Roger Federer and the Evolution of |
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His forehand just looks different than the other top players. But why and how?
Based on the analysis of hundreds of pro forehands filmed in high speed video, this series of articles developed a framework for understanding the core elements in the modern forehand, and also the technical variations across the grip styles. Then Roger Federer emerged as the world’s dominant player, and started hitting forehands that looked different than any of the other players we have studied. Everyone loves watching him, for obvious reasons. His forehand is one of the biggest shots in the game, and also one of the most beautiful. It’s explosive, fluid, and effortless. You can almost see his racket head jump to warp speed on the forward swing. At the same time it looks so natural and relaxed. Then there is the amazing variety. He can hit flat laser beams, heavy loopers, and everything in between. He’s very natural with either an open or a neutral stance. He can play the ball on the rise, he can break off incredible short angles. He can also play higher balls from deeper in the court like Roddick or Hewitt. If you want proof of the flexibility and variety in his forehand, all you have to do is look at the range of his finishes. He can look like Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Gustavo Kuerten or Andy Roddick. And sometimes that’s in the same rally. How can this be possible? How does he do it? What can we learn from him? What can we emulate? Is it a good idea to even try? The only way to answer these questions is to look in detail at this phenomenal shot and all its variations.
A logical question to ask is: How does his forehand fit into the previous analytic picture we developed? The short answer is that it doesn’t. It breaks the paradigm. When I started trying to break down the shot, I couldn’t reconcile the things Federer appeared to be doing with what I thought I knew about the modern forehand. It proved to be far more complex than the forehands of the other great players. Some things he did seemed classical. But other things seemed extreme. Gradually it dawned on me that what made his forehand different was that he was doing things like both the classical and the extreme players, sometimes at the same time. Classical? Extreme? Both? Or something more?
The more I looked the more amazed I was at the variety of technical combinations he could produce. I began to see that his forehand synthesized elements from technical styles that previously seemed completely incompatible. It was something legitimately new and different in the pro game. I don’t think it’s going too far to claim that Federer is taking the technical evolution of the forehand to a new level. Why? Because Federer has found a way to combine the velocity associated the classical style, with the heavy spin associated with the extreme styles. And to create virtually any variation in between. The more I looked the more amazed I was at the variety of technical combinations he could produce. I began to see that his forehand synthesized elements from technical styles that previously seemed completely incompatible. It was something legitimately new and different in the pro game. I don’t think it’s going too far to claim that Federer is taking the technical evolution of the forehand to a new level. Why? Because Federer has found a way to combine the velocity associated the classical style, with the heavy spin associated with the extreme styles. And to create virtually any variation in between. So what are the classic and extreme component’s in this new synthesis that Federer can use in so man ways? His forehand is classic in the sense that he has a conservative grip structure, somewhere between a modern eastern and a mild semi-western. (If this seems surprising, more on his exact grip below.) This grip makes it possible for him to hit on the rise, and also to step into the ball and hit effortlessly with a neutral stance and a vertical finish. But his forehand is also extreme. It incorporates the patterns of extreme torso rotation and extreme hand and arm rotation associated with the underneath grip styles. This means heavy spin, the finish on the left side, and the rotation of the right rear shoulder. Double bend, straight, or in between. Any hitting arm position on any ball.
But in addition to all this, Federer’s forehand also contains something that I hadn’t seen in either the classic or extreme players, at least in the players I had looked at closely in the other articles. This was a wide variety of hitting arm positions. On some balls, Federer used a traditional double bend hitting arm position. But on many others his hitting arm was completely straight from the shoulder to the wrist. And on others still, he was somewhere in between, with the arm partially but not fully straightened out. To me the straight arm position seemed new—although I have subsequently found examples in other players like Mark Philippoussis and Paradorn Schriciphan. But what I haven’t seen before or since is three hitting arm variations in the same stroke. So the video showed that Federer varied his hitting arm position from ball to ball. Furthermore, it showed that he mixed the different hitting arm positions freely in every possible combination with the other elements in the stroke, including various degrees of torso and hand and arm rotation. His forehand had the advantages of both the classical and extreme styles, without the limitations of either. It was the best of all worlds--the ability to do almost anything with the tennis ball from almost anywhere on the court.
It all made me think of something Nick Saviano wrote in his book Maximum Tennis, although the full significance of it didn’t register with me at the time. Nick wrote that the champions of the next generation never look like the champions who preceded them. (Click here.) Federer is the living proof. Despite everything we as coaches learn and try to impart, the game continues to evolve mainly through the intuitive genius of the players themselves. So let’s start by going through and looking at the various components of his forehand individually: the classic elements, the extreme elements, and the different hitting arm positions. We’ll also look at how Federer combines them to create a bewildering variety of looks and shot options. I hope you’ll find that this process takes us a long way toward a new understanding of the modern forehand, but at the end we’ll also leave a few questions open or only partially answered, as the basis for further investigation and/or speculation. Grip Structure
It’s common to hear teaching pros and commentators start their analysis of Roger’s forehand by referring to his “semi-western” grip. It’s a logical inference, since Federer clearly does things like semi-western players like Agassi or even Kuerten and Roddick. It’s logical, but it’s not accurate. The high speed video clearly shows that Federer has a very conservative grip structure. Among modern players, Roger’s grip is actually probably closest to that of the great Pete Sampras. However, it’s not identical to Sampras on all points. It is also partially shifted in direction of the mild semi-western of Andre Agassi. Since Federer’s grip has been so misunderstood, let’s take this chance to look at the whole complex issue of grips more systematically. The tennis racket handle actually has 8 bevels. Count the top bevel as number 1, and then count by moving clockwise or to the right. Bevel 3 is the third one down from the top. That’s the one lined up with the face of the racket. Pete’s heel pad is on that bevel. Pete’s index knuckle is also lined up on this same bevel. That’s what makes it an eastern grip—as much of his hand as possible is lined up with the bevel 3 and therefore lined up with the racket face. Like Pete, the heel pad of Federer’s racket hand is in line with bevel 3. Unlike Pete, Federer holds the racket near the end of the frame so that his hand is partially off the grip, but this is still how his heel pad is aligned in relation to the frame. The difference is that Federer’s index knuckle is shifted downward toward bevel 4. That’s the next bevel down toward the bottom of the frame. To understand what this shift means, let’s compare Pete and Federer to Agassi.
Andre has his heel pad on the same bevel--bevel 3--as Pete and Roger, but he shifts his index knuckle downward one full bevel, so that it is centered on bevel 4. Federer shifts his knuckle toward bevel 4 but his knuckle isn’t actually on the bevel like Agassi. Roger’s index knuckle appears to be just at the top edge of bevel 4. It’s definitely not resting on the bevel itself, but it’s definitely shifted down from the Sampras position. The conservative grip makes hitting the ball early more natural.
The bottom line is that this downward shift seems to puts his grip halfway between Pete to Andre, or probably a little less. And let’s remember that Agassi’s grip is also pretty conservative in the modern game compared to Roddick or Hewitt. This grip structure gives Roger the ability to do some of the things he does. To hit through the ball so effortlessly. To take the ball on the rise. To step in and hit with a neutral stance. To hit compact, relatively flat returns. All the things we associate with classical style. But Roger combines this conservative grip with more extreme technical elements that allow him to do the same things we normally associate with a semi-western or even western style. These are the rotation of the torso and the rotation of the hand and arm. These factors probably contribute to his overall racket head speed. They are also what allow him to hit “windshield wiper” spins and angles where his racket hand eventually ends up near his left hip. They account for his amazing variety and ability to vary spin, angle and pace from ball to ball, including balls hit from almost identical locations in the court. Two extreme factors: shoulder and hand and arm rotation.
The Head: What Does It Mean?
Federer head is still turning during the forward swing.
Hewitt holds his still head position for only a fraction of a second.
When I first saw this, I assumed that Federer had to be the only one who did this, and it must be because of his extreme sideways head position. I was sure that other top players established a still head position much sooner than. Guess what? That’s not exactly what the video shows. Although everyone I looked did appear to be still at the moment of contact, all their head positions were a little different. Some of them got to that still position substantially sooner than others, and others were moving just before contact like Roger. Agassi’s head tilt during the forward swing.
Roddick and Safin, on the other hand, both get their heads still much earlier than Federer or Agassi. Their timing was more like I imagined. Both get their heads stil before or just at the start of the forward swing. However, both Roddick and Safin turn their heads far less to the side than Federer or even Agassi. Whereas Roger’s head is more or less 90 degrees to the sideline, Safin and Roddick are more like half that, about 45 degrees to the sideline at contact.
What about after the hit? Again, I couldn’t find a consistent pattern. Federer keeps his head virtually immovable for around 1/10th of a second after the hit—way longer than anyone else. That’s a long time when it only takes a second for the balls to travel between the rackets. Hewitt doesn’t keep his head still after contact at all. He begins turning it immediately to follow the ball. Safin does the same thing—he turns instantly. Agassi keeps his head still in that cocked position for about half as long as Federer. Sometimes Roddick keeps his head still for almost as long as Roger, but other times, he turns right after the hit. The one thing we can say is that everyone’s head seems still right at the hit. But the actual head positions at the hit vary, as does the timing of establishing the head position, as does the duration. And here is one more observation. As great as Federer is, he probably gets more miss hits than any other top player I’ve ever filmed, especially on the forehand side. Is it possible this is related to how far he turns his head during the swing? Maybe Federer would be even better with less movement and/or a less extreme head position. On the other hand, miss hits and all, Federer’s forehand is still probably better than any forehand in the game. Maybe the unique head position is one reason.
Preparation Fortunately, I had more success understanding most of the other elements in his motion, starting with his preparation. Basic preparation is one thing that he definitely shares in common with the other top players. (Click here to see these same elements traced across the grip styles.) Like the other players we’ve looked at, Federer begins his preparation with a compact unit turn. His feet and shoulders start the motion by turning sideways, and there is little independent movement with the hands or racket. As we saw, the unit turn completes about half of the torso rotation in the backswing, rotating the shoulders until they are about 45 degrees to the net.
Completion of the Turn The completion of the turn is also virtually identical to the other top players. Roger straightens his left arm and extends it across his body, until it points at the sideline, roughly parallel to the baseline and titled up at a slight angle. His shoulders are turned somewhat past perpendicular to the net, and his chin is turned over his shoulder, looking toward the on coming ball. These are the classic pro forehand preparation checkpoints. Backswing
When we looked at the pro backswings we saw that they were tremendously varied and complex. We found 4 factors to look at in assessing the differences. (Click here.) Applying these to Federer we can see that in most respects his backswing is very compact—as compact and possibly more compact than any top player. In one dimension, however, his backswing is actually one of the largest, if not the largest, of any player we’ve looked at. Like most players, Roger keeps both hands on the racket during the unit turn. This continues as he starts his backswing. Like Roddick, Safin, or Guga, Federer’s backswing has an inverted racket motion, meaning he turns the racket over from top to bottom in the early phases of the backswing. His racket begins on edge and is pointing basically forward in the ready position. But as the unit turn progresses and Federer begins to raise his hands, he rotates the top edge of the frame downward about 90 degrees. At this point it almost appears that he is going to show the face of his racket to his opponent. As his hands start to separate, the racket face continues to turn over, until the top edge of the racket has rotated another 90 degrees or so. This means the top edge of the racket, which was pointing upward in the ready position, now points down. The racket is basically on edge and perpendicular to the court, just upside down from where it started. Again this is similar to what we saw with Guga and Safin. Size of Backswing In the backswing article we found that the 4 factors defining the size of the motion were: (1) the height of the racket hand, (2) the height of the racket tip, (3) the side to side motion of the racket out to the player’s right and then back to the left, and (4) the movement of the racket backwards away from the player. On the first 3 points, Federer is probably more compact than any player in the modern game. He reaches the top of the backswing with the lowest hand position in the game. The top of his hand is at about shoulder level, much lower than Roddick or Hewitt, and even lower than Agassi. The only player who may be as low is Tommy Haas. The height of his racket tip is also quite low. The tip is tilted forward toward the oppnent, making the tip height lower than any player but Roddick, who literally points the tip straight ahead with the shaft parallel to the court surface. Because he keeps both arms bent and relatively close to his torso as he takes the racket up, Federer has very little side to side movement, about the same as Guga with a similar inverted motion. This is in contrast to players such as Agassi and Tommy Haas who take the racket noticeably out to their right at the start of the motion, and then have to bring it back to the left toward the torso. Closed Racket Face
But as Federer continues to take the racket backward and then downward, his motion begins to look different. His racket moves back further away from his body than virtually all the other players. As he does this, he straightens his arm out, and he keeps it straighter much longer than anyone else we’ve studied. Most all of top players close the face of the racket at least somewhat as the racket starts down. Some players such as Roddick and Tommy Haas close the face until it is literally parallel with the surface of the court. Federer does this as well. But a lot of confusion has arisen over the years over the significance of this closed face position. In the case of other top players we have found that the angle of the face never remains fully closed when the racket reaches the bottom of the backswing. The angle has to change so that the player can establish the double bend hitting arm position before racket starts to move forward to the ball. In fact, we saw that as the racket started forward, the amount that the racket face was still closed was a direct function of the grip, not the backswing. The Hitting Arm Position(s)
So is it the same for Federer? No, it’s significantly different. Basically everyone else we have looked at to date has one basic hitting arm position. Federer has three. There are times when he finds the double bend position, with the elbow tucked in toward is side, and the wrist moderately laid back. When he does this, he can looks quite similar to the classical players. But there are other times when his hitting arm is completely straight at the elbow. When he does this, the other component in the arm position, the laid back wrist, increases substantially. And sometimes, he seems to be somewhere in between the two positions. Understanding that Federer sometimes hits with his arm completely straight helps us make sense of his backswing. We saw that he straightened his arm out more as the racket moved back, and kept it that way longer than other players. Why? Because this gives him the option of keeping it straight on the foreswing. He can either stay in the straight arm position, or let it fall into the double bend at the last moment—or choose a position between. If he let the elbow fall in all the way any sooner, he wouldn’t have the same options. You can amuse yourself by going through all the forehands in the Stroke Archive and counting the incidents of each variation. Basically I found in the high speed footage it was about evenly divided, about one third of each variation, or something close to that. It would be great to say what the purpose and/or advantages of each of the three position. But it’s not that simple. I also found that the various hitting arm positions could all be mixed with different levels of body rotation and different levels of hand and arm rotation.
This is what makes his forehand so complex, confusing, and probably, so effective. It’s very difficult to isolate the exact effect of the hitting arm on a given shot because the same hitting arm position can be combined with a different pattern of shoulder or a different pattern hand and arm rotation on a different or even a very similar ball. Let’s look at the double bend arm position first. When Federer uses it, we can see that at contact he can look almost classical—elbow in and wrist laid back, although there is a difference in the torso position at contact as we’ll see below. After contact he can continue on to a classical finish as well, with the racket staying more or less or edge and crossing the body to reach eye level. Basically you can see this combination from almost anywhere in the court, and also, more commonly on his forehand returns.
But Federer also routinely produces a range of very different finishes from the same double bend hitting arm position. It’s actually far more common for him to combine the double bend position with some degree of hand and arm rotation as we will see below. And all of these options can also be combined with various amounts of body rotation as we will also see. Straight Hitting Arm At the other extreme, we frequently see Federer hitting with the hitting arm completely straight from shoulder to wrist.. Instead of tucking the elbow in, Federer straightens it completely out. Instead of a moderate wrist position, he lays it back a full 90 degrees and sometimes it appears, even slightly further. When does he use the straight hitting arm? Most typically when he is hitting the ball inside out or inside in. Federer tends to use this straight arm position on inside balls and when he appears to be really going for it—and also when the ball is higher and he is off the court in the air. But you can also see the same thing on some balls in the center of the court. You’ll even see it on short balls.
This change in the hitting arm position has a dramatic impact on the shape of the swing. First it moves his contact much further in front of his body. Second, when he straightens out the hitting arm, he appears to hit much more through the line of the shot. You can see this very clearly in the animations. There is a characteristic position he often reaches where the arm and racket form nearly a straight line and point almost directly in the path of the ball. In teaching we commonly use the phrase “hitting through the ball” or “hitting through the line of the shot” to indicate that the racket path is moving for a longer period along the intended path of the shot, or at least moving for a longer period closer to that path. In reality, the racket never moves in a straight line, but is always moving on a curve. It moves outward from the body on a curve from the player;s left to right on the way out to the contact. After contact the curve moves back from right to left on the way to the finish. (More on this in future articles in the BioMechanics section.) “Hitting through the ball” is a powerful teaching key, but what it really means is that this curve is flatter or less severe, so the path of the racket and the ball are closer for a longer period. When Federer straightens out his hitting arm, the arc of his swing appears to curve much less to the left after the hit than other top players. The movement of the racket across the body happens later or more gradually than with the traditional double bend hitting arm position. Again, the arm and racket can actually form something close to a straight line, pointing in the direction of the shot.
In addition to the bend at the elbow, we know that the other critical component in the hitting arm position is the angle of the wrist. We have seen that for the other players we’ve looked at, the elbow is bent and the wrist is laid back 60 to 90 degrees, depending on the grip. With Federer’s grip his wrist lay back with the double bend is at the lower end of this scale, which is what you’d expect with a conservative grip. But when he eliminates the bend at the elbow and straightens out his arm, the angle of his wrist lay back increases significantly. If you look at the side view, you can see that it appear to be 90 degrees or even a little more on some balls with the arm fully straightened at the elbow. He can also maintain this extreme position for an extended period after contact. As with the double bend, it’s impossible to correlate this hitting arm position to either a characteristic finish, or a specific level of torso rotation. (Believe me because I learned this the hard way.) Sometimes Federer comes through with the racket close to vertical like a classic eastern. But he can also hit through the ball with the straight arm and still turn the hand completely over at the finish. Sometimes this hand rotation happens with the racket extended significantly outward from the torso. But on others, he breaks the swing off as sharply or almost as sharply as he does from the double bend position.
On some balls we see Federer using a classic hitting arm position, and on others the extreme straight arm position. On other balls he can also be between these extremes, with the arm partially straightened out. And, once again, this can be paired with the entire range of shoulder and hand and arm rotation. You’ll also see him change arm positions literally from one shot to the next. And this is on similar incoming balls that he hits from nearly identical spots on the court. Watch the animation The first ball is hit with a double bend, a neutral stance, which we would consider classical elements. But they are paired with extreme shoulder and hand and arm rotation. The second ball is hit open stance with a straight hitting arm, but far less body rotation, and a classical finish.
Torso Rotation In our previous analysis, (Click Here) we saw a direct correlation between grip style and torso rotation. In general the more extreme the grip, the more torso rotation. A player like Sampras rotated about 90 degrees or a little more on the forward swing, with the shoulders normally finishing something like parallel to the baseline. Players like Agassi and Safin, with moderate semi-western grips, rotate further with the rear shoulder, coming around slightly past parallel to the baseline or slightly further. Players with more extreme semi-western grips like Hewitt, Guga and Roddick rotate further still. At times their shoulders rotate 180 degrees or more on the forward swing, sometimes finishing with the rear or right shoulder pointing at the opponent. According to that gradient, we would expect Federer’s forehand to have a moderate overall rotational pattern, probably somewhere between Sampras and Agassi. And sometimes that’s true. But at other times, his rotational pattern looks like the most extreme players such as Roddick. Or it can be somewhere between.
So you’ll see him rotate about 90 degrees from the turn position to the hit, stopping with his shoulders about parallel to the baseline. Other times, the shoulders don’t stop and come all the way around, rotating 180 degrees or more with his back shoulder finishing facing his opponent. Or it could be halfway in between. Again all three rotational patterns can be paired with all the variations in the hitting arm position, and any degree of hand and arm rotation. So to say the least once again, Federer simply doesn’t fit within the parameters of our paradigm. Interestingly the one constant seems to be his shoulder position at contact. This is consistently parallel to the baseline, or very close to it. This is yet another element that is different than we might predict based on his grip. We saw that Sampras was closed about 45 degrees or a little less at contact. Agassi was usually closed about 30 degrees. The more extreme players were open at contact, with their shoulders generally parallel to the baseline. In all these cases, whatever the angle of the shoulders at contact, the contact appeared to be about in the middle of the overall rotational pattern.
Federer doesn’t do that. His shoulders are consistently parallel to the baseline at impact, what we would have previously considered to “open” for his grip style. The position of the shoulders at the contact point doesn’t seem to vary much whether or not the shoulder rotation stops or continues after the hit. It doesn’t seem to vary with the different hitting arm positions either. He can extend the hitting arm in the straight position. Or stay vertical and hit the classic finish position, or snap it off with a sharp right to left rotation of the hand and racket head and finish on his left side. The shoulders stay parallel at contact or very close. The only possible exception is on some inside balls hit with the straight arm position and extreme total rotation. In those cases, his shoulders can sometimes appear to rotate somewhat further, so that they are somewhat past parallel to the baseline. Hand and Arm Rotation
We’ve already referred to Federer’s hand and arm rotation quite a bit, but let’s look at it in more detail, and put it in the context of what we’ve seen with the other players. In our previous articles, we identified the rotation of the hand and arm as a key variable across the grip styles and found that the more extreme the grip, the more hand and arm rotation players used on their basic forehands. We also found that the players with extreme grips increased their hand and arm rotation further when they wanted to increase spin, hit angles, and deal with low balls or wide balls. The classical players, by comparison, had much less total hand and arm rotation. They also tended to vary it less when dealing with different types of balls. We can see the amount of hand and arm rotation in a given shot by looking at the position and angle of the racket tip as it moves through the swing. Once the hand arm and racket reach the hitting position, they will rotate to the player’s left, or counter clockwise during the forward swing. To understand it, you may want to check the Advanced Tennis article that isolates just the rotation. Then it’s easier to see in the context of the swing. (Click Here.) For example, if the tip of the racket starts pointing directly to the back fence at the start of the forward swing, and finishes pointing directly to the sky, that’s 90 degrees of rotation, about standard on a classical forehand.
When there is more rotation, the racket tip won’t stop when it is pointing up, it will continue to rotate to the left. The more internal rotation, the further the tip goes to the left. At the same time the racket face is turning upside down. What this means is that the top edge of the racket at the contact starts to turn over and point back toward the player. In the extreme case, the racket turns over completely so the face in on edge to the court and the tip ends up pointing at the left sideline, or even slightly backwards toward the baseline. It won’t surprise anyone at this point to hear that when it comes to hand and arm rotation, once again Federer has it both ways, or more accurately, many ways. It’s starting to sound like some kind of repetitive mantra but it’s also true: Sometimes it’s classic, sometimes it’s extreme, and sometimes it’s at various points in the middle. This is exactly same kind of flexibility and variety we saw in his hitting arm position and his shoulder rotation. This rotation of the hand and arm is the reason so many observers immediately conclude that Federer has a semi-western or even a western grip. These so-called “windshield wiper” finishes can be as extreme, or even more extreme, than those we are used to seeing from players like Juan Carlos Ferrero, or Andy Roddick or Gustavo Kuerten. But the reality is that Federer is doing this with a much more conservative grip. With the extreme grips the hand and arm rotation is a basic component of almost every swing. With Federer it’s an option. He’s more than capable of hitting through the ball with a classic finish. Since there has been so much confusion about what is actually happening with the hand, arm and racket rotation, and how it effects the finishes in Federer’s forehand, let’s try to understand it as accurately as possible.
Let’s start with the simplest case in which this hand and arm rotation is closer to the classical model. On some balls, Federer’s finish could be the model in a textbook on old school eastern tennis. He can finish with his arm in the classic double bend position, with the racket on edge, and the wrist at eye level. This finish indicates that there has been about 90 degrees of hand and arm rotation, which is associated the classical forehand. At this point his racket has reached the universal finish position that we identified in the article on commonalities across the grip styles. (Click Here.) You see Federer make this finish on some balls in the center of the court. Also on short, relatively low balls. Sometimes on these balls, he also steps directly into the shot with a neutral stance. You can see the same finish on inside balls, especially if he is moving backwards or playing a more defensive ball. You also see it on his forehand returns. It probably accounts for 20% or less of the total finishes on his forehands. But those aren’t the Federer finishes people notice. On most of his forehands, he incorporates significantly more hand and arm rotation. This is what catches the eye of fans, players, and television commentators, particularly the more extreme examples, where the racket turns over the most. When this happens the wrap at the end of the swing also takes the racket further across the body to his left side.
There is no doubt that with the extreme rotation, the wrap is definitely lower and further across the body. Sometimes, however, commentators and other observers describe this wrap position as much more extreme than it really is. This is the so-called “finish in the pocket” where he hand at the end of the wrap is supposedly at the same height as the pocket in his shorts. In all our filming, I’ve yet to see that. Occasionally, you’ll see him finish around the center of his torso, but that is as low as it gets. More typically the wrap finishes a little below shoulder level. From that point, Federer starts to recover, putting the left hand back on the racket and sliding it up the shaft to the throat as he moves back toward the ready position. The left side wrap is characteristic of all forehands hit with more internal rotation of the hand and arm, whether by Federer or Roddick or whomever. But it’s critical to understand that the left wrap is actually the deceleration phase of the swing. This means that during the wrap the racket is actually going slower than at any point in the swing. This is where a lot of people who try to model Federer make a mistake. The left wrap may look dramatic, but it’s not the key to racket head acceleration. Its function isn’t to accelerate the racket, it’s is the opposite, to decelerate the racket. The left wrap is the result not the cause of racket head acceleration. In this respect, it’s purpose is exactly the same as the more traditional over the shoulder wrap. The different places the wrap ends up are just the result of differences in the shape of the swing path.
When players develop more hand and arm rotation, they should be ending up more across the body, but it should happen naturally if the swing pattern is correct and the hand and arm are relaxed. Emphasizing the left wrap and trying to make it happen will usually have negative consequences. Typically when players try to mechanically force themselves into the wrap position, they end up reducing their swing extension, hitting through the ball less, and losing racket head speed. It’s frequently a disaster for competitive junior players. With Federer, you see a range of hand and arm rotation. Sometimes he rotates only slightly further than a classical forehand. On these balls he also makes the universal finish position. Itt looks like the extreme players at the same point in the swing.
When the hand rotation is extreme, he doesn’t make it all the way there, again, the same as the extreme grip players. In this case, when the hand gets across to the left edge of the body, we can see that the spacing between the racket and the torso is definitely less and that the hand is noticeably closer in to the body. The angles in the arm position are also different. Sometimes the upper arm doesn’t reach parallel with the court and is still tilted slightly downward. The forearm is also at a lower angle, at most about 30 degrees to the court surface, but sometimes less and even at times horizontal.
These are the correct technical checkpoints, but again, it’s important to recognize that extreme hand rotation is a variation on a continuum and not the absolute norm. Again, people who try to blindly model Federer without examining the full range of his technical options end up exaggerating the left side finish and lose the ability to really drive through the ball. Sometime when Federer rotates the hand and racket all the way, the extension along the line of the hit is considerably less, but that’s not always the case. It depends on the hitting arm position he uses. Usually, Federer uses the double bend position when his rotation is extreme and comes off the ball more quickly. But when he pairs the extreme rotation with the straight arm position, the extension, can be as pronounced as on any forehand he hits. Again, it’s that complexity thing. Too many players copy the extreme, and end up overexaggerating it to the detriment of their strokes.
Does Federer gain an advantage by pairing the conservative grip with extreme rotation compared to the players who are more underneath the handle? An absolutely definitive answer will require quantifying the path of the racket and the speed of the swings in pro tennis. Then we can compare classical and extreme swings and measure the differences in the shapes of the swings and in the speed of racket head from player to player and shot to shot. Currently we doing some new analysis of spin rates in the games of several top players, including Federer, which will shed at least some light on these questions. I’ll be writing more about this in the Heavy Ball section of the site. But from the study of the high speed video, I believe this combination is what allows Federer to hit with great pace but at the same time generate surprising amounts of spin in relation to the other top players. More hand and arm rotation gives him the ability to hit wide spin variations, but he is still able to hit through the ball more directly than the extreme players because of his grip. Again it’s the best of both world’s. He can generate more pace with less effort due to the mechanical structure of the eastern swings, but by mixing in the hand and arm rotation, he can combine raw ball speed with spin rates that equal or possibly even exceed the extreme grip players. An eastern grip that produces heavier ball rotation than the extreme players. If you watch his matches, you have to agree that he is producing effortless power, but also a far greater variety of balls on the forehand side than most of the other players.
One way the classic grip may actually have a technical advantage in producing spin is that it allows the player to actually rotate his forearm further backwards at the start of the foreswing. We saw that with the extreme grips, the arm was naturally rotated back, with the forearm turned upward toward the sky. Agassi and Sampras had less forearm rotation backwards with their more conservative grips. But this assumes that the shaft of the racket is pointing basically straight backwards and is more or less parallel to the court. What’s different here in Federer’s motion? Amazingly, with his grip, he has the option to rotate the forearm further backwards. When he does this, the tip of the racket drops at an angle significantly below the ball. In fact the racket tip can point down at a 60 degree angle or so to the court, and appear to be two or three feet below the height of the ball. You see this to a certain extent in all the players, especially on really low balls and really short balls. But the high speed footage shows that Federer does it on some higher balls, up to around waist level. It’s not on all balls.
On his basic drives, we see the forearm in a position similar to a player like Sampras, with the racket shaft basically parallel to the court. However, on some balls he rotates the forearm back much further. What does this mean when he swings the racket forward and rotates the hand and arm? The racket moves further upward on it’s way to the contact. The result is probably more racket head speed and more spin, all generated automatically in the course of the swing. It’s important to note that this is all done without any change in the hitting arm position itself, that is, the internal relationship between the racket, wrist, and forearm. They simply rotate backward as a unit, and then forward, again as a unit, over the course of the swing. The length of the rotation of the “windshield wiper” is naturally lengthened. The Myth of the Wrist And what about the role of the wrist in all of this? Federer’s emergence has stimulated another round of impassioned, if repetitive, debate about the movement of the wrist on the modern forehand, and it’s role in generating speed and/or spin.When you look closely at the high speed footage, though, you’ll conclude that it’s no different for Roger than any other player. When he is in the double bend position, the wrist is laid back before, during, and after contact.
As we saw, with the straight arm position, the wrist can actually more laid back. There are also balls hit with extreme rotation and/or hit on sharper angles where he goes in and out of the double bend much more quickly—again like the other players we’ve looked at. Some version of this laid back position is still the norm even with all the advances Roger Federer may have achieved in technique on the modern forehand. Let’s not confuse the rotation of the hand and arm, and what happens to the wrist during the followthrough, with the position of the wrist at contact. Racket Tilt Another controversial question raised about Federer, and the other top players for that matter, is whether they “tilt” the top edge of racket forward at contact (For one view on this, read Kerry Mitchell’s article which deals with racket tilt from the point of view of the different grips. Click Here.) Does “racket tilt” increase topspin? Does it have an effect on ball speed and/or the trajectory of the shot? Is it even physically possible? One of the very few points that most teaching pros probably have agreed upon over the years is that the racket has to be perpendicular at contact to produce topspin. I’ve always believed that was critical in teaching topspin on the groundstrokes—and I still do. Is there now another option?
There is no arguing with the fact that forward racket tilt does exist, at least at high levels in the pro game. I first saw it in the high speed filming we did at the U.S.Open in 1997. I was showing Dennis Van der Meer a frame by frame sequence of Pete Sampras hitting an incredible, ultra high topspin backhand. The contact point was actually above his shoulder level, yet Sampras still managed to hit up and over the ball. Dennis was the one who noticed the angle of the racket face. Then, with a wry smile he said something like: “John, I think what we are seeing here is impossible.” When I looked closely I couldn’t believe what I was seeing either. Pete’s racket face was closed or “tilted” about 30 degrees forward. Over the years in the high speed footage I’ve found multiple other examples of the same thing. I’ll have to say at this point they appear to be a variation, not the rule. Interestingly, probably most of them have been on high topspin backhands. But there is no doubt it happens on forehands too and you can definitely see it in the Federer footage. The racket face tilts a few degrees forward on maybe around 20% of his forehands. And the ball certainly doesn’t go down into the net, as most teaching pros (myself included) would have predicted. But exactly how does it affect the shot? If it does have some positive effect, could it possibly apply to lower level players, outside the rarified air of the stadium courts of the world tour? At this point we don’t understand the physics of it. But I’m excited to report that is about to change! This is because the noted Australian physicist Rod Cross has agreed to take on the topic for a future Tennisplayer article. Does tilting the racket head depend on some combination of ball speed, ball height, and swing trajectory? Stay tuned and hopefully we can start to develop a factual basis for intelligent discussion. What Can We Learn From Roger?
Which brings me to one of the questions I posed at the very start of this analysis. What can we learn from Federer? Are there things for every player to emulate? In this section, we’ve included a few more click through movies from the high speed video to help you ponder those questions. I already know what is going to happen to a lot of players after reading this article. They will immediately head to the court and start trying to copy Federer’s extreme arm rotation. And a lot of them will go for the racket tilt as well, without even waiting to read Rod’s article. What ever is most idiosyncratic or unusual—that’s what many players want to copy—and maybe in their heart of hearts they don’t care that deeply about whether they are really doing something that could improve their competitive results. And that’s OK! It’s still a (mostly) free country, and tennis is supposed to be fun. If you want to dream you are Roger Federer, you are certainly allowed. Just don’t expect that your dream will give you his forehand. Because chances are quite high that it won’t. And don’t blame me if it doesn’t. What I am trying to do is understand and describe his technique, not advocate that everything he does should be a universal model. And that’s an important point—at least to me—and I find a lot of players miss it when they read these articles.
Don’t take this the wrong way. I do hope these articles inspires you—they did me! And what you get out of it is obviously yours to take! But I also have some ideas about what is reasonable to try and apply. The elements in Federer’s forehand that would be most beneficial for most players to copy are, ironically, the ones he shares with the other players. These are in the preparation phase, specifically the unit turn, the left arm stretch, and some version of a compact backswing. Time and time again I get emails or phone calls from players, or they come to our tennis school and they want to improve their forehand by developing advanced techniques. And then we film. And in 90% plus of the cases, they don’t have the basic foundation to incorporate these more advanced elements that they are convinced are the key to their improvement. That thought may not sound too glamorous and exciting, but it is the god’s truth. I’ve seen it in 3.0 players and I’ve seen it players who are in the top 100 in the world—and I’ve seen it everywhere in between. So that’s number one—please don’t “get your racket back early.” Learn to start your preparation with your feet and body. After the preparation, the next critical thing is the basic, double bend hitting arm position. Then the universal finish position, regardless of your grip. And you can find all of those in Federer’s forehand. If his forehand teaches us one thing, it’s the need for meticulous discipline in perfecting the basics. But what about all the wonderful new stuff? Why bother even trying to figure out the marvels and complexities of his forehand in the first place if you are never going to try them?
One answer is that the satisfaction of the understanding alone is worth the ride. In a weird way I feel I’ve had the privilege of playing my own little 5-set match against Roger—just him and me battling it out ball after ball in the struggle to understand the most advanced weapon in the modern game. For the last few weeks when people asked me how I was doing, I’d reply; ”Roger Federer is kicking my ass.” It may sound strange, but I developed this eerie sense of just how tough it would really be to face him across the net. Just when you think you’re getting a handle on what he does, he throws you a whole new range of impossible combinations. He may seem reserved, but believe me he is a rough customer. If you have the nerve to go up against him, get ready for some tangible pain. I won’t go so far as to say that I came out the victor in my little imaginary match, but I guess I feel that I did hold my own by sticking with him long figure out something some of the incredible things he can do with that forehand. But I didn’t do it just for the pure understanding. I sincerely believe that every player should experiment to see what they can learn from an innovative player who will also likely end up with one of the greatest records in tennis history. Depending on where you are honestly are with your forehand technique, that experiment could include different hitting arm positions, and variations in torso and hand and arm rotation. Find out what you can make work in your game! Just don’t send me any video of you with an extreme left side finish but no shoulder turn in the preparation! That’s one of the main reasons I write these articles—to find these things out for myself. When it comes to the Federer forehand, I found an incredible benefit in understanding how the hand and arm rotate and how this can be done with an essentially eastern grip (the same grip I hold). I’ve incorporated that into numerous situations—hitting high loopers with more topspin, and also short balls, crosscourt angles, and even running down the line passes, some of the things I have struggled with most over the years. Learning to rotate my hand arm and racket as a unit has made a tangible difference in what I feel I can do with the ball. I’m inspired and excited! And I can visualize hitting a few more passes at critical times against my old friend and practice partner, Mr. Scott Murphy. We’ll see.
I also benefited from my experiment with the head position. I couldn’t come close to turning like Federer, but the process actually helped me focus on the key point of keeping my head still at contact. And I experimented with the straight arm hitting position combined with more torso rotation, especially on high inside balls, since I prefer to play inside when I’m on the baseline. But I’m working to incorporate the head position and the hand rotation first before I decide about trying to actually incorporate that. I’m not saying you should follow these exact steps (although they are good ones!), but I think you get the point. That’s the beauty of having this incredible new high speed resource. We have the potential to really see what is happening instead of just speculating. And that reality forms the basis for making productive changes--basic changes as well as more advanced ones. Not to mention just the pure pleasure of understanding Roger better when you watch his matches—and maybe having a little bit of sense yourself of what life is like on the other side of the net for his opponents.
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