The reverse forehand finish is defence, not showmanship

The follow through that ends over the same shoulder looks flashy and is usually a player buying height on a ball they were late to.

The finish that ends up over the hitting shoulder instead of across the body gets described as flair, as a signature, as something a player does because they can. It is nothing of the sort. It is a solution to a specific problem, and once you know what the problem is you can see it coming a shot early.

The problem is a ball that is too high, too deep, or arriving before the player is set. A conventional forehand finishes across the body and slightly upward, which produces a drive with moderate spin and a low trajectory. That shot needs a comfortable contact point roughly between waist and chest and a bit of space. Take the space away and it stops working.

The reverse finish solves it by changing the direction of the racquet path. The head travels much more steeply upward and continues up rather than around, which produces a huge amount of topspin, a very high trajectory, and comparatively little forward pace. The ball goes up, comes down inside the baseline because of the spin, and lands deep. It buys the one thing a player in trouble actually needs, which is time to recover their position.

So the shot is a defensive lob with intent, disguised as a forehand. It is also the natural stroke for a ball taken above shoulder height, which is why it appears constantly on clay and against tall opponents hitting heavy, and rarely on grass where the ball never gets up there.

The cost is real, and this is where the flair framing does damage. A reverse finish gives up pace, and it puts the shoulder through a range of motion under load that a conventional swing does not. Juniors who copy the look because it appears on highlight packages end up using it on neutral balls they could have driven, turning attacking positions into defensive ones and quietly accumulating shoulder loading.

Watch what the player was doing two shots earlier rather than watching the swing. If they were pulled wide or jammed, the reverse finish is a good decision executed well.

If they were standing still and balanced, it is a bad habit with excellent camera angles.