Federer's Return Footwork

[ralph]

I saw an analysis of Federer's backhand return of serve which pointed out how he makes contact and then his foot lands. He seems to be doing the the same on his forehand return in John's video. Any one know how common this is? Should one try to hit and then land with the front foot as a regular practice for all serves or just fast serves?

Ralph

[worldsbestcoach]

forget the feet

Do not overcomplicate matters. Fed's footwork is probably different for every service return, every groundstroke. He is smart, so he is probably thinking about his racket motion more than he is thinking about what his feet are doing.

On Fed's backhand, one of the reasons he sometimes hits weak shots is because he does not position himself behind the ball, so he his "backhand punch" is too much to the side. (His flip, or energy, is expended too early, behind him.) He is too far away from the ball, and his contact point is too far back. But when Fed can make a "backhand punch" so that his fist is going to the target (that is, when his arm is close to his body and he is behind the ball), Fed can really rip his topspin backhand. So do not worry too much about what foot Fed is landing on. The big question is whether Fed got behind the ball, so that he can make a strong backhand punch with his locked arm straight towards the target.

Sometimes, Fed's racket preparation for his backhand gets him into trouble. Also, Roger has a comparatively weak backhand grip, so that his backhands are not quite as strong as, say, Gasquet's topspin backhands.

[ralph]

The only reason that I posed the question is because on another website Christope Delavaut teaches the one handed backhand return with a hit and then land with the foot approach and uses Federer as the model. I have tried this and the technique has helped my return. I am not so sure if this works on the forehand side.

[worldsbestcoach]

thank you, Ralph

Ralph, my first reaction to your observations about Federer's footwork on the return was that it was another case of making footwork too complicated . . as many coaches do, for instance, on approach shots.

(I used to be very structured in how I taught footwork, step by step, but I have concluded that it is important to get relatively behind the ball on forehands and backhands . . and tennis students do not need such a structured approach as I used to use. Also, I now support Peter Burwash's idea about the independence of the lower body & upper body. Therefore, I believe that players can sometimes hit a good shot when their feet are crossed, or when they are leaning the wrong way. Also, when the player knows how to make a biomechanically efficient motion with the racket, then the player knows better where to position himself or herself with respect to the intended point of impact between racket strings & ball. In other words, doing smart stuff with the racket can actually enhance footwork.)

When I see Fed in person or TV making a forehand service return, I think he sometimes gets his shoulders or hips too much sideways, takes his racket back too far, does not track the ball well with his strings. Often, Roger will make mishits on his forehand return . .and he would be able to go forward better after he returned from his forehand wing if he simplified his forehand return motion. But I think the quicker reaction that a service return requires actually makes Roger's forehand return comparatively better than his standard forehand. . .although many of his standard forehands can be good.

But if some other guy at some other site thinks Federer's footwork is good on the return, and that idea has helped you, then I will try it out on my own game. Thank you for the tip, and thanks for being nice. Have a nice day.

[worldsbestcoach]

more thought

Thank you, John, for the nice video of Federer. Perhaps I was too caustic in my prior critique of the Federer topspin forehand return. In the video, Federer hits a better forehand, this time, than he often does. In this return, Fed does not worry as much about getting his shoulders sideways. He does not worry as much as usuall about preparing the racket too far back. His backswing is tighter and more natural than it often is. Fed is using simpler and more natural technique. Good job, Roger.