Did José Higueras teach Federer how to use the drop shot on clay?

[abraxas21]

Just read this on some other forum and it got me thinking... He's actually been using the drop shot a lot on clay in the past 2 seasons or so. Did he learn this during his time with Higueras in 2008?

 

[abmk]

eh ? he knew how to play the drop shot damn well before he hired higueras ...

higueras may have suggested that he use the drop shot more on clay - but I don't know if he did ...

here:

vs agassi @ the USO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f33CESsyK6E

vs safin, AO 2005: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=096C73C17D107B41&playnext=1&v=HKPZ8U9v7ic

 

[abraxas21]

yeah, I know he already used it before Higueras but I am pretty sure he's been using it a lot more since 2008, especially on clay. I wonder if this might have been encouraged by Higueras (someone Roger hired to help him on the clay).

Roger still doesn't use the drop shot much on hard courts. After winning Cincy this year, he mentioned that he specifically used the drop shot more on clay because it was harder for his opponents to get to it on that surface.

 

[Polaris]

Federer clearly knew how to play the drop shot, but he has played the forehand drop shot way more frequently since working with Higueras. José should definitely get some credit for making the forehand drop shot a part of Federer's arsenal.

 

[Jchurch]

I believe the dropshot became an increasing part of his repertoire during the summer hard court season. I recall seeing him change his stance that a drop shot ruins the beauty of a point and use it quite frequently at the US Open. His use has only increased since then. At the time Jose Higueras was his coach, so I would say it was more likely than not that he was the one who was able to influence Federer to use this shot more frequently.

 

[illkhiboy]

Federer clearly knew how to play the drop shot, but he has played the forehand drop shot way more frequently since working with Higueras. José should definitely get some credit for making the forehand drop shot a part of Federer's arsenal.

Exactly. I'm a bit surprised that this point doesn't come up more in discussions about Federer's game. I think the impact of the forehand drop shot has been huge.