how Federer remain so elegant&switft on his stroke movement??? Did he learn ballet???

phoenicks · Jan 8, 2009

Dumb question alert

As the title suggest, how did Federer move so gracefully&effortlessly and yet kill the ball so mercilessly. Did he learn ballet or any other sort of dance movement???

And btw, does dance helps you with your tennis movement, footwork and balance??? If so, to which degree it helps and in which aspects, and what kind of dance movement can be effectively applied to tennis movement ???

LeeD · Jan 8, 2009

Can't say whether Fed was a modern dancer or not....
But dance helps, just don't employ the flowing accents at the end of your movements

I suspect soccer helps lots. For me, it was basketball and football, 4 and weakside backer.
Any sport that requires balanced footwork, like boxing, karate, judo, all helps.
I won't say Fed is the smoothest moving player, but he's the smoothest moving top 6 for sure.

Djokovicfan4life · Jan 8, 2009

You don't have to be a dancer to move gracefully on the court. His movement comes from a ton of natural talent and lots of time developing his footwork.

Puma · Jan 8, 2009

Yeah, its called talent and natural grace. Two things I recognize and have little of. Kinda like money. ..... But maybe I'll get a bailout

oneguy21 · Jan 8, 2009

He has good balance and amazing racquet head speed. His whole body stays loose.

yellowoctopus · Jan 8, 2009

oneguy21 said:
He has good balance and amazing racquet head speed. His whole body stays loose.

I fully agree about the balance, and would like to also add that his upper body, especially the head, is very still. Add the good footwork in and it all appears as a graceful dance.

Edberg's upper body is also very still--and he is another player that looks very graceful out there.

oneguy21 · Jan 8, 2009

yellowoctopus said:
I fully agree about the balance, and would like to also add that his upper body, especially the head, is very still. Add the good footwork in and it all appears as a graceful dance.

Edberg's upper body is also very still--and he is another player that looks very graceful out there.

Your head should stay still, but you also need good torso rotation, do you not?

RestockingTues · Jan 8, 2009

He plays football.

stormholloway · Jan 8, 2009

That sort of movement is efficient, believe it or not. It just happens to look very nice at the same time.

ThA_Azn_DeViL · Jan 8, 2009

He used to play soccer and could've gone pro there too, but he decided to stay with tennis, and he's been playing for several years, so theres nothing less we expect from him

bbbbbb · Jan 8, 2009

i heard a commentator say federer and nadal were fantastic soccer players before and had a chance at goin pro there too.So i assume there good footwork comes from that

Noveson · Jan 8, 2009

bbbbbb said:
i heard a commentator say federer and nadal were fantastic soccer players before and had a chance at goin pro there too.So i assume there good footwork comes from that

ThA_Azn_DeViL said:
He used to play soccer and could've gone pro there too, but he decided to stay with tennis, and he's been playing for several years, so theres nothing less we expect from him

Sounds like poppycock to me. The closest thing I have heard to either of those statements is that Nadal was quite good at soccer, and an announcer asked him if he would have liked to go pro at it.

Tennisguy777 · Jan 8, 2009

Or he could be gay! That would explain a lot of things! But then again there is Mirka! This is a theory floating on the net and is not mine!

yellowoctopus · Jan 8, 2009

oneguy21 said:
Your head should stay still, but you also need good torso rotation, do you not?

My bad, I was referring to the balance and the stillness of his upper body when he moves. When he swings, as you stated, there is a definite rotation.

phoenicks · Jan 9, 2009

ohh, I see, so Fed has great footwork because he played soccer , have extensive training, and some god-send talent.

But Will dance help us in anyway in tennis, esp with respect to footwork and balance.

tursafinov · Jan 9, 2009

My good friend Nicolas Freudiger is a top junior in Switzerland.
He has won World Salsa competitions.
(any flamenco, muerenge, etc.) He competes in all of them.
Also learning on Clay helps.

So my verdict is dance really helps.
~Tursa

m27 · Jan 9, 2009

lets not confuse causation with correlation here
perhaps those with exceptional footwork are simply naturally well coordinated and are therefore proficient at dance; you cannot say with certainty that dance itself develops superior tennis footwork. Federer has said that he has not taken any dance classes.

fluffy Beaver · Jan 9, 2009

m27 said:
lets not confuse causation with correlation here
perhaps those with exceptional footwork are simply naturally well coordinated and are therefore proficient at dance; you cannot say with certainty that dance itself develops superior tennis footwork. Federer has said that he has not taken any dance classes.

You got a link to a source, such as an article, interview of him saying that? Or are you just making assumptions?

albino smurf · Jan 9, 2009

Some very similair footwork in both. I like the fact that there are times when it does feel a bit like a dance and a bit like boxing both. Perfect combo of grace and strength when done correctly.

Matty G · Jan 9, 2009

Federer did have to chose between soccer and tennis and so did Nadal. They both have brilliant movement . I think soccer did play a big role in there movement as you also have to have complete balance at all times .

m27 · Jan 9, 2009

fluffy Beaver said:
You got a link to a source, such as an article, interview of him saying that? Or are you just making assumptions?

it's on his website

scotus · Jan 9, 2009

yellowoctopus said:
Edberg's upper body is also very still--and he is another player that looks very graceful out there.

yep ... at least until he is forced to hit a forehand drive.

fluffy Beaver · Jan 9, 2009

m27 said:
it's on his website

Provide it please, I am interested in this.

m27 · Jan 9, 2009

fluffy Beaver said:
Provide it please, I am interested in this.

http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/fanzone/askroger/index.cfm?uNC=38206988&uPage=5&uCategoryID=1

Q:Have you ever taken ballet or any type of dance classes?
RF: No.

fluffy Beaver · Jan 9, 2009

m27 said:
http://www.rogerfederer.com/en/fanzone/askroger/index.cfm?uNC=38206988&uPage=5&uCategoryID=1

Most boring answers from Fed.

BTW, where is your video of you returning 115 mph out wide serves easily?

jasoncho92 · Jan 9, 2009

What is this crap about Federer being able to go pro in soccer. Every single story ive read about it said he had to choose between soccer and tennis at and EARLY age, like 11ish and there is no way in hell you can tell if a kid is going to go pro that early. Nadal on the other hand was actually good at soccer, not just, "he played soccer and is a tennis pro now so he must have been able to become a soccer pro." No idea why people correlate being a tennis pro with a soccer pro.

/rant

how Federer remain so elegant&switft on his stroke movement??? Did he learn ballet???

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