Federer needs to switch to a two-handed forehand

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
With all the unforced errors, mishits, shanks, etc. that Federer has been making off of his forehand all year, he really needs to switch to a two-handed forehand, because as we all know here, using two hands on the racquet is the only way to cut down on unforced errors and mishits. His one-handed backhand is just fine so he should keep that but start using a two-handed forehand. If he does that he should be able to beat Nadal and Djokovic consistently, even on clay. :eek:

So all he has to do is keep his 90 sq. in. racquet and his great one-handed backhand, but switch immediately to a two-handed forehand and all of his problems will be solved. :)
 

Cup8489

G.O.A.T.
i suppose this is the best way to stop all these types of threads happening, by posting one that is completely ridiculous :)
 

Vision84

Hall of Fame
I still vote for the 2-handed backhand. He knows it is his weak shot so he feels pressured to run around his backhand and hit a forehand. If he had a solid 2-handed backhand that is comfortable with high balls he won't have to run around it so much and therfore less pressure will be on him. :)
 

Mick

Legend
federer is too proud to change anything. He is going to play the same way with the same equipment the next time they meet.
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
I still vote for the 2-handed backhand. He knows it is his weak shot so he feels pressured to run around his backhand and hit a forehand. If he had a solid 2-handed backhand that is comfortable with high balls he won't have to run around it so much and therfore less pressure will be on him. :)
Agreed though the 2 hander isn't bullet proof either. It is a slightly better option against a player like Nadal though.
 

Fedace

Banned
Federer needs to switch to bigger head racket. perfect evidence is the fact that he strings his racket at 45lbs, very low tension. use the bigger head and string it tighter to get more control
 
Yeah, switch to a two hander just to win on clay. Then we'd see his hardcourt and grass play drop considerably.

I think his backhand is okay. I don't like when he runs around it when there isn't time to do so. He gives up a lot of court like that.

He needs to go bigger on the forehand side when there's time. I love the short angle forehand he's been hitting. He broke Nadal twice in the first set and had a 4-0 lead in the second. The only problem today was in his mind.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
i suppose this is the best way to stop all these types of threads happening, by posting one that is completely ridiculous :)
I don't think it's any more ridiculous than all the threads here that suggest that Federer should switch to a two-handed backhand or to a bigger racquet. The guy is the #1 player in the world and gets to the final in just about every clay court tournament that he enters, and usually wins them if a guy named Nadal is not also in the final, and he does this with is current racquet and his one-handed backhand.

I think next I will start a thread suggesting that all the two-handed pro players should switch to a one-handed backhand and a smaller racquet because none of the two-handed pro players that all use bigger racquets seem to be able to beat Nadal on clay. In fact, the only guy to beat Nadal on clay in the last 98 straight matches has a one-handed backhand and a small racquet (Federer), so that must be the solution to beating Nadal on clay, right? ;)
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
How many 2-handed backhands are as talented as Federer? Davydenko got very close in Rome and he is no Federer either as he gets beat consistently by him.
Exactly!! It's not whether you use a 1HBH or a 2HBH, it's how talented you are. That's why all the threads that suggest Federer switch to a 2HBH are ridiculous.
 
You assume that Federer's talent would ooze as freely through a two hander as it does with a one. It doesn't necessarily work like that.

Nadal hits his lefty forehand into his opponents backhands. Even the best backhands, one or two hands, can't handle that for the length of a match on clay.

Federer just needs to pick his time to go up the line with the backhand, which he does very well. He also doesn't slice nearly enough as he should. He only seems to slice when completely on the defense.
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
Exactly!! It's not whether you use a 1HBH or a 2HBH, it's how talented you are. That's why all the threads that suggest Federer switch to a 2HBH are ridiculous.
Give someone with the talent of Fed and have a two-handed backhand and they have a good shot of knocking off Nadal. Fed gets a lot of free points off his serve you know so if he could match Nadal from the baseline, he would win. Davydenko gets a lot less free points off his serve but does better or close to the same at the baseline compared to Fed against Nadal.
 

miniRafa386

Hall of Fame
Yeah, switch to a two hander just to win on clay. Then we'd see his hardcourt and grass play drop considerably.

I think his backhand is okay. I don't like when he runs around it when there isn't time to do so. He gives up a lot of court like that.

He needs to go bigger on the forehand side when there's time. I love the short angle forehand he's been hitting. He broke Nadal twice in the first set and had a 4-0 lead in the second. The only problem today was in his mind.

perfectly said
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Give someone with the talent of Fed and have a two-handed backhand and they have a good shot of knocking off Nadal. Fed gets a lot of free points off his serve you know so if he could match Nadal from the baseline, he would win. Davydenko gets a lot less free points off his serve but does better or close to the same at the baseline compared to Fed against Nadal.
Huh? What were the scores of the semis and the final again?
 

TheShaun

Hall of Fame
With all the unforced errors, mishits, shanks, etc. that Federer has been making off of his forehand all year, he really needs to switch to a two-handed forehand, because as we all know here, using two hands on the racquet is the only way to cut down on unforced errors and mishits. His one-handed backhand is just fine so he should keep that but start using a two-handed forehand. If he does that he should be able to beat Nadal and Djokovic consistently, even on clay. :eek:

So all he has to do is keep his 90 sq. in. racquet and his great one-handed backhand, but switch immediately to a two-handed forehand and all of his problems will be solved. :)

Just in off the wire:

"Marion "Boom-Boom" Bartoli to coach Roger Federer." When asked about her coaching techniques "Boom-Boom" replied, "two hands are better than one."
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
Huh? What were the scores of the semis and the final again?
Yeah true but Davydenko gets no free points off his serve. It's almost a disadvantage for him to serve. Nadal had to mix it up against Davydenko as his backhand is very solid. His better shot actually. The score doesn't show how close each game was.
 
Give someone with the talent of Fed and have a two-handed backhand and they have a good shot of knocking off Nadal. Fed gets a lot of free points off his serve you know so if he could match Nadal from the baseline, he would win. Davydenko gets a lot less free points off his serve but does better or close to the same at the baseline compared to Fed against Nadal.

Completely rearrange your game, a game that has won you 12 grand slams and countless other titles, for the pursuit of 'perhaps' beating one guy on one surface? Ridiculous.

Look at how close Federer was to making that match his. He had a slew of breaks. I would have liked to have seen some adjustments: more slices, bigger forehands, and more approaches.

I think he'll have an even better showing at Rome.
 

grizzly4life

Professional
good lord, federer's matches are like a free commercial for 95 sq inch faces? does anyone seriously think he wouldn't do better with a larger racquet face??
 

soyizgood

G.O.A.T.
Federer needs to bring some midplus and oversize racquets when playing Nadal. His "reach" advantage with the OHBH isn't helping when he faces Nadal on clay. Perhaps Fed should look at the Big Bubba 28 so his "reach" advantage can be better-utilized.

At least hire Seles if he's looking at a 2HFH. She's much better-looking and actually has won with it. Too bad Mirka would get jealous real fast.

2HBHers have now won 10 of the last 12 Master's Series events:
Nadal 4
Djokovic 2
Davydenko 2
Nalbandian 2
Fed + all the other OHBHers 2
 

ninman

Hall of Fame
The only "change" Federer needs to make is in his head. He needs to see that he can beat Nadal and that the match could very easily have gone his way today.
 

janipyt05

Professional
It looked lie Fed finally found the answer going 4-0 up but then Fed made the mistake of thinking he had gotten himself a 3rd set, played some horrible tennis to hand Rafa 2 breaks back and Rafa had the momentum and ran with it till he took the match. It was nice to see Fed in full flight in the 2nd set but as before Fed can not seem to sustain he dominance when playing Rafal which is strange to say really.
 

quest01

Hall of Fame
I think Federer should stick with the one handed backhand but switch to a larger head size because he shanks too many balls.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
good lord, federer's matches are like a free commercial for 95 sq inch faces? does anyone seriously think he wouldn't do better with a larger racquet face??
Yes, I do. If bigger is better, do you think Federer would win more with a 200 sq. in. racquet?

His smaller racquet is what allows him to do the things that he does, which most other pros can't seem to be able to do even with their bigger racquets. So why should he switch to something that the people who lose to him use? :confused: Shouldn't it be the other way around? Maybe if Nadal switched to a smaller racquet, he'd won the last two Wimbledons?
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Completely rearrange your game, a game that has won you 12 grand slams and countless other titles, for the pursuit of 'perhaps' beating one guy on one surface? Ridiculous.

Look at how close Federer was to making that match his. He had a slew of breaks. I would have liked to have seen some adjustments: more slices, bigger forehands, and more approaches.

I think he'll have an even better showing at Rome.
Especially approaches to Nadal's forehand. Federer was too stubborn with approaching only to Nadal's backhand even when Nadal was standing in his backhand corner just waiting for it. Federer should have been approaching down the line to force Nadal to have to hit running forehand passes which are tougher than just ripping standing backhand passes. Also, Nadal hits his backhand passes much flatter and harder than his forehand passes which makes it much more difficult for Federer to volley. Nadals' forehand pass is much loopier with much more topspin which means they go much higher over the net and if Federer can close in on the net he would have easy high volleys to hit down on and put away. If I were playing Nadal, I'd make him run to his forehand side and try and pass me at the net. I think my odds of winning the point would be much better than hitting crosscourt approach shots right to him so that he can rip his backhand past me.
 
Especially approaches to Nadal's forehand. Federer was too stubborn with approaching only to Nadal's backhand even when Nadal was standing in his backhand corner just waiting for it. Federer should have been approaching down the line to force Nadal to have to hit running forehand passes which are tougher than just ripping standing backhand passes. Also, Nadal hits his backhand passes much flatter and harder than his forehand passes which makes it much more difficult for Federer to volley. Nadals' forehand pass is much loopier with much more topspin which means they go much higher over the net and if Federer can close in on the net he would have easy high volleys to hit down on and put away. If I were playing Nadal, I'd make him run to his forehand side and try and pass me at the net. I think my odds of winning the point would be much better than hitting crosscourt approach shots right to him so that he can rip his backhand past me.

Agreed. Nadal can shorten his backswing and still effectively hit a backhand pass. The forehand is a different story. I also like the drop shot. Nadal plays so far behind the baseline, and although he's fast, Federer can still volley the reply if/when Nadal gets to it.

From what I saw, Federer did well the times that he hit his forehand down the line and approached. That seemed like a good strategy.
 

ten15

New User
Federer should NEVER switch to a 2 hander. Making the switch is going to be really hard. It is not like he can instantly hit the 2 hander. Sure he can probably learn it faster than most of us, but its still going to take up a lot of his time which can be used practicing more important things. Also, it's not a sure thing that he will develop an agassi or nalbandian backhand. More likely, it will still be his weaker side especially since he has not been working on his 2 hander since he was a kid. It may even turn out to be a Roddick backhand! :O Don;t forget, Federer's backhand is his weaker side, but it definitely is not a bad unreliable shot. Compared to many other pros, Federer's backhand is superior. Most importantly, Federer would not look like Federer with a 2 hander!
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
Fed really needs a rainy, low bouncing day to beat Nadal imo. Though Fed can hang with Nadal due to his serve, it is tough to control the ball with the balls constantly going above his shoulder. Yes it is impossible for him to switch to a two-handed backhand but I'm just saying that would be a better option against Nadal's wicked topspin on high bouncing clay. Ferrer and Davydenko both had some success against Nadal but not even close to the game that Fed has. (weaker serve, weaker forehand, and etc)
 

Nadal_Freak

Banned
Federer shouldn't let the ball get that high. He should be taking the ball early.
That's another way to do it but the ball bounces on clay are less predictable than hard courts. Fed also has a smaller racquet so I think it will cause many shanks if he tries to do this on clay.
 
D

Deleted member 25923

Guest
Federer needs to get that "wasp sting" checked out. It's growing with each match he plays.

Actually, it's darkened, similar to a blister, so hopefully it will be gone in a week or two.
 
With all the unforced errors, mishits, shanks, etc. that Federer has been making off of his forehand all year, he really needs to switch to a two-handed forehand, because as we all know here, using two hands on the racquet is the only way to cut down on unforced errors and mishits. His one-handed backhand is just fine so he should keep that but start using a two-handed forehand. If he does that he should be able to beat Nadal and Djokovic consistently, even on clay. :eek:

So all he has to do is keep his 90 sq. in. racquet and his great one-handed backhand, but switch immediately to a two-handed forehand and all of his problems will be solved. :)

you're an idiot, i'm sick of this frame size ****! all you guys do it criticize.
 

dh003i

Legend
Fed really needs a rainy, low bouncing day to beat Nadal imo. Though Fed can hang with Nadal due to his serve, it is tough to control the ball with the balls constantly going above his shoulder. Yes it is impossible for him to switch to a two-handed backhand but I'm just saying that would be a better option against Nadal's wicked topspin on high bouncing clay. Ferrer and Davydenko both had some success against Nadal but not even close to the game that Fed has. (weaker serve, weaker forehand, and etc)

I'm glad you put that in there, because initially, it seriously sounded like you were suggesting Fed switch to a 2-handed backhand, which would be lunacy. Although I'm sure he can hit it, and probably better than most pros, it wouldn't be as good as his 1HBH.

Federer needs to play the way Noah did against Wilander.
 

Tempest344

Professional
Federer needs to switch to a babolat during the clay swing
he will be able to generate more spin and will not have so many mishits

He then should switch back in time for wimbledon

likewise Nadal should switch to a small frame for the hardcourt season..he will hit a flatter ball and it will not sit up as much
 

aimr75

Hall of Fame
federer needs a nadal voodoo doll

funny you mention it.

feddollcp9.jpg

________
Lincoln continental mark v picture
 
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sureshs

Bionic Poster
Federer blew away huge leads with unforced errors on his forehand. Some of his backhand shots were quite weak. He needs to switch to a 95 sq inch.

Nadal will get better with every match on clay. Djokovic will be back for revenge. So will Nalbandian. Under these tight circumstances, Federer cannot keep hoping for Djokovic retirements or Nadal slow starts.

He should start by cutting down on unforced errors on his forehand. His 1-handed backhand can never really be a weapon because, well, it is 1-handed. He should get a bigger head size to make his life easier.
 

Golden Retriever

Hall of Fame
What a lame attempt to attack the 2HBH by using scarcasm against the 2HFH! The 2HFH is a total different animal, not even on the same food chain.
 
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