Good HD videos of pros warming up/hitting. Which do you find most impressive?

jdunnie014159 · Oct 14, 2011

Clay lover · Oct 14, 2011

Guys like Federer, Safin and Tsonga seem pretty relaxed in practice. Nadal and Verdasco hits even harder than they do in matches and the pace and spin they can generate are impressive.

Xizel · Oct 14, 2011

Clay lover said:
Nadal and Verdasco hits even harder than they do in matches which and the pace and spin they can generate are impressive.

I enjoy Nadal's forehands warming up a lot. It's freaking amazing.

wy2sl0 · Oct 14, 2011

Couple things I notice.

I don't like Cilic's forehand. It reminds me of Fish's, and they both have a hitch that I wouldn't want to teach.

Federer as always swings without effort and has the most loose wrist I have seen from a tennis player.

Nadal's swing in practice is much different than match play, also ALOT more pleasant to the eye, very technically sound.

Gonzalez gets alot of RHS, thats obvious.

Tsonga's swing is rather simple.

Del Potro makes easy power.

rfm29 · Oct 14, 2011

wy2sl0 said:
Couple things I notice.

I don't like Cilic's forehand. It reminds me of Fish's, and they both have a hitch that I wouldn't want to teach.

Federer as always swings without effort and has the most loose wrist I have seen from a tennis player.

Nadal's swing in practice is much different than match play, also ALOT more pleasant to the eye, very technically sound.

Gonzalez gets alot of RHS, thats obvious.

Tsonga's swing is rather simple.

Del Potro makes easy power.

What is this hitch Cilic has?

Devilito · Oct 14, 2011

funny watching Nadal drill the ball in practice yet often in matches barely gets it passed the service line unless he’s going for a winner. Also funny watching Federer look like he's dogging practice and is totally uninterested.

VGP · Oct 14, 2011

Devilito said:
funny watching Nadal drill the ball in practice yet often in matches barely gets it passed the service line unless he’s going for a winner. Also funny watching Federer look like he's dogging practice and is totally uninterested.

Yup. But those are just their styles.

Nadal seems to rein in the risk in matches choosing to hit the heavy spin as not to make too many errors. He tends to experiment in practice.

Federer just stays nice and loose, keeping in a good groove to maintain his timing and feeling the conditions at the venue. Come match time he unleashes the beast within (if necessary).

jdunnie014159 · Oct 14, 2011

I came into tennis after Safin's years and can't quite get what all his hype was about. I understand he's rock solid, but compared to how well today's players move, I don't see it. I noticed in the videos that he seems to hit real flat forehands.

I also hate Cilic's forehand and think Delpo's is kind of similar.

I wasn't impressed with Jankovic and the other women after having watched this high school girl's college scholarship video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItpBL1iP5tI&feature=related
Then I noticed how they're placing each serve and rally ball practically within inches of their bull's eye.

LeeD · Oct 14, 2011

Man, Dani's got the legs.
No MariaK?

jdunnie014159 · Oct 14, 2011

Elena Dementieva is quite the athletic specimen. She's been one of my favorites ever since reading this great article out of the Times. Can't remember where I came across it--maybe on these boards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/sports/playmagazine/04play-talent.html?pagewanted=all

__________________

wy2sl0 · Oct 14, 2011

rfm29 said:
What is this hitch Cilic has?

The take back. He extends his arm straight, like Federer and Berdych do. The hitch, this is just my opinion of course, is he stops momentum entirely of the racquet before he starts the racquet head moving forward again, and does this with very little time before contact. Of course what do I know, I am a lowly club player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpLkJjg0kKk

Watch how smooth Berdych is at the same type of motion, then watch Cilic, it looks more robotic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cebdc0XvTys&feature=related

Cup8489 · Oct 14, 2011

wy2sl0 said:
The take back. He extends his arm straight, like Federer and Berdych do. The hitch, this is just my opinion of course, is he stops momentum entirely of the racquet before he starts the racquet head moving forward again, and does this with very little time before contact. Of course what do I know, I am a lowly club player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpLkJjg0kKk

Watch how smooth Berdych is at the same type of motion, then watch Cilic, it looks more robotic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cebdc0XvTys&feature=related

I agree with you; Cilic's forehand is hitched.. he almost delays the racquet way too long whereas berdych it's a smooth uninterrupted swing, similar to Federer's as you say.

ATXtennisaddict · Oct 14, 2011

Thanks for the vids. Loved watching them.

MichaelNadal · Oct 15, 2011

I love how easy Federer takes it. His slice backhand is wicked.

jdubbs · Oct 15, 2011

jdunnie014159 said:
Elena Dementieva is quite the athletic specimen. She's been one of my favorites ever since reading this great article out of the Times. Can't remember where I came across it--maybe on these boards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/04/sports/playmagazine/04play-talent.html?pagewanted=all

__________________

That is one of the best articles i have ever read...thanks.

anhuynh16 · Oct 15, 2011

the federer vid is really cool. He seems really relaxed

jdunnie014159 · Oct 15, 2011

No problem

gsharma · Oct 15, 2011

anhuynh16 said:
the federer vid is really cool. He seems really relaxed

The Federer video makes me question why is he even on the court. Clearly, it's not a serious practice session.

Spin Doctor · Oct 15, 2011

gsharma said:
The Federer video makes me question why is he even on the court. Clearly, it's not a serious practice session.

A warmup is not meant to be a serious practice session.

Sid_Vicious · Oct 15, 2011

Here is my favorite Federer practice video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1LXLnhWNno

BrooklynNY · Oct 15, 2011

When I saw Nadal play Gonzo at the US Open I thought the way Nadal warmed up was ridiculous, he was pelting balls in the warmup, just unloading it was sick to watch.

Sid_Vicious · Oct 15, 2011

BrooklynNY said:
When I saw Nadal play Gonzo at the US Open I thought the way Nadal warmed up was ridiculous, he was pelting balls in the warmup, just unloading it was sick to watch.

Can't believe no one posted this video of Nadal practicing. Amazing player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX7MUWVwQIc

BrooklynNY · Oct 15, 2011

Sid_Vicious said:
Can't believe no one posted this video of Nadal practicing. Amazing player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX7MUWVwQIc

Yeah this is an awesome video. The trajectory on some of Nadal's shots are just :evil:

Nadal's warmup blew me away as far as I felt like he was just T-ing off on balls, I almost thought he was trying to overwhelm Gonzo in the warmup, but obviously Gonzo keeps pace. hah.

Also, another cool moment I remember was Federer's warmup against Melzer at the USO I think in '10 it was seemingly effortless, it looked like he was going 60% - he would just be on cruise control in the warmup and then would just unload on a few forehands, each of them being a different shot...one of them flat inside out, one heavy angle cross court, one Nadal-esque looper in between just casually rallying with Melzer. Almost as if he was just checking up on old pistols he hasn't used in a while.

gsharma · Oct 15, 2011

Spin Doctor said:
A warmup is not meant to be a serious practice session.

Warming up for what - a match few hours away? Most pros warm up for their practice sessions doing dynamic flexibility training. Federer is just screwing around in that video.

gsharma · Oct 15, 2011

BrooklynNY said:
Yeah this is an awesome video. The trajectory on some of Nadal's shots are just :evil:

Nadal's warmup blew me away as far as I felt like he was just T-ing off on balls, I almost thought he was trying to overwhelm Gonzo in the warmup, but obviously Gonzo keeps pace. hah.

Also, another cool moment I remember was Federer's warmup against Melzer at the USO I think in '10 it was seemingly effortless, it looked like he was going 60% - he would just be on cruise control in the warmup and then would just unload on a few forehands, each of them being a different shot...one of them flat inside out, one heavy angle cross court, one Nadal-esque looper in between just casually rallying with Melzer. Almost as if he was just checking up on old pistols he hasn't used in a while.

I don't see Nadal's ball jump off the court at all. His top spin is almost entirely useless on a hardcourt. Now, if Nadal mixed his heavy top spin with flatter shots, it'd be a nightmare for his opponent.

vernonbc · Oct 16, 2011

What I love watching in Nadal's videos is his footwork. All the talk is about his shots, his forehands and backhands and serves, but his footwork doesn't get nearly enough credit for his success. It's amazing.

Ross K · Oct 16, 2011

jdunnie014159 said:
I came into tennis after Safin's years and can't quite get what all his hype was about. I understand he's rock solid, but compared to how well today's players move, I don't see it. I noticed in the videos that he seems to hit real flat forehands..

Well, generally and not about movement per ce, some would argue he was phenomenal if somewhat under-achieving talent, and a highly charismatic, complex and slightly barking mad character. I personally was a huge fan.

X 2 re your latter point. It was my first thought also how it really stands out how much closer to the net his shots are compared to many others right now. I certainly hit my big old moonballs a lot higher over the net!

zagor · Oct 16, 2011

Sorry if this has been posted already, I didn't look through the whole thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6EY7FxgUg

Clay lover · Oct 16, 2011

zagor said:
Sorry if this has been posted already, I didn't look through the whole thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB6EY7FxgUg

Yeah Nadal's forehand has quite a lot of moving parts and I don't think it's easy for him to take it easy in practice. If he doesn't swing it at full speed it won't work. The result is the tremendous spin monsters he generates in practice.

Rusty669 · Oct 16, 2011

This for me is the coolest warm-up video of Fed!
He is hitting with Florian Mayer I believe, camera angle is great, and the consistency in the first few rallies is pretty awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjBXVQyiwg

jdunnie014159 · Oct 16, 2011

Rusty669 said:
This for me is the coolest warm-up video of Fed!
He is hitting with Florian Mayer I believe, camera angle is great, and the consistency in the first few rallies is pretty awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjBXVQyiwg

Great video. It's amazing how around the 8 minute mark they start putting added topspin and you can see Fed's wrist action. Then he hits a 2 hander and I'm pretty sure he missed so long that Mayer had to take it out of the air.

xRain · Oct 17, 2011

Fed and Gasquet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZjBFyDnSo

aimr75 · Oct 17, 2011

Like this practice session from murray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAel5QkCJ6I

doctor dennis · Oct 17, 2011

Watched Rafa practicing this year at Wimbledon. Absolutely ridiculous ball striking. Power, spin, precision in abundance. I've never seen a ball hit like that and I've seen alot of the top pros practicing.
That was the most impressive in my opinion.

Sid_Vicious · Oct 17, 2011

xRain said:
Fed and Gasquet:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZjBFyDnSo

How badass is Federer at 8:56?

slowfox · Oct 17, 2011

Most impressed with Federer's ease and his relaxed motion.
The Nadal vid was good too.

Enjoyed watching the Ivanovic vid for, um, other reasons...

The Bawss · Oct 17, 2011

aimr75 said:
Like this practice session from murray

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAel5QkCJ6I

Jesus, Murray can hit.

piece · Oct 18, 2011

The Bawss said:
Jesus, Murray can hit.

Yeah this one's the best

Good HD videos of pros warming up/hitting. Which do you find most impressive?

Rookie

Legend

Professional

Hall of Fame

Rookie

Hall of Fame

Legend

Rookie

Bionic Poster

Rookie

Hall of Fame

G.O.A.T.

Hall of Fame

Bionic Poster

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Rookie

Professional

Professional

G.O.A.T.

Hall of Fame

G.O.A.T.

Hall of Fame

Professional

Professional

Legend

Legend

Bionic Poster

Legend

Semi-Pro

Rookie

xRain

Guest

Hall of Fame

Semi-Pro

G.O.A.T.

Professional

Banned

Professional