Federer learns Nadal's forehand

crazylevity

crazylevity

Hall of Fame
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXDCgRCJeoQ&NR=1

In the last point of the first minute of the video, where Federer is leading 40-15, he clearly hits two forehands of the Nadal variety...finishes up and over his own head, generating huge topspin. Is it true...can that forehand get even more versatile??

I've occassionally attempted a Nadal forehand, personally...throws my opponents rhythm off with the occasional extreme topspin.
 
crazylevity

crazylevity

Hall of Fame
^^^ It's not every shot though, unlike Nadal. He still flattens out his forehand like he usually does, and hits his normal rallying forehands. It just seems like he has ADDED this extra forehand if the ball that comes at him seems to ask for it...hitting that extreme topspin can be useful for generating angles or pushing back an advancing opponent.
 
C

circusmouse

Rookie
Excellent video. I can't tell if Fed looked really sharp or if Acasuso was just making him look good by comparison. He was definitely wiping the floor.
 
S

Strateon

New User
Maybe he hit the ball late.

Don't any of you guys end up the same way when maybe the ball skids a bit and catches you?
 
paperduetoday

paperduetoday

New User
It's not just that he's imitating Nadal's forehand, it seems he been trying to hit with mroe topspin throughout the match and tournament.
I think he's trying to change up his game abit. Have more variety. Since he hasn't been doing too well this year, he might as well give it a try. He usually hits a bit more flat when he goes across hhis body instead of takeing it over his shoulder.
I think he should just work more on his footwork though. He doesn't seem to be moving as quick as he use to.
 
el sergento

el sergento

Hall of Fame
He does this quite often, but usually only when on the run and going down the line where he often finishes over his right shoulder.

It is strange to see him do it twice in a row from a somewhat neutral position though. I think he was just mucking around as he really didn't generate that much spin, hit them short and allowed Acasuso to tee off on the last one.

He's definitely not going to do this very often and the ONLY way he's winning the FO is by serve and volleying out of his mind, ala Stich's final run:)
 
el sergento

el sergento

Hall of Fame
paperduetoday said:
It's not just that he's imitating Nadal's forehand, it seems he been trying to hit with mroe topspin throughout the match and tournament.
I think he's trying to change up his game abit. Have more variety. Since he hasn't been doing too well this year, he might as well give it a try. He usually hits a bit more flat when he goes across hhis body instead of takeing it over his shoulder.
I think he should just work more on his footwork though. He doesn't seem to be moving as quick as he use to.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and that means attacking and finishing the points at net. That's what he's been doing all tournament, he's actually moving away from playing long baseline rallies. In fact, whenever he did have to play from the baseline, Acasuso usually came out on top, at least in the first set.
 
jmsx521

jmsx521

Hall of Fame
I don't think you can rip the ball as much as if you had a 100 sq.in. racket. Interesting that Federer is doing it... but I don't know if it will really work on clay.
 
jlan

jlan

Rookie
This is nothing new. Fed's been doing this for a while when he wants to whip the ball crosscourt with more top spin.
 
Babb

Babb

Professional
Perhaps this is nothing new, but it's interesting to see that Fed is versatile enough to learn someone else's forehand. It's kind of scary...
 
F

fastdunn

Legend
i think i've heard, fed's and nadal's forehands are not so different after all, in terms of stroke mechanism. i could be wrong though...
 
Babb

Babb

Professional
Sampras never generated that much topspin... you might want to look at the RPM of forehand spin in the latest issue of TENNIS.
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
^^^^ I rarely if ever see Fed do it from that particular position on the court. Usually, I see him hit that shot when he is on the run wide to his FH side.
 
jmsx521

jmsx521

Hall of Fame
drakulie said:
Guys, it's called a "reverse forehand". every pro does it from time to time.
Click to expand...
So, are you saying Nadal hits "reverse forehands?" What I saw from Federer -- as the original poster mentioned -- is pretty clear, they look like Nadal forehands.
 
drakulie

drakulie

Talk Tennis Guru
Robert Ladnsdorp has been teaching that shot for well over 20+ years.

Check out davenport, capriatti, sampras on the run, serena etc. they all hit it from time to time. There is not one pro on the tour that doesn't.

Nadal just hits it almost exclusively.
 
Tempest344

Tempest344

Professional
except for the fact that feds grip is different

anyone one can do that finish however so he isn't
"learning" nadal's forehand
 
V

Vision84

Hall of Fame
It is very commonly used for the Running forehand. Quite uncommon as just a regular 'rally' ball like Nadal does it. That is why Fed looks like Nadal so much.
 
stormholloway

stormholloway

Legend
dgoran said:
Sampras was using that when he was running out of time on his forehand.
Click to expand...

Exactly. This thread is so silly. Federer's idol was Sampras. You can watch Federer play Agassi on youtube when he was still basically a child and many of his forehands end up over his head.

This has nothing to do with Nadal and is certainly not a new development.
 
TennisProdigy

TennisProdigy

Professional
jmsx521 said:
So, are you saying Nadal hits "reverse forehands?" What I saw from Federer -- as the original poster mentioned -- is pretty clear, they look like Nadal forehands.
Click to expand...

Yes nowadays the only shot nadal hits on the forehand side are reverse forehands. Back when he was 17 he did hit a "normal forehand" with the same grip he used now but since he's so strong the forehand was extremely powerful but would generate a lot of UE.

For the record Sharapova hits a of reverse forehands too.
 
Cup8489

Cup8489

G.O.A.T.
jmsx521 said:
I don't think you can rip the ball as much as if you had a 100 sq.in. racket. Interesting that Federer is doing it... but I don't know if it will really work on clay.
Click to expand...

if you ht it just right, you definitely can. i can do this same shot so much better with my dense string pattern nxgs than i can with my pure drive. interestingly enough, its also more fluid with the nxgs
 
AlpineCadet

AlpineCadet

Hall of Fame
stormholloway said:
Exactly. This thread is so silly. Federer's idol was Sampras. You can watch Federer play Agassi on youtube when he was still basically a child and many of his forehands end up over his head.
Click to expand...

I agree 100%. But if Pete Sampras was using a Prince Original Graphite 90, I wonder if Federer would have been using the same thing?
 
W

World Beater

Hall of Fame
the finish on the fh is not unusual but the grip and open stance position are unusual and makes these fhs resemble nadal fhs.

sampras running fhs were hit with a totally different grip and much less wrist snap. its a totally different shot even if the racket finishes in the same position.
 
A

Aabye

Professional
Someone probably said this...but its not that he's hitting the reverse forehand that's strange. It's that he is doing it in a rally where he using hits his flat forehand. Thus, to the OP point, it does look like Nadal's. Though I wonder if he was just messing around (seeing as Jose A wasn't entertaining him enough). I can't see him trying to join the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" club at this stage.
 
D

Deleted member 3771

Guest
feds backhand is sitting up a lot and hes never doing anything effective of the backhand return. It looks like the backhand is getting worse.


jmsx521 said:
I don't think you can rip the ball as much as if you had a 100 sq.in. racket. Interesting that Federer is doing it... but I don't know if it will really work on clay.
Click to expand...
 
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