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One of your forehand motion sequences has Roger's platforming closed racket face going down like a piece of milkweed-- something unperceivable before. I would bet that a few Roger would be imitators have been taking racket back edge down like a slowly divebombing frisbee-- significantly inferior, maybe. I go to the court now to try and find out.
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Not sure I got that one. Clarify after your experiment! -
It seems a good means of waiting for the ball, starting at the bounce with racket having gotten somewhat high. In the sequence, you can see the racket inverting and parachuting down, "landing" after four counts, say,
in a position that is extremely closed for only a slightly westernized Eastern grip. In ANY sequence of Roger's forehand, you then will see a rather abrupt forcefed layback of the relaxed wrist as he turns on the power. What happens then is magic to the degree you understand the shortcomings of sex manuals. Oh well, as in other experiments I can't report total capture of the Holy Grail. A little more pop, a little less sidespin mixed in with my topspin.Comment
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Fed FH
More on this later... but notice his strong full turn with the racket at the top. That's something all the top players do--he's not later or "waiting" on that point. Just a unique backswing shape--again as they all have--very compact. Yep he closes the face quite a bit on the way down--again my next article will try to make sense of it all. But watch how the angle of the face changes as he starts forward--and as you correctly note--he goes to the mondo wrist layback.
Not sure that is something to try to model...Comment
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"Mondo"-- a new term for me. No, I won't inflict The Mondo on any unsuspecting student, either, other than recommending the online column "Mondo Washington" from The Village Voice in New York. "Waiting for the ball"-- that would imply making sure the shoulders were COMPLETELY TURNED by ball bounce (I learned that somewhere) and also not taking the arm back/down before ball bounce unless one were hitting on the rise or something. One can be very continuous and spontaneously adaptive if one keeps the racket in front while running and stalks-- no? These are the players who clean my clock anyway.Comment
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"Stalking" the ghost voice of Oscar W. I don't mind about the racket--what he tends to miss is the turn...Comment
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Not My Own Man?
No, I'm the ghost voice of James Ridgeway, writer of the "Mondo Washington" column, who never has advertised himself for one day in his entire life. By the way, did you study engineering?Comment
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American history and religious studies.Comment
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Mondo and the milkweed
I love the forehand video, too, but what do you say we get Bottle a new name. How about "BONG"? No offense, pal, just kiddin'. I guess I'm a city boy, so I didn't get the milkweed thing. And I definitely didn't get your inside joke about Mondo Washington. Is he related to Malivai and Mashona?Comment
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The milkweed tThing
has to do with the slowness of Roger Federer's racket coming down, almost floating like the white stuff out in the countryside you never got to see, and never will, because you'll miss it even if you're there. But this motion, while especially noticeable in 250-frame-per-second film sequences, is also true in real life. He ain't swinging, brother, not at that part of the cycle, and we all might learn something from this. As for Mondo Washington, no joke is intended-- it's a column that you and everybody should read. And as for names, Joe Tennis? Wow, that's original.Comment
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My oh so original nickname
Ouch. That cuts deep, my friend. Just kidding around, pal. Did not mean to offend you, Bottle. Just a little good-natured ribbing. Honest.
Thanks for explaining milkweed. I do see what you mean about Federer's forehand. "He ain't swinging, brother!" So true...so fluid. The 250 frames per second footage is priceless!
Thank you tennisplayer.net! Thank you Mister cameraman!Comment
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Tennis Names
Maybe a name that doesn't draw attention to itself can make a person less self-conscious. I ought to know. I've been living with "Bottle" or "Bot" and trying to explain it ever since my older sister gave it to me practically at birth. The best tennis name of any USTA opponent I ever encountered was "Ray Bender." There's a "Johnny Tenniseed" in St. Louis. Smell the coffee and see the milkweed. Peace.Comment
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