Emulating Roger Federer's forehand...wow, what a difference!!

[Harry_hamster]

Hi all.....this is my first post.
Sorry if its a bit long to read.....just have to get it out.

I'm from a table tennis background (10 years regional, national and collegiate levels)....that was a few years ago...before that mainly chess and soccer (both at amateur regional levels).

I just picked up tennis about 9 months ago at the age of 33 and I am being coached by my uncle. He has tennis coaching experience on college level, and is coaching me for fun, but is noticing I'm progressing very rapidly.

I really don't want to brag......but I consider myself a very quick learner, very agile, flexible, extremely focused and have explosive power. Now just constantly training myself now with my coach and whoever I can play with, spending about 8 hours a week (while working on my Phd) just seeing how far I can get at this age....To be honest I'm literally addicted to this sport and it feels like its activating parts of my brain that I never new existed.

What I'm also doing is studying slow-motion videos of different shots from different pro players.
And what I'm noticing is that its possible according to your abilities to actually incorporate different shots from different players.

After studying Roger Federer's forehand for more than 1 hour in slow-motion, until I was convince that I had completely memorized every frame....I have started to emulate the forehand since last week.

Me and my coach are in shock at the results, lol.......where do I start?

Three main points I have discovered about this forehand:

1. The rolling upward-forward motion that I am making after the unit turn and the arm swing creates incredible amount of speed on my shots....Its like the velocity equals the swing + the rolling through snapping motion (btw wrist is NOT actually snapping).

2. The combination of the unit turn coiling of my body + the swing + the roll through motion + the extreme velocity I am able to produce, is helping me keep the balls very low above of the net when I want it to. The control on the height of the ball is amazing.....Its like due to the velocity, the balls are just staying lower if that makes any sense.

3. When you are able to sync this entire forehand motion, it feels as if there is no strong effort being exerted, there is no tiredness in my arms or body, despite the extreme velocity of the balls I'm shooting. I can only describe it as some kind of sling shot affect....where I am like omg, how did I do that :0.

Now I know that one of the key in tennis is consistency.....So I will keep practicing this forehand until I can make it consistent, and hopefully make my own highspeed video-recordings of it in the coming months.

One of the difficulties I have found, is that because I am using a semi-eastern/eastern grip for this forehand, I need to learn how to shift from that grip to my back-hand grip, which I guess is a semi-western grip (punching motion).

Furthermore, I'm trying to emulate a Stan Wawrinka type of one handed back-hand (on the flat and top-spin shots). I have a kind of similar body frame as Wawrinka.... very muscular legs, short thick neck, lightly protruding chest cage (not barrel, but almost), despite being shorter than him. The back-hand starts with my really strong legs, which help me coil the unit turn and torso muscles, with posterior forearm muscles feeling really tens as a rock.

Does anyone have any tips on shifting from Semi-Eastern to Semi-Western grip when shifting from forehand to backhand ? Is it just an issue of keep practicing?

And has anyone successfully emulated some of the pro-players shots as I have mentioned above?

Hope I have not bored you guys...thanks.

 

[LeeD]

We know how Roger hit's the ball, let's see YOUR forehand!

 

[AJB]

We don't want to brag either but I suspect most other forum members have also successfully emulated most of the top pro players' shots: Fed's FH, Stan's 1HBH, Nole's return and 2HBH, Isner's serve. All with extreme velocity with no effort or fatigue, just as you have described.

Bored? Hardly.

 

[BurnNotice]

Yeah. I've tried to emulate Rogers forehand for years. Thought it was okay but I saw video and it's nothing close. Lol. I hit it with a double bend and Its no where near as pretty.

I want to see yours though.

 

[Shroud]

Yeah. I've tried to emulate Rogers forehand for years. Thought it was okay but I saw video and it's nothing close. Lol. I hit it with a double bend and Its no where near as pretty.

I want to see yours though.

New poster, big claims. Its a tired pattern here. Betting there is zero vid on the way...

 

[SoBad]

Hi all.....this is my first post.
Sorry if its a bit long to read.....just have to get it out.

I'm from a table tennis background (10 years regional, national and collegiate levels)....that was a few years ago...before that mainly chess and soccer (both at amateur regional levels).

I just picked up tennis about 9 months ago at the age of 33 and I am being coached by my uncle. He has tennis coaching experience on college level, and is coaching me for fun, but is noticing I'm progressing very rapidly.

I really don't want to brag......but I consider myself a very quick learner, very agile, flexible, extremely focused and have explosive power. Now just constantly training myself now with my coach and whoever I can play with, spending about 8 hours a week (while working on my Phd) just seeing how far I can get at this age....To be honest I'm literally addicted to this sport and it feels like its activating parts of my brain that I never new existed.

What I'm also doing is studying slow-motion videos of different shots from different pro players.
And what I'm noticing is that its possible according to your abilities to actually incorporate different shots from different players.

After studying Roger Federer's forehand for more than 1 hour in slow-motion, until I was convince that I had completely memorized every frame....I have started to emulate the forehand since last week.

Me and my coach are in shock at the results, lol.......where do I start?

Three main points I have discovered about this forehand:

1. The rolling upward-forward motion that I am making after the unit turn and the arm swing creates incredible amount of speed on my shots....Its like the velocity equals the swing + the rolling through snapping motion (btw wrist is NOT actually snapping).

2. The combination of the unit turn coiling of my body + the swing + the roll through motion + the extreme velocity I am able to produce, is helping me keep the balls very low above of the net when I want it to. The control on the height of the ball is amazing.....Its like due to the velocity, the balls are just staying lower if that makes any sense.

3. When you are able to sync this entire forehand motion, it feels as if there is no strong effort being exerted, there is no tiredness in my arms or body, despite the extreme velocity of the balls I'm shooting. I can only describe it as some kind of sling shot affect....where I am like omg, how did I do that :0.

Now I know that one of the key in tennis is consistency.....So I will keep practicing this forehand until I can make it consistent, and hopefully make my own highspeed video-recordings of it in the coming months.

One of the difficulties I have found, is that because I am using a semi-eastern/eastern grip for this forehand, I need to learn how to shift from that grip to my back-hand grip, which I guess is a semi-western grip (punching motion).

Furthermore, I'm trying to emulate a Stan Wawrinka type of one handed back-hand (on the flat and top-spin shots). I have a kind of similar body frame as Wawrinka.... very muscular legs, short thick neck, lightly protruding chest cage (not barrel, but almost), despite being shorter than him. The back-hand starts with my really strong legs, which help me coil the unit turn and torso muscles, with posterior forearm muscles feeling really tens as a rock.

Does anyone have any tips on shifting from Semi-Eastern to Semi-Western grip when shifting from forehand to backhand ? Is it just an issue of keep practicing?

And has anyone successfully emulated some of the pro-players shots as I have mentioned above?

Hope I have not bored you guys...thanks.

Didn’t read the whole thing. Call me when you land a singles spot on a decent 3.0 team.

 

[jz000]

I think I got close to emulating that wrist snap.
The problem was that my muscles and tendons were no where near capable of withstanding such forces.
I can hit for maybe 5 minutes that way, and then I'd be too fatigue to continue =x
He also doesn't really force the snap. It just happens from all the muscle and tendon built up over the years.

Better to focus on the leg, hip and that left arm torque.
The muscles in your right arm are used for controlling the centripetal force generated by the body parts above.

 

[GuyClinch]

Didn’t read the whole thing. Call me when you land a singles spot on a decent 3.0 team.

+1. This.

 

[KineticChain]

feder

 

[Aretium]

Honeymoon period.

 

[Fxanimator1]

I really don't want to brag......but.

If you posted a video of your Federer-like forehand, you wouldn't be bragging, your racquet would doing the talking.

 

[torpantennis]

Honeymoon period.

And it's over when the strings get too loose LOL. You know, "honey"moon period.

 

[Aretium]

And it's over when the strings get too loose LOL. You know, "honey"moon period.

All tennis is, is a honeymoon period anyway haha.

 

[dimkin]

yeah ... good luck with that ... I hurt my shoulder doing that ... now back to good old Fernando Gonzalez wannabe shots

 

[Shroud]

Hey Look! No vid! How did I know? Murray should try feds FH IMHO.

 

[Taiss]

I thought I was the only one hhhhhh

 

[buruan]

I would bet money that your forehand doesn't look anything like Rogers.
As many of the posters above have mentioned, its a pattern to come here and brag about how quickly one learns Tennis, how fast one serves, how consistent one is etc.

Fact is, after 9 month of Tennis you aren't even playing the same game as some low level college players, let alone world class pros.
What you consider incredible speed of your shots is likely considerably slower than some warm-up shots for higher level players.

Just play a player a couple of levels above you and tell him not to take it easy on you, you'll know afterwards that you're not hitting a great forehand, that you're not hitting a great backhand, that your serve lacks speed, spin and placement, that your overheads are too weak your volleys too high and slow, and that overall you are a beginner tennis player, nothing more nothing less.

Play the game, take lessons, hit balls and enjoy the journey. Dont set yourself goals you cant possibly achieve.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

OP - Bienvenue and good luck on your journey.

New poster, big claims. Its a tired pattern here. Betting there is zero vid on the way...

Didn’t read the whole thing. Call me when you land a singles spot on a decent 3.0 team.

A touch harsh guys. Way to welcome a new poster. Feel like I've discovered a wormhole to the GPP Discussion.

 

[SoBad]

OP - Bienvenue and good luck on your journey.
A touch harsh guys. Way to welcome a new poster. Feel like I've discovered a wormhole to the GPP Discussion.

You really think this was a person? Looked like a Swiss computer program foruming bot developed by a bored summer intern to me.

 

[sureshs]

Why is everyone making fun of him? I have always hit my forehand like Federer - it just comes naturally to me. I had to go out of the way to incorporate some WTA elements because I find the Federer forehand two wristy and not powerful enough. You must have seen how he was often leaving it short and weak in the USO final.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

You really think this was a person? Looked like a Swiss computer program foruming bot developed by a bored summer intern to me.

You may be correct. I had skimmed thru and had only looked at 1 video and did not notice that all 3 were OTI with Florian. Hh posted the same thing in another forum. Will have to see if more is forthcoming from this individual.

 

[Shroud]

You may be correct. I had skimmed thru and had only looked at 1 video and did not notice that all 3 were OTI with Florian. Hh posted the same thing in another forum. Will have to see if more is forthcoming from this individual.

It sounded like an MMI post to me. That deal about the vid was because he never posts them.... Hoping I was wrong but looks like not

 

[thatguymattin]

Survival of the fittest in these forums, man... everyone's so mean. xD

 

[LoboLaw1984]

I bet my forehand would be pretty good too if i could "emulate" roger.

 

[watungga]

.....So I will keep practicing this forehand until I can make it consistent, and hopefully make my own highspeed video-recordings of it in the coming months....

Let's wait for the OP's 4th post in this forum. It maybe a video.... of Wawrinka maybe.... or Murray...

 

[donquijote]

Is your uncle's name Toni? and your real age 29? lol
A video would be really nice although I doubt the OP would do it after so many jealous member attacked him haha. Sometimes you think you do something like a pro and then you record it and watch and the whole world collapse. Happened to me with the serves.

 

[GuyClinch]

^^^hitting with the style of Roger might be an okay thing to say.. Emulating implies that to observer your forehand looks like Rogers.. doubtful. For example - Ariana Grande can emulate Christian Aguerila fairly well. Most regular people cannot - maybe they can emulate her singing style..

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

It sounded like an MMI post to me. That deal about the vid was because he never posts them.... Hoping I was wrong but looks like not

Refresh my memory. Who/what is MMI?

 

[moonballs]

What do you mean by the "rolling forward and upward" part?

 

[Shroud]

Refresh my memory. Who/what is MMI?

Murray My Inspiration

He was a rather trollish poster and this would something that he would write. He would boast and boast but never post any vids just excuses about why he couldn't. But there was one that was a rather weak serve iirc

 

[LoboLaw1984]

Why is everyone making fun of him? I have always hit my forehand like Federer - it just comes naturally to me. I had to go out of the way to incorporate some WTA elements because I find the Federer forehand two wristy and not powerful enough. You must have seen how he was often leaving it short and weak in the USO final.

You have always hit your forehand like Federer, huh?

 

[LoboLaw1984]

Ok, let's see a video, Roger

 

[Shroud]

Ok, let's see a video, Roger

Please dont feed the trolls....

 

[Taveren]

I would bet money that your forehand doesn't look anything like Rogers.
As many of the posters above have mentioned, its a pattern to come here and brag about how quickly one learns Tennis, how fast one serves, how consistent one is etc.

Fact is, after 9 month of Tennis you aren't even playing the same game as some low level college players, let alone world class pros.
What you consider incredible speed of your shots is likely considerably slower than some warm-up shots for higher level players.

Just play a player a couple of levels above you and tell him not to take it easy on you, you'll know afterwards that you're not hitting a great forehand, that you're not hitting a great backhand, that your serve lacks speed, spin and placement, that your overheads are too weak your volleys too high and slow, and that overall you are a beginner tennis player, nothing more nothing less.

Play the game, take lessons, hit balls and enjoy the journey. Dont set yourself goals you cant possibly achieve.

you are not in a position to tell him what goals to set. he can set it as high as he wants but the question is if he achieves it or not.

 

[dimkin]

Hi all.....this is my first post.
Sorry if its a bit long to read.....just have to get it out.

I'm from a table tennis background (10 years regional, national and collegiate levels)....that was a few years ago...before that mainly chess and soccer (both at amateur regional levels).

I just picked up tennis about 9 months ago at the age of 33 and I am being coached by my uncle. He has tennis coaching experience on college level, and is coaching me for fun, but is noticing I'm progressing very rapidly.

I really don't want to brag......but I consider myself a very quick learner, very agile, flexible, extremely focused and have explosive power. Now just constantly training myself now with my coach and whoever I can play with, spending about 8 hours a week (while working on my Phd) just seeing how far I can get at this age....To be honest I'm literally addicted to this sport and it feels like its activating parts of my brain that I never new existed.

What I'm also doing is studying slow-motion videos of different shots from different pro players.
And what I'm noticing is that its possible according to your abilities to actually incorporate different shots from different players.

After studying Roger Federer's forehand for more than 1 hour in slow-motion, until I was convince that I had completely memorized every frame....I have started to emulate the forehand since last week.

Me and my coach are in shock at the results, lol.......where do I start?

Three main points I have discovered about this forehand:

1. The rolling upward-forward motion that I am making after the unit turn and the arm swing creates incredible amount of speed on my shots....Its like the velocity equals the swing + the rolling through snapping motion (btw wrist is NOT actually snapping).

2. The combination of the unit turn coiling of my body + the swing + the roll through motion + the extreme velocity I am able to produce, is helping me keep the balls very low above of the net when I want it to. The control on the height of the ball is amazing.....Its like due to the velocity, the balls are just staying lower if that makes any sense.

3. When you are able to sync this entire forehand motion, it feels as if there is no strong effort being exerted, there is no tiredness in my arms or body, despite the extreme velocity of the balls I'm shooting. I can only describe it as some kind of sling shot affect....where I am like omg, how did I do that :0.

Now I know that one of the key in tennis is consistency.....So I will keep practicing this forehand until I can make it consistent, and hopefully make my own highspeed video-recordings of it in the coming months.

One of the difficulties I have found, is that because I am using a semi-eastern/eastern grip for this forehand, I need to learn how to shift from that grip to my back-hand grip, which I guess is a semi-western grip (punching motion).

Furthermore, I'm trying to emulate a Stan Wawrinka type of one handed back-hand (on the flat and top-spin shots). I have a kind of similar body frame as Wawrinka.... very muscular legs, short thick neck, lightly protruding chest cage (not barrel, but almost), despite being shorter than him. The back-hand starts with my really strong legs, which help me coil the unit turn and torso muscles, with posterior forearm muscles feeling really tens as a rock.

Does anyone have any tips on shifting from Semi-Eastern to Semi-Western grip when shifting from forehand to backhand ? Is it just an issue of keep practicing?

And has anyone successfully emulated some of the pro-players shots as I have mentioned above?

Hope I have not bored you guys...thanks.

Please post a vid

 

[buruan]

you are not in a position to tell him what goals to set. he can set it as high as he wants but the question is if he achieves it or not.

I am very much so in this position, after all this is called the Tips/Instructions board, hence the tip, I am neither his parent nor his teacher so all my words are just what they are meant to be, advise rather than orders.
If he listens to me, or tells me to get bent is another question.

 

[Taveren]

I am very much so in this position, after all this is called the Tips/Instructions board, hence the tip, I am neither his parent nor his teacher so all my words are just what they are meant to be, advise rather than orders.
If he listens to me, or tells me to get bent is another question.

No you are not, no one can tell anyone that they cannot set their goals too high that they cannot achieve it. You do not know if he has the talent, the drive, the potential, etc. sorry buddy that statement is really wrong.

 

[buruan]

No you are not, no one can tell anyone that they cannot set their goals too high that they cannot achieve it. You do not know if he has the talent, the drive, the potential, etc. sorry buddy that statement is really wrong.

I have no interest in a war of words over something that menial. You can disagree with me all you want, just as I can disagree with you.

 

[Taveren]

@buruan Its normally called "discussion" fyi

 

[VexlanderPrime]

How are you emulating Stan's 1HBH with a Semi-Western grip? Wut?

If you are using Fed's FH grip (eastern/modified-eastern FH) and Stan's 1HBH (Eastern BH) your grip change is literally 1 bevel...

Regardless I wouldn't emulate either of those shots. Fed's eastern-FH is a dying breed for a reason. He makes it work due to unique skill and an ability to take alot of balls early. Theres also a reason why only ONE guy hits truly epic 1HBH shots. Also, unique.

You'd probably see far better results with SW-FH and a 2HBH. But, you'll FEEL cooler playing "like Fed" and Stan so... go for it. Probably gimping your ceiling tho.

 

[MikeLawn]

Here is my video. I'm total rec player, but I tried emulate You-Know-Who That's why I post in this thread.
Weather was a little windy, no public tennis wall at my city (I'd have to rent clay tennis court if I want one). Here I used rebound tennis trainer. Sorry for the poor quality.

Mike

 

[VexlanderPrime]

That really doesn't look like that trainer is helping you. Even a brick wall can work. Hitting with a partner is best.

 

[GuyClinch]

Here is my video. I'm total rec player, but I tried emulate You-Know-Who That's why I post in this thread.
Weather was a little windy, no public tennis wall at my city (I'd have to rent clay tennis court if I want one). Here I used rebound tennis trainer. Sorry for the poor quality.

Mike

You kinda look like you are slapping at it..Fed hits with a lot more rotation..

You have to turn your shoulders to load your racquet - really swing way more through the ball while turning your shoulders the other way..

This video is really good for the forehand:

 

[LeeD]

I hope HHamster has a better forehand than the above.
Any resembalance to RF would be two legs, two hands, one head, and that's about all.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Here is my video. I'm total rec player, but I tried emulate You-Know-Who That's why I post in this thread.
Weather was a little windy, no public tennis wall at my city (I'd have to rent clay tennis court if I want one). Here I used rebound tennis trainer. Sorry for the poor quality...

Are you serious?

Nope, have no idea who you are trying to emulate. Not to be overly harsh but there are so many flaws with your forehand, it's difficult to know where to start. It is waaay too wristy. You are flipping your wrist (extension) on your backswing and you flick it forward too much on your forward swing. You do not coil your body enough and your weight appears to be on your heels most of the time -- so much so that you are falling back on almost all of your FH shots. Your forehand swing is almost completely underarm and resembles a bowling motion more than a FH tennis stroke.

It also reminds me quite a bit of a forehand (underarm) badminton high service action (see images below). You are actually employing a lot more wrist action for your tennis FH than a good badminton serve would. Your racket head is still lower than your hand at contact -- you are coming underneath the ball. The racket head, as it moves forward, should come up so that it is (nearly) at the same height as your hand at contact. After contact the racket head should rise above the hand.

Badminton serve:

The backhand mechanics, while also flawed, is actually better than your forehand. Needs a bit of grip change and more of a follow thru. However, you should fix the FH first -- before your flawed mechanics become too much of a habit to overcome. I suggest some lessons with a decent coach to correct some of your flaws since watching videos does not seem to be working for you.