Federer's decline is 90% mental

[sarag]

Watching him today, i felt that he was desperate to end the point as soon as the ball came to his forehand side. His backhand has no sting, it's a huge hole in his game. It's not just about being one-handed, Kohlschreiber's bh today was a lot more impressive.
Other than the conditioning mentioned above that he needs to add, he should go to a more powerful racket just to get more sting on his backhand. Once he starts hitting winners with his bh, he wouldn't be so desperate on the court with the forehand.
Take a year off, and get a 2-handed bh if that's what it takes. It's a very solid and easy shot to pick up i would think.

 

[Magnus]

I loved Fed's match, it was comedy gold! The Eurosport commentary was priceless as well. "And he hits at him again!? What's going on? He's a highly intelligent man, surely he knows what's going on...".

Fed just went at Robredo for so many points it became laughable, I think even Tommy himself was rather amused.

I actually liked the agression Fed showed in the 1st set. It was incosistent, but he was so aggressive and hit the ball really hard. After losing the set he lost himself and Tommy took advantage. That had to be one of the funniest matches I've ever seen. Tactics-wise - Fed is brain dead at this point.

 

[DragonBlaze]

Fed sounded in his presser like he feels he needs more training as opposed to more matches.

If he still wants and/or feels the need to compete with the top three guys, he should take 3-4 months off and concentrate on training. Call Li Na's coach----ask for her transforming regimen....call Agassi's old conditioning coach--ask for a program....come up with some program that is designed to add some explosiveness and stamina.

He also should experiment with new rackets under quantifiable conditions and see if a new frame might possibly add some power.

Then, come back fresh and start some practice matches and work on tactics. See if he can regain any of the explosiveness that he has lost. See if he still has the legs to camp on the baseline, take the ball on the rise, etc.

I also would also consider bringing in someone like Cahill.

In the end, it may not work...father time may simply have caught up with the maestro---but it might just buy him a couple more years of competing with the top three. If he can regain some of the strength and endurance, the confidence will follow.

What you say is absolutely 100% true (and I must say a pleasure to read after having almost certainly lost a few IQ points reading some of the posts on here today). Problem is this is Federer's time of the year, or it is supposed to be. The surfaces suit him much more than the first half of the year.

I know it's easy to say in hindsight but Fed and his team basically made all the wrong decisions from AO onwards. All of what you are talking about should have been done during the summer hardcourt/clay season in preparation for his better half of the year. Instead he only tried that after failing miserably at Wimbledon and ofcourse there was not enough time + his back acted up in Hamburg/Gstaad. If he was to do that now, he basically has to come back in AO and again the half of the season that doesn't favour him.

By the time Wimbledon/US Open roll around next year, he will be another year older and well his physical decline isn't going to stop until unless he invents a way to prevent aging.

So the Federer team is left to decide whether to just hope things get better and Fed can gain his form in the tournaments that favour him or to take a break but risk being another year older by the time next year July rolls around. Hopefully they make the right decision but things certainly look grim at the moment.

 

[Magnus]

Some of it is clearly confidence but confidence ebbs with deteriotaing physical conditioning/skills.

The part about him not being a fighter is nonsense.

Its not nonesense. He was never a natural fighter, and he didn't need to fight in the past. His talent was so much above the others it got the job easily. The rare matches where Fed had to fight, he usually lost, but there were so little of them. When Nadal arrived Fed needed to fight and face a terrible matchup, and since that was an unnatural thing for him to do, he lost a lot of those matches, especially on clay. Fed did develop a fighting spirit somewhere in 2008, but it was never as strong as other top players. Since Fed doesn't have that huge game to offer anymore, nor a big fighting spirit, his matches look like they do today.

 

[EatMyForehand]

I think it's time for Fed to start shopping for a new team.

The only problem is, how many coaches, trainers, etc out there have been able to take a 30 plus player to the promise land?

 

[sarag]

Fighting is a broad term, for an attacking player, it is to be more offensive. For a defensive player, it's to run as much as you can. Federer is the former, but today, he couldn't control his fh.

 

[Tennis_Sud]

Federer tanked. He scared to meet Nadal.

 

[big ted]

i think it has to do w age. i remember the same thing happened to connors. the older you get the more you have a bad day or where you just play flat and cant execute. and all it takes is just one bad day to be out of a tournament

i think some people expect federer to be able to compete at near top level until hes 34-35 like agassi, but agassi took alot of time off he really didnt play as many matches as his age suggested.. similar to tommy haas and serena..

 

[Deleted member 307496]

i think it has to do w age. i remember the same thing happened to connors. the older you get the more you have a bad day or where you just play flat and cant execute. and all it takes is just one bad day to be out of a tournament

i think some people expect federer to be able to compete at near top level until hes 34-35 like agassi, but agassi took alot of time off he really didnt play as many matches as his age suggested.. similar to tommy haas and serena..

Agreed, but like Connors, Federer may still have one last push in him (I don't think he will necessarily win a major, but a SF or F is not out of the question).

 

[cork_screw]

Agreed, but like Connors, Federer may still have one last push in him (I don't think he will necessarily win a major, but a SF or F is not out of the question).

I hope so. I love fed. And fed is really healthy (knock on wood) for his age. The one thing really separating those two guys is that Connors was really known as a grinder. Connors loved long sets, long matches, he wore out his man. That type of mentality gives you strength especially as you age.

 

[Deleted member 3771]

Jimmy Connors is available for coaching duties!

 

[jiddy-p]

Fighting is a broad term, for an attacking player, it is to be more offensive. For a defensive player, it's to run as much as you can. Federer is the former, but today, he couldn't control his fh.

What you're talking about is strategy. Fighting spirit means never giving up. Just go watch Ferrer play, or Hewitt. Ferrer is one of the great fighters in tennis. That man never gives up. It is not about strategy, but about attitude, mental fortitude, holding on to each point with your teeth if you have to. Late in the third set when he had his last couple break points he just slammed an easy FH into the net. A Ferrer would have hit the percentage and scrambled back to position. Prime Fed would have done the same, but this Federer had already checked out.

I stand by the statement that Fed has never been a fighter. As others have mentioned, he has relied on his godly skills to win. Now they are declining, and he needs to fight, just like all the others on tour who have to face the godly talents of Fed and Nadal. Fed has never been good at coming back from lising opening sets.

 

[petrj]

In my opinion, Federer needs to get a new coach, or a 2nd coach, and a SHRINK as he clearly has some mental issues. He generally destroys all the lesser opponents but when it comes to beating someone who can pose a slight challenge, he chokes and makes all the wrong decisions.

Annacone has been doing nothing for the last 12 months for his game, or so it seems.

He still has the weapons, but he's a little slower and his timing and shot selection is bad.

Other than the back problem, he could go on for another 3-4 years. Probably not as no. 1 but still have a shot at the grand slams even if he's ranked no. 20.

 

[Tennisean]

Of course, it's got nothing to do with his pathetically-developed physique.

No, no! It's mostly mental.

The last thing he wants to do (apparently) is workout like Agassi did, which enable Andre to extend hid career, and win more Slams than he had before that.

It's much better to become a Paul Anacone clone (make that 'clown') than get all sweaty in the gym. (it'll mess up his pwetty widdle hair, you know)

I'm afraid swinging that boat oar of a racket, one of the heaviest on tour, is just too much for his girly-man physique.
(and not so good for volleying either, a heavy racket)

 

[Tennisean]

Jimmy Connors is available for coaching duties!

He needs to hire Gil, Agassi's ex-trainer, not twiggy 1.0. (Connors)

 

[Legend of Borg]

I guess Fed's era just got a lot stronger.

 

[BeGreat]

Now don't get me wrong; of course he has lost a step when it comes foot speed, reactions, accuracy etc, but when I say a step it's more like a half step. His best play this year hasn't been much different from his best play last year, it's only come much more rarely.

I believe the reason he is now losing to players like Robredo is because of a confidence/ self belief issue, similar to choking. He still has the physical game to beat almost anyone when he's on, but he psychs himself out more often than not and has no self belief. He needs some hypnotherapy and sports psychology counseling/ possibly a change of coach, but mostly hypnotherapy, or it may take him some time to get over this mental roadblock he is experiencing.

wow. this is revolutionary. most of fed's decline is mental! who would have thought of that?
you mean to tell me that a guy who's won 17 slams and has been playing tennis since he was a child HAS NOT suddenly lost all physical ability at 32???!!!

how shocking!!!! you should be a sports analyst. you are well qualified.

 

[tudwell]

What you're talking about is strategy. Fighting spirit means never giving up. Just go watch Ferrer play, or Hewitt. Ferrer is one of the great fighters in tennis. That man never gives up. It is not about strategy, but about attitude, mental fortitude, holding on to each point with your teeth if you have to. Late in the third set when he had his last couple break points he just slammed an easy FH into the net. A Ferrer would have hit the percentage and scrambled back to position. Prime Fed would have done the same, but this Federer had already checked out.

I stand by the statement that Fed has never been a fighter. As others have mentioned, he has relied on his godly skills to win. Now they are declining, and he needs to fight, just like all the others on tour who have to face the godly talents of Fed and Nadal. Fed has never been good at coming back from lising opening sets.

1. Federer hitting his forehand into the net instead of going for the percentage play is also strategy and has nothing to do with how hard Federer was fighting out there. He's reserved on court, so when he's playing poorly people think he's uninterested, which I don't think is the slightest bit true.

2. Federer has come back from 2 sets down way more than Nadal has, or Djokovic, or Murray.

 

[3fees]

Federer needs to construct points better and quit drinking that wine he promotes.

 

[chrischris]

Ok, thats why people call him a whiner when he loses..

 

[monfed]

Jimmy Connors is available for coaching duties!

Looks like Fed can still succeed where Pete failed. :lol:

 

[officerdibble]

I think that. at the level he's at and been at, tiny shifts gain momentum and combine to create what looks like a big slide:

• He is probably a fraction less strong because of his age.
• He now has a family (kids) competing for his attention and delivering him a sense of reward (psychologically) that competes with that he gets from winning tennis matches and, more particularly, training for tennis matches.
• Other players have seen him beaten - arguably Murray started this trend several years ago, but it's certainly the case that - beyond Nadal who is such a unique player - opponents don't regard him as unbeatable now (this is not a put down about Murray, incidentally, who I think his fantastic and would always support in any match).
• The standard has risen amongst the players, particularly in terms of training effort (Murray has set the standard here).

Altogether, Federer has succumbed to the inevitable.

Personally - and I speak as someone who's infinitely less good but has tried the same thing - I think changing rackets was daft: those few square inches absolutely transform how a racket feels. I heard one commentator say he's using a longer racket at the moment (in the 90): I was strongly advised not to mess with racket length by a racket expert (again, I'm not equating the two of us as players).

 

[Tenez101]

I think he needs a new coach. Whatever Annacone is suggesting, it's not working. (Roger has 'only' won one slam during Annacone's tenure.)

 

[Devilito]

I think he needs a new coach. Whatever Annacone is suggesting, it's not working. (Roger has 'only' won one slam during Annacone's tenure.)

Annacone has done nothing. Fed has only declined and changed nothing in his game except for turning more into a grinder instead of being more aggressive like you'd think Annacone would get him to be. Totally worthless

 

[pmerk34]

Now don't get me wrong; of course he has lost a step when it comes foot speed, reactions, accuracy etc, but when I say a step it's more like a half step. His best play this year hasn't been much different from his best play last year, it's only come much more rarely.

I believe the reason he is now losing to players like Robredo is because of a confidence/ self belief issue, similar to choking. He still has the physical game to beat almost anyone when he's on, but he psychs himself out more often than not and has no self belief. He needs some hypnotherapy and sports psychology counseling/ possibly a change of coach, but mostly hypnotherapy, or it may take him some time to get over this mental roadblock he is experiencing.

As players get older they often start to lose their nerve on big points in big matches. It happens to Serena all the time even though she still wins most of those matches, it happened to Navratilova and it is happening with Federer.

 

[pmerk34]

I think that. at the level he's at and been at, tiny shifts gain momentum and combine to create what looks like a big slide:

• He is probably a fraction less strong because of his age.
• He now has a family (kids) competing for his attention and delivering him a sense of reward (psychologically) that competes with that he gets from winning tennis matches and, more particularly, training for tennis matches.
• Other players have seen him beaten - arguably Murray started this trend several years ago, but it's certainly the case that - beyond Nadal who is such a unique player - opponents don't regard him as unbeatable now (this is not a put down about Murray, incidentally, who I think his fantastic and would always support in any match).
• The standard has risen amongst the players, particularly in terms of training effort (Murray has set the standard here).

Altogether, Federer has succumbed to the inevitable.

Personally - and I speak as someone who's infinitely less good but has tried the same thing - I think changing rackets was daft: those few square inches absolutely transform how a racket feels. I heard one commentator say he's using a longer racket at the moment (in the 90): I was strongly advised not to mess with racket length by a racket expert (again, I'm not equating the two of us as players).

Federer had an awesome season in 2012. The fact is he has gotten old this season, the mileage on his body and age have caught up.

 

[CoachSubway]

Federer had an awesome season in 2012. The fact is he has gotten old this season, the mileage on his body and age have caught up.

Save this post and let's revisit in 2014. I think he surprises some people.

 

[pmerk34]

Save this post and let's revisit in 2014. I think he surprises some people.

I hope so. I enjoy watching him play at the highest level.

 

[jackson vile]

I don't see Federer losing to Robredo if Nadal was not on his side of the draw.

Also, if Federer truly is slower then a slower court, if they are slower, will do nothing more than give him more time to get to the ball.

Now don't get me wrong; of course he has lost a step when it comes foot speed, reactions, accuracy etc, but when I say a step it's more like a half step. His best play this year hasn't been much different from his best play last year, it's only come much more rarely.

I believe the reason he is now losing to players like Robredo is because of a confidence/ self belief issue, similar to choking. He still has the physical game to beat almost anyone when he's on, but he psychs himself out more often than not and has no self belief. He needs some hypnotherapy and sports psychology counseling/ possibly a change of coach, but mostly hypnotherapy, or it may take him some time to get over this mental roadblock he is experiencing.