Federer's brilliance starts with his Anticipation...

[sarpmas]

I think there are three main components that constitute to Federer's brilliance in tennis, in the order of:
1. Anticipation
2. Footwork
3. Court sense

By the way, these components are real talent and can't be taught.

It has to start with Anticipation. How often do you see Federer gets wrong-footed? It almost seems like he already knew where his opponent's next shot will be even before his opponent has hit the shot. I reckoned his hand-eye coordination is even better than Agassi which allows him to take the ball even earlier than Agassi.

Next will be his footwork. This is a consequence of his great anticipaton. His movement is so fluid that he always set himself up nicely for the next shot. He hardly hits a shot that is off-balance or rushed. This ability gives him full control over his shots and is especially significant when he is forced to be on the run. This is why he is so good defensively. Hitting a great shot when you are setup nicely is nothing. I'm sure many of you could hit a highlight reel fh or bh when you are setup properly. However, the real skill is whether you can hit the same shot when you are put on the run. This is where his amazing footwork comes into play.

The final piece is his unparallel court sense. This is the main reason why Federer produces so many amazing shots. Every shot he hits, he hits with a purpose. He doesn't just hit the ball back, he hits it to a place where you can't attack the ball easily. It neutralizes his opponent's offensive shot and allows him to seize control back almost immediately and turns defense into offense like a flick of a switch. His amazing court sense also gives him the ability to create all those unbelievable jaw-dropping angle-shots and screaming winners. He may not volley much, but his success rate at the net is still very high because he always comes in at the right time with great approach shots.

With these three components, Federer just builds his tennis from there. Until someone as talented as Federer comes along, he'll continue to torture his peers with his sublime tennis.

 

[tricky]

By the way, these components are real talent and can't be taught.

I think you make good points, but I've always said the major problem with the thinking in the States is overemphasis on maximizing power and athleticism/condition over those things you mentioned.

For example, I've Russian female tennis players are said to receieve some form of ballet training while they're learning the strokes. As a result, not only is their footwork crisp, precise and flowing, but they almost always mantain excellent balance and weight transfer moving toward the ball. During the wooden racket era, tennis players actually to think in terms of point construction, varying shots and producing angles in order to defeat the opponent. Or if they rushed the net, they had to have excellent anticipation in order to properly volley.

The meme here is that the only player who can defeat Federer on the hard courts is somebody who can overpower him. People vaunt Safin for that, while not considering how good his point construction is, or his anticipation skills, or his ability to move around shots. And he's average to good in all those aspects, but nowhere near a Federer. Or Agassi.

 

[caulcano]

The number of times Federer is able to hit his half-volleys is unbelievable (like a squash shot). Not just hitting the half-volleys in play but as outright winners. Awesome.

 

[mentalcase]

Federers brilliance is his vision.

 

[Jet Rink]

You've hit it. Anticpation ='s concentration and Fed's a genius at it. Great post.

Jet

 

[Supernatural_Serve]

By the way, these components are real talent and can't be taught.

They can be taught and improved upon.

One can learn to better anticipate their opponents actions by focusing their eyes on an opponents movement and preparation and moving accordingly.

One can do drills to improve footwork, balance, and quickness.

And court sense is too abstract for me to comment on.

The talent part comes from how effortlessly, consistently, and automatically one can do these things in matches.

 

[fastdunn]

I think there are three main components that constitute to Federer's brilliance in tennis, in the order of:
1. Anticipation
2. Footwork
3. Court sense
.

Yes, I'm amazed by his non-athletic dimensions.
I would also add (very strongly)

4. gifted hand

This guy also has McEnroe like hand. Hard to explain but Rios also had
it and relatively less known Arazi also had it.

Federer's athleticism is also no slouch. His well balanced game in these
"other" dimension allows him to make a very high domination in today's
somewhat slowed, relatively homogenised pro tour conditions.
If ATP tour condition gets faster, there might be some players who can
over-power him occasionally but at this point he is unbeatable.

 

[Budgerigar]

By the way, these components are real talent and can't be taught.

I 9/10 agree. also nalb is equal of fed in court sense but only him.

 

[dozu]

Federers brilliance is his vision.

I was thinking about why Federer is so smooth in his strokes and his movement.

I think the stroke smoothness comes from his superior hand-eye coordination. If you watch his FH in normal speed or in super slow-mo, the acceleration starts from the very beginning thru the impact. But if you look at any other pro, their acceleration is slower at the beginning of the forward swing, and there is usually a final 'jerk' into the ball.

So what does this tell us? imagining if the ball is placed on a 'T' and each pro is asked to strike a FH with as much power as possible, what would happen? that final 'jerk' will be gone, everybody will have a smooth acceleration into the ball.

You see where I am going with this? Federer sees the ball much earlier than everybody else! by 'see' I mean judging the incoming ball speed/trajectory, and calculate the impact point, and the TIME that the ball arrives at the impact point.

For him, the ball is T'ed up even when it's still far away from the impact point, which allows him more time to accelerate the racket, hence with a smooth swing.

in contrast, the other players 'see' the ball later, they can only calculate the impact point accurately when the ball is closer, and they are forced to 'jerk' and the last milliseconds to get the racket head up to speed.

Similarly, Federer's smooth movements can also attribute to his 'seeing' the ball, not only with visual input, but also with great anticipation.

 

[fastdunn]

I 9/10 agree. also nalb is equal of fed in court sense but only him.

If it's just for court sense, I'm more amazed by Nalbandian even more.
Nalbandian does not strike me as a particularly fast guy.
But I have no idea how he manages to move his opponents around
without moving himself....

 

[chiru]

yeah ill have to agree on nalbandian. if only that dude wud lay off the beer and chips, hed be sooo amazing. he's such a talent as is.

 

[The tennis guy]

If it's just for court sense, I'm more amazed by Nalbandian even more.
Nalbandian does not strike me as a particularly fast guy.
But I have no idea how he manages to move his opponents around
without moving himself....

Because Nalbandian takes the ball early, can change direction or pace of the ball at will.

 

[fastdunn]

Because Nalbandian takes the ball early, can change direction or pace of the ball at will.

Yeah,he does that. But there seems to be something more than that.
He seems to know all the scenario to keep him control.
He seems to know where the best spot to direct the ball in a given
situation so that he continues to be in control.
That's "court sense" we're talking about here.

 

[ipodtennispro]

Federer's pressure

I think there are three main components that constitute to Federer's brilliance in tennis, in the order of:
1. Anticipation
2. Footwork
3. Court sense

This is a great post. I would like to also add that tennis is an open ended sport, unlike many other sports like golf, archery, pool, darts, etc. Therefore, every shot you make is an experiment and there is no guarantee that the ball is going to go in every time, no matter how much you practice it.

With these other so called sports you can practice your techniques differently then in tennis because your not moving and hitting while making contact. That's why it makes no sense to watch slow speed video, frame by frame shots of Federer's forehand as you or I will never have THAT forehand. There are too many variables like the speed of the ball, the spin, the height you make contact, the point of contact you make away from your body, the speed of your swing, the length of your take back, etc. The list goes on. What makes better sense is for everyone to take slow motion, frame-by-frame shots of their OWN forehand and see where the flaws are and then make their corrections.

Or, watch the strategies and tactics of Federer as we can all learn from him. He plays a high risk/reward game and it seems to pay off. But he makes these incredible stretch volleys and awkward last minute maneuvers that cannot be taught. But like this post is all about, we should be working on all these intangibles with our students. Here is another one:

http://iws.punahou.edu/user/lcouillard/Federer's_pressure.m4v


ipodtennispros.com

 

[noeledmonds]

By the way, these components are real talent and can't be taught.

QUOTE]

I think good footwork can be taught. When I used to play tennis I had terible footwork, but with coaching I developed my footwork and court positioning considerably.

 

[ChefJoe]

Nobody's mentioned how he watches the ball!
I see few other players "watch it disappear" Next time you're on the court, try and evaluate how well you do that and then actually watch the ball UNTIL IT'S GONE! Not where you are hitting it... Decide that before the ball gets to you and commit to that shot.
It's amazing how many more balls go in and where you want them with that simple suggestion.

 

[ipodtennispro]

Watching the ball

Nobody's mentioned how he watches the ball!
I see few other players "watch it disappear" Next time you're on the court, try and evaluate how well you do that and then actually watch the ball UNTIL IT'S GONE! Not where you are hitting it... Decide that before the ball gets to you and commit to that shot.
It's amazing how many more balls go in and where you want them with that simple suggestion.

This should be another thread. How many people believe that the pros watch the ball until it makes contact?

ipodtennispros.com

 

[FedFan_2007]

Federer's anticipation allows him to start his swing a fraction of second early which gives him a huge advantage.

 

[ipodtennispro]

Anticipation

Federer's anticipation allows him to start his swing a fraction of second early which gives him a huge advantage.

Same as in football, anticipation is the key and confidence it what your abilities are. Take for example Terry Glenn and TO. Terry G can layout beautifully and time the catches like not too many others can do. TO uses his size and strength. He is not graceful like Glenn. Two totally different styles, however, the quarterback has that window and it's up to the receivers too get there. Look at those two dropped balls by New England. That was the game, dropped balls like TO. Fractions of a second slip of the brain.

Fed does anticipate better than everyone else and when it gets there he is even more incredible. CONFIDENCE. Right now Gonzales has CONFIDENCE. One slight problem with everyone who plays Federer; their records against him. Gonzales is 0-9 against him. Memories burn deep. But, records are meant to be broken. Good Luck Gonzo!!!!

ipodtennispros.com

 

[whistleway]

great post. watching several slow-mo of his matches, he thinks very strategically. almost all the shots that he hits on neutral points has a specific purpose unlike others who just hang in there.

and on top of that, the biggest improvement i see on fed's game is point construction.

 

[tricky]

I think good footwork can be taught. When I used to play tennis I had terible footwork, but with coaching I developed my footwork and court positioning considerably.

If you can find early clips of Federer (after Sampras, foot-2003), one thing that really surprises is how stunningly average his footwork used to be. Foot speed was there, but he didn't get really down on his BH side and he'd make all sorts of FH errors. His balance wasn't exquisite, and his point construction was usual go-big-or-go-home.

Other thing you notice, is how badly he took some of his losses. Considering that the top players of his generation -- Safin, Hewitt, and Roddick -- got to the top before he did, yes his talent was godlike but he still must have worked on his game obsessively in order to get where he is now.

 

[chess9]

They can be taught and improved upon.

One can learn to better anticipate their opponents actions by focusing their eyes on an opponents movement and preparation and moving accordingly.

One can do drills to improve footwork, balance, and quickness.

And court sense is too abstract for me to comment on.

The talent part comes from how effortlessly, consistently, and automatically one can do these things in matches.

I agree.

Footwork, speed (quickness), are improveable and by large margins. Even Murray improved his footwork and speed in the last year. Many young males don't have full control of their bodies until they are into their 20s. But, the right training is going to make a difference.

Federer has great anticipation, but so do many other players. The elements of his winning are many, not just a few things like anticipation, speed, and balance. He does almost everything at a high level. Perhaps his backhand is the only shot that lets him down, but rarely. He is also a very smart player. People underestimate the importance of intelligence in tennis. Brad Gilbert had mediocre physical skills, but played to a very high level because he thinks at a higher level than most players.

These are nothing more than my opinions, and they are probably wrong, but you didn't pay for them.

-Robert