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6-1 4-2 and I haven't started on my fruit salad yet.....
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Stotty -
6-1 5-2 and I have only just started my fruit salad...StottyComment
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Anticipating Roger's Thunder...then faced with a Federfore Featherer.
http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin...liant+disguise
What's the name of that Springsteen tune...Brilliant Disguise?
Brilliant Disguise....Bruce Springsteen
I hold you in my arms
As the band plays
What are those words whispered baby
Just as you turn away
I saw you last night
Out on the edge of town
I wanna read your mind
To know just what I've got in
This new thing I've found
So tell me what I see
When I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
Or just a brilliant disguise
Now you play the loving woman
I'll play the faithful man
But just don't look too close
Into the palm of my hand
We stood at the altar
The gypsy swore our future was right
But come the wee wee hours
Well maybe baby the gypsy lied
So when you look at me
You better look hard and look twice
Is that me baby
Or just a brilliant disguise
Tonight our bed is cold
I'm lost in the darkness of our love
God have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he's sure of
Well talk about lovely tennis shots. This little feathery is a stroke of genius and it's brilliance is in it's disguise. The initial manipulation of the racquet head with the shoulder turn allows The Swiss Maestro to perform two radically different motions, he can pound it into the corners or he can soothe it and smooth it trickling over the net...how beautiful is that? It hurts when you realize what is coming...you've been fooled!
With his racquet head in proper position...where the racquet head is higher than his hand and just as importantly the head of the racquet is just barely behind his hand so that he has maintained the subtle flex in his wrist, he is in position to make this soft caress on the ball with his strings moving subtly down and across the back of the ball. It's basically a forehand volley stroke. Notice he is not accomplishing this motion with just his hand...or just his arm...or just anything for that matter. His entire being is into this shot...every bit as much as it is behind his Federfore forehand blast or his biggest serves. The whole being of Roger Federer is into his softest shot...with just the right proportion of forward movement necessary to accomplish such a soft placement. Voila...the Federfore Featherer.
The subtle forward movement as he is making contact with the ball is the key. Many try to slide the racquet under the ball with the wrist or try to absorb the ball into the racquet with an almost backwards movement which are both very risky tries on this type of shot...in fact they don't make any sense statistically speaking. Look at his eyes and the position of his head. No head fakes. No no-lookies. The racquet head must be accelerating through the ball on contact or else you can kiss all semblance of control goodbye. Knowing Roger Federer...knowing what a control freak he is, this is going to be the last thing he is going to surrender on such a tender shot...control.
The most difficult aspect of making short putts in golf is the realization that you must accelerate the putter face through the ball. You have got to swing the putter. For you golfer/tennis players out there try visualizing swinging through to the point of the ball that is closest to the hole or rather closest to the net. Trying to push the ball into the hole or trying to wish it into the hole creates a large degree of uncertainty or doubt even on short putts or shots. That is the last thing you want to be feeling on such a delicate shot or stroke...it's the kiss of death. The same thing applies here...you have to swing the racquet. Even the shortest of shots share some of the most fundamental characteristics as the bigger shots...turn the body away from the ball and move the body through the ball. Weight forward on the front foot and accelerate the racquet head through the ball...it's virtually the same recipe for making short putts.
This tennis player is an artist and you could say that he is "poetry in motion".
Would it be possible to see this shot from the other side of his body so that we can fully appreciate the disguise of his backswing? It's one thing to hit brilliantly disguised backhand drop shots and quite another to deliver the feathery touch off the forehand side...as in the Federfore Featherer.
God have mercy on the man...who doubts what he's sure of.
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It's all over...StottyComment
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God have mercy on the man...who doubts what he's sure of. I love that line.
Game...set...and match. A message to the "Li'l Bro"...that was the real Federer. How many times did Federer catch him looking with the "Federer Feathery"?Comment
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Roger Federer versus Anybody...
Today it was Alexander Zverev in the finals at Halle, Germany. But it really doesn't matter...throughout the whole tournament...the whole week for that matter it was who is Roger playing against. There were two tournaments to chose from. High ranking players in both. It was nice to watch Denis Shapovalov play. But he is not Roger Federer. Know what I mean? But Alexander showed some real deficiencies on the moss. Roger had him on a string...bringing him forwards or slashing him from side to side. On Roger's side of the net he has yet to fully display his real grass court talent which would be a full on onslaught of the net. Instead he seemed to be rather content to mix it up and bring it to the net as a change up...a change of pace.Originally posted by don_budge View Post
I love the full on campaign to make this Zverev kid the Crown Jewel of the "Next Generation" class. This class has a lot to learn. If a 35 year old veteran can make a rookie look that much like a rookie there is a huge gap and it isn't necessarily one of age or experience. It is one of savvy and fundamentals. I love to see Roger get his feet set on his forehand...back toe in line with the front heel. Just like I teach it. Sure he hits it semi-open, open, wrong foot...but this is his default footwork and he beats his opponents to the drop time and time again. Because of his preparation. Preparation for a shot, for a point, for a game, for a set...for an entire match. He is beating them in the off season which for him has become entire swaths of the regular season. He prepares and then he arrives...he has done his homework. The mantra of a tennis player...preparaton, preparation...preparation. In the preparation for today's match Roger noticed a chink in the armor of the new "Prince of Tennis" and that was his inability to play in the forecourt and to handle low slicing balls at his feet. Thus...the Federer Featherer. That was one of my favorite posts of all time. Synched with "A Brilliant Disguise" by Bruce Springsteen.
"Well talk about lovely tennis shots. This little feathery is a stroke of genius and it's brilliance is in it's disguise. The initial manipulation of the racquet head with the shoulder turn allows The Swiss Maestro to perform two radically different motions, he can pound it into the corners or he can soothe it and smooth it trickling over the net...how beautiful is that? It hurts when you realize what is coming...you've been fooled!"
http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin...liant+disguise
What's the name of that Springsteen tune...Brilliant Disguise?
Brilliant Disguise....Bruce Springsteen
I hold you in my arms
As the band plays
What are those words whispered baby
Just as you turn away
I saw you last night
Out on the edge of town
I wanna read your mind
To know just what I've got in this new thing I've found
So tell me what I see
When I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
Or just a brilliant disguise
I heard somebody call your name
From underneath our willow
I saw something tucked in shame
Underneath your pillow
Well I've tried so hard baby
But I just can't see
What a woman like you
Is doing with me
So tell me who I see
When I look in your eyes
Is that you baby
Or just a brilliant disguise
Now look at me baby
Struggling to do everything right
And then it all falls apart
When out go the lights
I'm just a lonely pilgrim
I walk this world in wealth
I want to know if it's you I don't trust
'Cause I damn sure don't trust myself
Now you play the loving woman
I'll play the faithful man
But just don't look too close
Into the palm of my hand
We stood at the alter
The gypsy swore our future was right
But come the wee wee hours
Well maybe baby the gypsy lied
So when you look at me
You better look hard and look twice
Is that me baby
Or just a brilliant disguise
Tonight our bed is cold
I'm lost in the darkness of our love
God have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he's sure of
Last edited by don_budge; 06-25-2017, 05:23 AM.Comment
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two forecourt patrolling, net play accepting, one handed backhand players won today. It's not often, but always glad when the tennis gods make things right and allow it to happen. The Lopez-Cilic match was really superb. That 3rd set tiebreak was epic and neither player deserved to lose. Real good stuff from both men. Rooting for both at SW19.
Note: With Lopez winning Queen's, it marks the 5th tournament this year that Berdych has lost to the eventual champion. Also, the 2nd tournament in which that player was down match point. (Lopez-Queen's, Federer-Miami).
Federer provided a clinic to Das Wunderkind. Less than an hour to dispatch the next generation's best and brightest. Nuff' said.
On a different note, I know we don't discuss women's tennis that much on here but I would be remiss if I didn't mention Petra Kvitova. Petra is probably my favorite female player (yes, I follow women's tennis as well. What is it with me and the Czech's?). She won in Birmingham today. After the horrifying robbery/knife attack on her in December, and in just her 2nd tournament back, she holds the champions trophy. Fantastic heart. She is one of the favorites for Wimbledon, she has already won it twice, why not a hat trick?
Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca RatonComment
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Zverev was completely humiliated today. He was visibly embarrassed. It wasn't that Roger meant to do it, it was just that he was in sublime mode and everything comes so easy to him. That sliced forehand angled drop shot he hit towards the end of the match had the feel of Nastase about it, it was that good.
But let's not be too hard on Zverez. At just turned 20 Roger was barely on the map himself. The kid has much to learn but he is very likely to get there. If he is intelligent, which I think he is, he would have learnt a lot today. He's going to be fine.StottyComment
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One more tidbit, The Next Generation will surely have their time in the sun, however its fair to point out that on Monday, June 26th, 21 of the top 40 players in the world will be 30 or older, including all of the top 5.
Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca RatonComment
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Culmination Point 2017...Match Play and The Spin of the Ball.
Originally posted by don_budge View PostRoger Federer versus Anybody...
"Well talk about lovely tennis shots. This little feathery is a stroke of genius and it's brilliance is in it's disguise. The initial manipulation of the racquet head with the shoulder turn allows The Swiss Maestro to perform two radically different motions, he can pound it into the corners or he can soothe it and smooth it trickling over the net...how beautiful is that? It hurts when you realize what is coming...you've been fooled!"
God have mercy on the man who doubts what he's sure of.
Oh he meant to do it. Alexander Zverev making a decision to enter this tournament is fair game. That's what he was too...game. It just so happened he ran into a real hunter...that being Roger Federer. Roger tracked young wet behind the ears Alexander around the world and returned to the exact point at nearly the same exact time (the earth returned to where it was a year ago in relationship to the sun) and trapped his victim. He did the merciful thing and executed him without any undo carnage...except maybe the nice little slices into the tender emotions with those lovely Federer Featherie's.Originally posted by stotty View Post
Interesting comparison between Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev at twenty years old. Here Zverev takes a one sided beating in the lead up to Wimbledon as Roger showed him whose boss. Last year I felt that Roger played the kid real soft...as if to get a more rest before the real game began. But that being said Zverev beat him fair and square. Yesterday Federer performed a full head on and the proof was in the pudding. When Federer was a 19 year old he was already playing the full repertoire of shots that traditionally comprised the game of lawn tennis. He beat the reigning "King of Grass" in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2001. I've posted this before.
Zverev is playing the dumbed down version of the game that has been promoted by the ITF that "evolved/engineered" since they compromised the integrity of the game by allowing over-sized equipment, slowed down the courts and allowed the technology of strings. Among other things. Towards the end of the match we see that even Zverev has been tipped off in a not so gentle way...the future is not feminism...it is to the net young man. They have to do something. Roger is leaving and the game is left naked without him.
It was thoroughly enjoyable watching young Zverev get beat so badly that he had to high tail it off the courts with his tail tucked neatly between his legs. Sure he was hurt...even humiliated. He'd been hunted, trapped and executed. Lucky for him most of the public is too stupid to fully understand what transpired right before their very eyes. History.
This match between the young 19 year old Roger Federer and the reigning "King of Grass" Pete Sampras was the end of a culmination point. It was the end of the Post Classic Modern Era of Tennis and the beginning of the current debacle. The Post Classic Modern Era proved to be too fast for the good of the game so the engineering was off to the races. The Backcourt Era. This current era is coming to ignominious closing in what will be known in certain circles as the Post Roger Federer Era. Something will have to be done to speed up the game and hold your breath ladies and germs...don't expect the ITF to do something overly intelligent. Witness the "Next Generation" tournament to come shortly to a theater near you. Four game sets. No-add scoring. No let services. Time between points to be strictly enforced. Retards!
"That sliced forehand angled drop shot". That is a mouthful. You won't hear that out of Alexander Zverev's mouth to the tune of consistency that Federer used it throughout the match. He used it early and it threw the Zverev game out of whack. God have mercy on the man who doubts what he is sure of. Now the short part of the court was in play. Zverev was heard to say, "Federer was messing with the ball all day". Yeah kid...it's called "Match Play and The Spin of the Ball". Ever hear of it?
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I was at Halle on Saturday and watched Fed play a young Russian with a Safin like game. All I can say is that Federer is like a swiss clock. I mean it is not so much the incredible youtube highlights we see that are impressive. It is ruthless efficiency to basically take time away in every sense of the word. He just keeps going. It is hard to sense that anything changes but as you look up the games keep going and he keeps winning points by just hitting a big serve here or setting up his forehand. His movement is sublime and yes he plays the entire court.
I am sure everyone has seen Federer live and this was my first time. I also could hear his feet pounding on the grass. Don't be fooled by this floating idea. There is definitely effort to that movement. Nothing is free.
I just wonder how much this comes down to the extensive use of a two handed backhand. I just don't know if one can really develop a good all court game at a young age if one never develops feel on the backhand side. How many doubles players have two handed backhands?
I saw the zverev's play doubles for a while. Mischa has a two handed backhand but then kind of slices a lot.
It's double the practice to learn both slice and a two handed backhand. Then the volley takes more work to develop.
Is there a new Pete Fischer out there?
I know that some people are just better with two hands. This is their best way to maximize their game. But at the very top the one handers always have something else.
As bad as Pete's backhand was compared to Agassi's there was always something he could do from the backcourt.
Martina had another gear that Chris Evert could not match.
This is not JUST due to a one handed backhand.
But I wonder if this all court game starts there.
And if it does, it starts very early...
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Interesting...I've watched him at SW19 numerous times and have always been blown away by his effortless, floating movement. He reminds me of Nastase the way he keeps his feet close to the ground when.covering an expanse. The great thing about Roger is he moves so well in all departments; going forwards, sideways, quick over short distances and quick over an expanse. He's one of the best movers I have ever seen.Originally posted by arturohernandez View Post
StottyComment
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The game was meant to be played with one handed backhands. The two hands is a fad that got out of control. Engineering the game had a lot to do with it. But even still...nearly all of my students play one-handed backhands. I teach all court tennis. The strictly backcourt game was a direct result of the game becoming too fast with the new equipment. The courts were engineered to slow the bounce and it got higher as a result...thus the two handed "advantage". Still Roger Federer has prevailed through the years. He is the living proof.Originally posted by arturohernandez View Post
Just speed up the game a bit and you will see a mass exodus back to the one-handed backhand. Well...the coaching has been hijacked so it will take some time. But as I have clearly stated for years...Roger Federer is the "Living Proof" and he is making a damn good point of it now late in his career. The book is Tilden...Richard Gonzales is the model with the Don Budge backhand. Harry Hopman is the coach. Roger Federer is the Living Proof. Nothing has changed in all these years...except the window dressing. Last week there were two tournaments and in the semifinals there were 50% one hand backhands that survived. That is an incredible statistic considering that there had to be considerably less than 50% one hand backhands between the two draw sheets.
There is a place in the game for the two handed backhand...of course there is. But come on arturohernandez...you are answering your own questions. State your belief in the one-handed backhand and don't be shy about it. You will be in the minority but consider yourself to be in an elite minority. Nice to hear from you from Halle...I am a bit north of you. In the middle of nowhere...the Swedish countryside.Comment
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I am only in Germany for a couple of weeks, taking a respite from the very hot humid summer we experience in Texas. When it hits 35 degrees and its 85% humidity the Swedish countryside can sound like a very nice place.Originally posted by don_budge View Post
And
Ah, the proof is in the pudding. I have only really taught my own kids. Although now I begin to see many fundamental mistakes in people's games that every so often I feel compelled to tell them about.
My youngest daughter has adopted a one handed backhand (she is 12) after watching my son and I use it. It is not really a problem for her and she seems to prefer one hand.
And, yes, her touch is much better at the net on both sides. It is as if practicing slices with her backhand has helped her forehand slice. Her volleys are of course better. But they are better on both sides.
So I believe that the one handed backhand is superior on a number of fronts. There, I said it.
I realize that returns can be an issue and that high balls might also be an issue.
The real question was whether any of the pro two-handers were going to come out and say that I was wrong. That an all court game can be learned with two hands.
So besides the two of us. Is there someone out there willing to say that the two hander can learn to be an all court player?
That sheer athleticism will allow them to become great all court players. That it is not 1.5 times the work if not double the work.
Anyone?
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Yes. My son is a two-hander with an excellent all court game. The trick is to learn the one-handed, sliced backhand at a very young age. This then also lays an excellent foundation for the backhand volley.Originally posted by arturohernandez View Post
Players cannot learn sliced backhands later down the line otherwise the shot always looks like an add-on. Kids have to start learning the shot from the get go. Investing just a small amount of time each lesson on the sliced backhand pays huge dividend later down the line. The trouble is so few coaches invest that time in their students.
Can a two-hander have an excellent all court game? Absolutely.
StottyComment
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