Serena Williams recently revealed how she came to have one of the most devastating forehands in the history of the WTA Tour.
Williams spent much of her career in front of the cameras, so there is very little we don't know about her life. Of course, there are plenty of details we don't know about her life, but generally, fans have had full access to her life on the tennis ocurt since she was a teenager.
She is the best player of all time who earned every single accolade she's gotten in her life. Still, her documentary, 'In the Arena: Serena Williams' is a fascinating watch for not just her fans but also any tennis or sports fans.
There are many fascinating stories, especially when put into the context of how her career shaped up. One of those stories involves skateboarding.
Williams attributes her deadly forehand to a skateboarding accident early on in her tennis career. She's convinced that it played a massive part in why she developed such a weapon, which was at the center of many of her trophy wins.
In the documentary, Serena spoke with her sister, Venus, about how it all happened.
"All my dreams weren't on the tennis court. I learned guitar and started listening to Green Day. I became a low-key punk rocker because I loved Bad Religion and Rancid. Back then I loved to skateboard. That's how I got a good forehand."
"One day I was at school and I didn't want to be there so I just took my skateboard out and I went skateboarding in the neighborhood and fell and hurt my wrist really bad. I never told my dad."
So, how does a hurt wrist contribute to her developing a killer forehand? It prevented her from working on her backhand. Because of the pain, she couldn't hit any backhands, so she worked on her forehand, and it turned out amazing because she started to hit it incredibly well.
"I couldn't really hit backhands, so I was like I want to work on my forehand today, I want my forehand to get better."
"We remember her forehand getting much bigger after that. I thought maybe I should have fallen."
It's a fascinating story, but it's not the first time an athlete has developed a skill due to injury. We've heard about these stories from other athletes as well. Williams generally wasn't the power hitter she turned out to be later in her career because she was undersized and underpowered.
She initially mostly played drop shots and lobs, which is really funny given what we know about her now.
"For me it was always about Venus and Serena. She was the phenom. My whole game was hitting lobs and drop shots. It's nothing like my game today. I just wasn't strong enough."
"So I would hit lobs and then I'd wait and I'd move my feet really good and I would hit drop shots. My matches would be, like, two hours."
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