after Djokovic retires. He plays so explosively, ripping 100 mph forehands and chasing down every ball with his backhand. Even better, his net game is surreal. One moment he is hitting a forehand a meter behind the baseline, and the next thing you know, he is right on top of the net finishing the point with a crisp volley.

However, the shot that has surprised everyone the most is his drop shot, especially his forehand drop shot. Usually, he likes to hit it from the backhand side, which makes it even more special. Why? He likes to run around his backhand; he has one of the best forehands in the world, and players on the other side of the court are expecting a forehand blast. Very frequently, instead of going for the forehand winner, Carlos Alcaraz will pull out a forehand drop shot. Thus, in today’s article, we will be learning how to hit the drop shot and how to use it wisely just like Alcaraz.

Proper Technique

Before we get into how to hit this specific shot that Alcaraz likes to use, let's talk about some drop shot fundamentals. Whether it be a forehand drop shot or backhand drop shot, you have to go high to low; you have to create underspin. If you do this really well, you might even create backspin. What does that mean?

It means that when you hit a drop shot, the ball is not going to go through the court; it's going to have a tendency to stop. If you're practicing drop shots, I like you to imagine your drop shot bouncing at least four times before it crosses the service line. You know that you put a lot of underspin on that ball, and this is indeed a quality drop shot.

Also, you want to have a low trajectory over the net; you don't want to hit that thing too high and let it sit up because it's going to be easier for your opponent to get the ball. To do so, you have to hit the ball high to low. In essence, it's a technique that's very similar to a slice.

Backhand vs Forehand

The backhand drop shot is a lot easier to execute. In fact, most players have an easier time hitting a backhand drop shot compared to a forehand drop shot. Why might that be the case? We can keep the wrist in a more natural position on the backhand drop shot, while on the forehand, we do have to bend the wrist back in what I call the "L shape."

A lot of players at the recreational level don't have enough control in their wrist, and they let the wrist go, and now they lose their chances of hitting a successful drop shot or a slice or a volley for that matter. All those three strokes are biomechanically simpler to execute on the backhand side. What you have to remember is that when you attempt drop shots, you want to primarily do this from your backhand side.

No Feel?

In order for you to hit a drop shot with your forehand, you have to practice it a lot, and on top of that, you have to develop feel. What is feel? It's basically having the ability to hit the ball softly with your hand, having a loose hold of the racket, and absorbing the ball.

That is the primary difference between a slice and a drop shot. The swing path might be very similar; in some cases, it might be identical, but the difference lies in the fact that we are going to absorb the ball on the drop shot, and we are going to hit the ball on the slice.

To understand what I mean by absorption, you have to imagine the racket head giving in at the moment of contact with the ball. It's a feeling of the racket not going through the ball; it's going to go backward. In some cases, this is something that's easier to do when you attempt a drop shot volley. Even if you attempt a drop shot from the baseline, there has to be a lot of absorption, a lot of feel.

When it comes to any drop shot, it's also important that you hit the drop shot in a continental grip, and on top of that, you want to have the racket face slightly open. This is something that differs from a slice. On the slice, the racket face can be neutral, but on the drop shot, you do want to have the racket face slightly open because that's going to increase your ability to create backspin.

Proper Shot Selection

At the recreational level and also at the junior level, a drop shot is often a bailout shot when players are tired of the rally going on forever, and they hit a drop shot just so the point can end. Also, shot selection is sometimes a big problem regarding drop shots, where players use it in the wrong circumstance. Either they are in a defensive situation far behind the baseline, or of course, from back there, it's going to be very difficult to hit a quality drop shot.

Or they attempt to drop shot when their opponent is not in a defensive situation. You have to remember that the drop shot is perfectly used when your opponent is in distress, ideally far behind the baseline. Then the drop shot quality doesn't have to be that high, and you can convert the drop shot into a winner most of the time.

The Alcaraz Drop Shot

Let's talk about the specific shot that Alcaraz likes to use, which is an inside-out forehand drop shot hit from the backhand side of the court. Anytime you're hitting the ball inside out, but especially on a drop shot, what you have to imagine is that the angle of the racket face will be the determining factor in which direction your ball is going to go.

When we attempt to hit the ball inside out, we can't have the racket face be positioned parallel to the net; we have to angle the racket face slightly backward for the drop shot to go inside out. Generally, it's always better to hit your drop shots cross-court.

It is not wrong to hit your drop shots down the line by any means, but if you don't hit your drop shot well enough and you aim it down the line, it's going to be very easy for your opponent to run the ball down and put it away for a winner.

In your attempt, your drop just to go cross-court or inside out, you have the trajectory in your favor where even if the ball is not so short, it will still exit the court at a steeper trajectory. And here's why Alcaraz's forehand inside-out drop shot from the backhand side is so effective. When he runs around his backhand, the player is expecting a super aggressive forehand, and the drop shot is a very easy way to hit a winner.

Changing Lanes

This is what you have to understand when you run around your backhand. You have to be in a good position in the court, and you have to get there fast enough. If you decide to run around your backhand, it doesn't matter if you're attempting a drop shot or a forehand winner; if you get there too late and you're still moving to the side and attempting a drop shot, you will be completely off balance, and there's a high likelihood you're going to commit a mistake.

Keep in mind that court positioning is crucial when attempting drop shots from anywhere in a court, but especially from the backhand side. You want to be inside the baseline and ideally as close to the net as possible. The further away you are from the net, the more difficult the drop shot becomes.

The most important thing that you have to consider when practicing your drop shots is the speed of the incoming ball. When you attempt to hit a drop shot off a very soft and slow ball, this will naturally make your swing bigger; you won't be able to absorb the ball. So in whichever scenario you're practicing, make sure that the ball that you're drop shotting off has sufficient pace.

Final Thoughts

It is important to realize that a lot of recreational players don't have good feel. I certainly don’t have good feel, which is something I need to work on. Do not attempt to hit drop shots when you don't have feel. You have to develop feel first. There are many exercises that you can do to develop that so important soft and steady hand when hitting the ball.

Everything starts by bouncing the ball on the racket. While most people can accomplish that, it gets trickier when alternating the bounce on both sides of the racket. Then, try throwing the ball up in the air and catching it with your racket like if it were an egg. All of these exercises are a great way to improve your feel. If you don't have that and you attempt drop shots, you're going to make a mess out of them most of the time.