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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday August 9, 2023
After a productive week as a part of Coco Gauff’s team at Washington, D.C., legendary coach Brad Gilbert opens up about some of the details of his time with the rising 19-year-old talent.
First and foremost: there’s not a big retool going on with Gauff’s much maligned forehand.
“We haven’t changed anything with the forehand,” he said, in an interview with Greg Garber of the WTAtennis.com. “I never even say that word.”
Instead Gilbert, who is a “consultant” working alongside head coach Pere Riba, has focused his attention on helping Gauff make a few technical / tactical changes. She has moved her return position back and made an effort to be more aggressive behind her serve.
“She made some big changes on the fly last week that I implemented. It’s made a huge difference. She was making a ton of returns,” Gilbert said.
But, for now at least, the forehand is not a top priority for Gauff, who defeated Katie Boulter 6-2 6-2 in Montreal for her fifth consecutive win on the North American hard courts.
“It beats you up -- especially when everybody asks about the forehand all day long,” he said. “That starts to consume you. Also, it tears down other shots when all you can do is fixate on one thing. So I tend to not fixate on it at all,” Gilbert told Garber.
“I got hundreds of texts -- fix the forehand, fix the forehand. You don’t just go switch a grip, because then you have to change the arm position and do a lot of other things. I’m not doing that right now.
“I concentrate on the little things. It’s doing things she can control at the moment.”