Lleyton Hewitt Profile

By Peter Smith, Head Coach Next Generation Sports Complex  Memorial Drive, South Australia 

The Young Lleyton

Started coaching at 6 – very small, immaculately dressed, a quiet, shy, respectful young man.  As a pupil, the ultimate – always early and warmed up prior to the lesson. 

Amazingly attentive for one so young and obviously possessing considerable natural athletic ability. 

There were immediately hints of the now famous competitive spirit.  Lleyton demonstrated a unique capacity to see a direct link between what was happening on the coaching court and how he could use that to become a more successful tennis player. 

He had a hunger and an insatiable thirst for knowledge and skills.  He was never bored, never impatient, always prepared to grind away, striving for perfection in every aspect of the game. 

This kid had paranoia about tidiness and order – everything had to be in place – the bag, the racquets, even the direction of the shoelaces – nothing has changed, this relentless pursuit for perfection! 

For a year or two, Lleyton struggled in tournament competition due to his size and lack of physical strength – this was, however, a very temporary circumstance and very quickly he was winning tournaments a year or even two years out of his age group. 

He only knew one way to play ie 100% all the time – forced to finely tune every aspect of his game to counter his lack of size.  In this environment he became the ultimate competitor, the fighter!  He would allow nothing to get in the way of living out his dream; there was a destiny to be fulfilled. 

Even as a young player, Lleyton was never too fussed about dropping serve because he always felt that if his opponent could break him then that meant that he could always break back. 

Lleyton, with his characteristically very low stance (excellent balance and powerful initial movement) sees the ball amazingly early and has the ability to reach almost everything, punishing poorly placed serves and demonstrating an uncanny ability to somehow scrape back the majority of serves even from the biggest servers in the game. 

He’s particularly dangerous against serve and volleyers where he rarely fails to keep the ball low and more often than not low and wide. 

 

Technical 

It’s just so hard to find any weakness.  Each area of the game has been so soundly produced.  Areas that are considered to be relatively weak would be considered strengths in mostly any other players’ game. 

Serve: 

It has become something of an advantage that some coaches and opponents consider it to be a marginal weakness.  A characteristic starting position (straight arms) leads into a smooth, very soundly produced action.  Very rarely chokes. 

Really solid second serve – good spin, very accurate to the backhand, very consistent, suited to all surfaces, can be dangerous – not scared to have a go at hitting aces out wide – used to effect against Agassi in Adelaide as a 16 year old – Agassi said later (after one of the second serve aces) “I knew when I looked up I was looking at someone who had balls”. 

Because the second serve is so sound, Lleyton can afford to have a go at his first serve – is very capable of “popping” a high percentage of aces – good pace (165 kph to 185 kph) and extremely accurate  - accuracy has improved dramatically in recent times – now serves very close to the line. 

Forehand Ground stroke: 

Something of a barometer of Lleyton’s form.  Playing well, the forehand is not just very consistent but also very heavy and very accurate. 

This shot has become a genuine weapon as Lleyton can hit it regularly,  not just to both long corners but through both short corners as well – the angles created set up many winning opportunities. 

Lleyton’s forehand has a characteristically long, high back swing which allows him to generate great speed of the racquet head, resulting in considerable power and varying degrees of topspin. 

Although not used frequently, Lleyton has also developed a range of slice forehands which allow him to retrieve short, low balls and wide, deep balls as well as providing offensive drop shot options. 

Backhand Groundstroke: 

The classic double hander – fantastic preparation, early shoulder turn and terrific footwork – great knee bend to the low balls. 

Extraordinary accuracy can be hit with heavy topspin or flattened out and, contrary to some opinion is equally dangerous down the line. 

The slice backhand is often underrated – commentators rarely mention it. 

Three years ago in Brisbane during the Davis Cup tie against Russia, Kafelnikov came out on the third day with an obvious plan to “give Lleyton a lesson” by attacking him with slice to the backhand side.  The first really of the match set the scene with Lleyton returning every slice with his own slice and with interest – yet another match plan down the drain and Lleyton went on to win convincingly. 

Lleyton possesses great variation on the slice, he defends well from the baseline, chops low and wide when players come to net, fades the inside out one down the line and slides little lobs over the top. 

Volley: 

This is an area of Lleyton’s game that is grossly underrated.  There is a major difference between someone who can’t volley and someone who chooses to play primarily from the baseline. 

When Lleyton was 18 he got to the final of the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles with Kim Clijsters and at 19 won the US Open Men’s Doubles with Max Mirnyi – hardly the results of someone who can’t volley. 

Lleyton in fact has very sound stroke production off both sides, is very quick around the net and possesses excellent feel.  His soft hands allow him to volley with delicate angles and precision. 

Lleyton has also developed a forehand topspin drive volley from deep in the court, which he uses to advantage when he has opponents out of position. 

Smash: 

The forehand is also very sound both on the full and on the bounce. 

A feature of this shot is placement rather than power.  On occasions he can have a few problems with high defensive lobs that he chooses to play on the full when most players would be more conservative and play the ball after the bound. 

The backhand smash is also well-developed – quick movement back, good jump and can be played both down the line and with sharp angle across the court. 

Lob: 

Although Lleyton is thought to have the best lobs in world tennis, it is significant that he has refrained from overusing them and continues to lob only at the most opportune moment – often resulting in cold winners. 

Lleyton just has a great sense of timing for when to lob and he backs this up with great feel for both topspin and slice lobs. 

When put under extreme pressure on the baseline, plays the percentage and throws up controlled high defensive lobs. 

Return of Serve: 

Lleyton’s approach to this area of the game is relentless.  Surely there have been few players who have so purposefully gone about the business of trying to break every service game. 

Passing Shots: 

This area of his game deserves particular attention.  Many players struggle with their ground shots when put under pressure by their opponent approaching the net.  With Lleyton it is totally different – he loves a target – the spaces either side of the approaching player are hit with amazing regularity – the US Open Final against Pete Sampras was ample proof of the strength of this area. 

Perception: 

“Sees” the ball as early as any player – more time to make decisions, move and play. 

Generally underrated by opponents who focus their attention on speed as in fleetness of foot. 

Although Lleyton is very quick, closer scrutiny will reveal that having a “nose” for where the next ball is going to go, in many situations relieves the need to be running fast.

The Tennis Coach would like to thank Peter Smith for his help in offering this article.