Message to Roddick.

M

McStud

Rookie
You are doing well on the road to recovery from your slump ealier this year. However if you wish to REALLY give Federer a run for his money and want to continue to have great results in the slams here are a few things that you need to do.

1. Learn again to go for outright winners on your forehand. - you are still just rolling your forehand in during groundstroke rallies. sure you can sometimes put the ball away when you get a short one but you need to go for more on your forehands when it gets late into the rally. you are not a clay courter and you want to keep the points short. remember, more top spin does not mean a better/harder forehand..

2. Stand closer to the service notch when serving. - you are standing inbetween the side line and the service notch. by standing closer to the service notch you will be able to hit twice as many aces down the middle. and since you are 6'2 you will still be able to hit serves out wide.

3. Continue to improve your (mainly down the line) back hand. - learn to losen up your arms when hitting it. you still look stiff as a board. you are doing well by (finally) learning to hit down the line back hands. look to Jimbo to keep improving it though.

4. Stop slicing the ball when you can hit the two hander. - you get into these rhythms where you will hit 10 cross court slices in a row. this is pointless, throwing in a slice every once in awhile is a great idea but you need to have some confidence in your two hander.

5. Continue to improve your volleying skills. - you are starting to volley better but need to just keep up with it. with your serve you will rarely have to hit very difficult volleys when serving and volleying.

6. Stop hitting cross court approach shots. - it is refreshing to see you coming into the net but you need to learn to hit your approach shots down the line 90% of the time. it will make life much easier for you.


Take my advice and you will further improve your game. Federer can be beaten, and by practicing these steps you will be very close to beating him in a major.
 
First of all I'd like to say that regardless of who you might be Jimmy Connors plus Andy and his brother know 10X more about tennis than you do.
Second I would like to say that in order to do these things Roddick would have to be able to dictate play. Federer is not a play who you can simply do whatever you want with. They are doing the best they can to get Andy at the top but a simple analysis from you, me, or anyone else on this board, is very incomplete and not valid because there is so much going on that we have no idea about.
 
I agree with them all, McStud. Especially about unleashing the forehand. He gives away fewer points. But remember how he used to rip the inside-out forehand, on the sideline and headed towards the stands?

DRTennis needs to just shut up. These boards are here to offer opinions and analysis, so there's nothing "invalid" about the post. Not only that, your points are right on the mark.
 
Gugafan_Redux said:
I agree with them all, McStud. Especially about unleashing the forehand. He gives away fewer points. But remember how he used to rip the inside-out forehand, on the sideline and headed towards the stands?
.
Click to expand...
The righthander inside out forehand is suicide against Federer. You give away so much court position. One of the reasons for Roddick's improved play is that he's willing to hit more backhands. Running into the doubles alley to hit a forehand just allows Federer so many options he can the backhand slice short to the deuce court or hit a down the line backhand for a winner.
 
Wouldnt it be nice if he were actually good enough, and talented enough, to do all that. I admire Roddick for being a huge overachiever as it is, he really gets the most out of his talents, which are far exagerrated by the mass U.S media who wish they had the next Agassi or Sampras on their hads. They dont.
 
McStud said:
You are doing well on the road to recovery from your slump ealier this year. However if you wish to REALLY give Federer a run for his money and want to continue to have great results in the slams here are a few things that you need to do.

1. Learn again to go for outright winners on your forehand. - you are still just rolling your forehand in during groundstroke rallies. sure you can sometimes put the ball away when you get a short one but you need to go for more on your forehands when it gets late into the rally. you are not a clay courter and you want to keep the points short. remember, more top spin does not mean a better/harder forehand..

2. Stand closer to the service notch when serving. - you are standing inbetween the side line and the service notch. by standing closer to the service notch you will be able to hit twice as many aces down the middle. and since you are 6'2 you will still be able to hit serves out wide.

3. Continue to improve your (mainly down the line) back hand. - learn to losen up your arms when hitting it. you still look stiff as a board. you are doing well by (finally) learning to hit down the line back hands. look to Jimbo to keep improving it though.

4. Stop slicing the ball when you can hit the two hander. - you get into these rhythms where you will hit 10 cross court slices in a row. this is pointless, throwing in a slice every once in awhile is a great idea but you need to have some confidence in your two hander.

5. Continue to improve your volleying skills. - you are starting to volley better but need to just keep up with it. with your serve you will rarely have to hit very difficult volleys when serving and volleying.

6. Stop hitting cross court approach shots. - it is refreshing to see you coming into the net but you need to learn to hit your approach shots down the line 90% of the time. it will make life much easier for you.


Take my advice and you will further improve your game. Federer can be beaten, and by practicing these steps you will be very close to beating him in a major.
Click to expand...
:D need to send this to Connors. i am sure he has already made these obervations. the rolling of the forehand is one of the most annoying things i see the young ones are doing. kill it already.. he needs to buy up all of agassi's vids and watch them day and night
 
McStud said:
You are doing well on the road to recovery from your slump ealier this year. However if you wish to REALLY give Federer a run for his money and want to continue to have great results in the slams here are a few things that you need to do.

1. Learn again to go for outright winners on your forehand. - you are still just rolling your forehand in during groundstroke rallies. sure you can sometimes put the ball away when you get a short one but you need to go for more on your forehands when it gets late into the rally. you are not a clay courter and you want to keep the points short. remember, more top spin does not mean a better/harder forehand..

2. Stand closer to the service notch when serving. - you are standing inbetween the side line and the service notch. by standing closer to the service notch you will be able to hit twice as many aces down the middle. and since you are 6'2 you will still be able to hit serves out wide.

3. Continue to improve your (mainly down the line) back hand. - learn to losen up your arms when hitting it. you still look stiff as a board. you are doing well by (finally) learning to hit down the line back hands. look to Jimbo to keep improving it though.

4. Stop slicing the ball when you can hit the two hander. - you get into these rhythms where you will hit 10 cross court slices in a row. this is pointless, throwing in a slice every once in awhile is a great idea but you need to have some confidence in your two hander.

5. Continue to improve your volleying skills. - you are starting to volley better but need to just keep up with it. with your serve you will rarely have to hit very difficult volleys when serving and volleying.

6. Stop hitting cross court approach shots. - it is refreshing to see you coming into the net but you need to learn to hit your approach shots down the line 90% of the time. it will make life much easier for you.


Take my advice and you will further improve your game. Federer can be beaten, and by practicing these steps you will be very close to beating him in a major.
Click to expand...

This was a great read thanks. Am very happy with Roddick as he really is trying to find his best game and pick up different skills that he didn't use before. I think your observations are great. And I think you're right about the other poster, was probably having a bad day. I think it's refreshing to see someone offer ideas on how a player can improve. These posts are thought provoking.
 
McStud - Nice list. I agree with all except the advice on the forehand. Nadal has exposed one of the chinks in Federer's armor by pounding Federer's backhand with heavy topspin. I think Roddick needs to follow up with the same tactic. Also Roddick needs to stay out of the angles game with Federer and keep him pinned behind the baseline. Federer is capable of hitting incredible angles, so it's not a good play for Roddick. If Roddick is heading for the stands after a shot he might as well keep going, because more often than not he will lose that point. But repeatedly pounding Roger's backhand both with heavy topspin and change of pace will either force some errors, or set up a ripping big forehand deep down the line, and if needed followed up with a charge into the net or a hard cross-court shot to force Federer to hit his backhand stretched out on the run. By all means Andy needs to stay away from Roger's forehand unless he can set up a very penetrating shot. Whenever Roddick hits a weak volley or short shot to Federer's forehand, he will be punished.
 
Great post Stud, heaven forbid we actually give thought to our posts and talk about tennis for once.... but thank goodness there’s a post bashing something, or i’d think something was wrong here at TW, the bashing center of the universe....
 
Roddick needs to get fitter. Lendl had a wake up call against Borg at the Canadian Open one year. They played a very tight first set, Lendl was sweating profusely, and he looked over at Borg, and he was as fresh as the start of the first set. From that day on, Lendl upped the ante with his fitness, and became the fittest player on the tour. His results improved greatly. Roddick needs to do get much fitter. Some tv commentators said the same.
 
Some good points, but a lot easier said than done. Roddick fell into the same trap early on - trying to modify his game to beat Federer, and as a result he ended up losing to a lot more guys.

The way he is playing right now, he'll manage to beat most guys, and only lose when someone can block back his serve consistently over the course of a whole match, and not lose focus. Not many players who can do that.

Roddick can't really execute a tactical game plan because it doesn't seem like he thinks when he plays. There is absolutely no point construction. Earlier he used to go for winners, nowdays he plays hoping for unforced errors. So asking him to improve shot selection and think about where to hit approach shots, when to hit slices etc is a bit much.

What can Roddick do to beat Fed? Frankly, nothing. Its the wrong thing to focus on. I believe he has the worst record among top 10 in breaking the opponent and return points won, so thats a good place to start. Forget about Fed, work on improving your game and fixing the holes. Then, when you face Fed and he starts dismantling your game, at least you won't panic and end up having bagels and breadsticks.
 
guygee said:
McStud - Nice list. I agree with all except the advice on the forehand. Nadal has exposed one of the chinks in Federer's armor by pounding Federer's backhand with heavy topspin. I think Roddick needs to follow up with the same tactic. Also Roddick needs to stay out of the angles game with Federer and keep him pinned behind the baseline. Federer is capable of hitting incredible angles, so it's not a good play for Roddick. If Roddick is heading for the stands after a shot he might as well keep going, because more often than not he will lose that point. But repeatedly pounding Roger's backhand both with heavy topspin and change of pace will either force some errors, or set up a ripping big forehand deep down the line, and if needed followed up with a charge into the net or a hard cross-court shot to force Federer to hit his backhand stretched out on the run. By all means Andy needs to stay away from Roger's forehand unless he can set up a very penetrating shot. Whenever Roddick hits a weak volley or short shot to Federer's forehand, he will be punished.
Click to expand...
Props to you, too, guygee. This to me is totally right--keep the variety on the forehand, especially to Fed's backhand. He's just got to try harder to keep those topspin shots deep and not drop them short in the court. He drew the most errors from Fed when he hit deep, non-angled , topspun those shots (or sometimes an occasional slice mixed in that went deep).

And he shouldn't depend on the inside-out forehand too much. It used to work wonders for him, but too many players know how to deal with it now can often hit up the line for a winner, knowing Roddick can't chase it down. If memory serves, Muller and Acasuso and Martin and Federer and an array of others have all killed him in majors and TMS by returning those insides-out up the line.

Great thread. Can't add much more at this point.
 
It's a good list, except for the forehand part. Roddick does some serious damage with that forehand. It's got to be one of the top 10 best in the world. He even had Federer on the run with that forehand, though it seemed to lose pop as the match went on, probably because he wasn't getting good looks at the ball.

And Roddick is damn fit. His game is extremely taxing on the body, yet it still works out for him. He did what everyone else whines about in 2003 and won all the hard court tournaments and the US Open in a row.
 
justineheninhoogenbandfan said:
Wouldnt it be nice if he were actually good enough, and talented enough, to do all that. I admire Roddick for being a huge overachiever as it is, he really gets the most out of his talents, which are far exagerrated by the mass U.S media who wish they had the next Agassi or Sampras on their hads. They dont.
Click to expand...

Andy is in a way an overachiever. But having said that, his game was good enough to beat anyone else but Roger at the US Open. I don't think anyone else would have beaten him.
 
VamosRafa said:
Andy is in a way an overachiever. But having said that, his game was good enough to beat anyone else but Roger at the US Open. I don't think anyone else would have beaten him.
Click to expand...

Anyone else that was in his DRAW. I don't believe he can beat anyone currently in the top 10.
 
Cfidave said:
Anyone else that was in his DRAW. I don't believe he can beat anyone currently in the top 10.
Click to expand...



Youzhny is defintely top 10 material, considering he beat 3 consecutive players in the top 20 (Ferrer, Robredo, and Nadal) pretty handidly.


He did beat Hewitt, although not as good as was before, is still good enough to put up a tough fight against most of the top 10.


Roddick can beat top 10 players, he didn't just have a resurgence for no reason.



And no, Roddick cannot produce the same amount of topspin that Nadal does. Nadal has an extreme western grip, close to Hawiian. Plus he uses a different type of stroke. Roddick's is relatively flat already for a westernish grip, now you want him to flatten it out more?


He should just fix some things on his game like approaches, volleys, etc. and he'll maintain his top 3 position.
 
Nice work Stud... 1 thing that irritates me more than any of those points is: He serves and doesn't volley he waits 4 the return and then approaches... His serve was at times batted back and if he had simply followed the serve it would have been a decent attempt at a put away... But many positive things happening in his game...
 
Cfidave said:
Anyone else that was in his DRAW. I don't believe he can beat anyone currently in the top 10.
Click to expand...
Oh dear lord, u think he couldn't beat robredo??? Stepanek??? Davydenko??? I mean r u kidding??? Get a clue...
 
I'm not sure that I agree with some of the comments about the forehand. He does not have nearly the topspin that nadal does, and although he is using a western grip he is still "blocking" the ball rather than whipping his racquet through it. It looks like he is taking a big hack at the ball and putting gobs of topspin but I don't think that is the case.. He needs to use a bit more wrist in his forehands.
 
WayneCM said:
Oh dear lord, u think he couldn't beat robredo??? Stepanek??? Davydenko??? I mean r u kidding??? Get a clue...
Click to expand...

Roddick's all time record is 12 wins and 0 losses vs the players listed above.
 
Tip for Roddick: STOP GIVING YOUR OPPONENTS THE SHORT BALL!!!

Every time I saw a groundstroke land on the service line against Federer, I knew the point was over. One of the first things I learned in tennis was to keep the ball deep. Doesn't mean that I do it, but at that level, it should be common practice.
 
About the approach shots, sure he needs to go DTL a little more often, but I saw the 2nd and 3rd sets on Sunday and I actually liked the way he was hitting his backhand approaches crosscourt. They were really deep and low. I think a lot of the time they were a better choice than DTL approaches to Federer's forehand. I also thought Federer was pretty predictable with crosscourt backhand passes.
 
Tip for Andy Roddick: continue to ignore any lame, dumb advice given by TW posters, many of whom seem angry that they're stuck playing club tennis on the weekends while you're playing real professional tennis and making a pretty good living at it. :p
 
McStud said:
tangerine i think you are taking things a bit too seriously
Click to expand...
Sorry, sometimes my weird sense of humor doesn't come across well on the internet.

PS - Andy, ignore everybody. Thanks.
 
very good points. only thing is, you don't say anything about Federer. The things you say apply to a player who is in control of the point. Roddick very seldom is when playing Federer.
it isn't only about what he can do to beat Federer , it's also the ability to analyze what part of Roddick's game bothers Federer... the answer is a proven fact, ...nothing about Roddick bothers Federer... which gets me to the conclusion that Roddick has done as well as he can against Roger Federer and it will not get better because he just doesn't have enough cooks in the kitchen. :)
 
tangerine said:
Tip for Andy Roddick: continue to ignore any lame, dumb advice given by TW posters, many of whom seem angry that they're stuck playing club tennis on the weekends while you're playing real professional tennis and making a pretty good living at it. :p
Click to expand...

please... dont put yourself on pedestal.
 
RiosTheGenius said:
very good points. only thing is, you don't say anything about Federer. The things you say apply to a player who is in control of the point. Roddick very seldom is when playing Federer.
it isn't only about what he can do to beat Federer , it's also the ability to analyze what part of Roddick's game bothers Federer... the answer is a proven fact, ...nothing about Roddick bothers Federer... which gets me to the conclusion that Roddick has done as well as he can against Roger Federer and it will not get better because he just doesn't have enough cooks in the kitchen. :)
Click to expand...

Amen, been saying that since Wimby 05.
 
well 50% of the message was guided towards him being able to stay at the top, those aren't recommendations just so he can beat federer, but you are right RIOS.
 
shavenyak said:
Tip for Roddick: STOP GIVING YOUR OPPONENTS THE SHORT BALL!!!
Click to expand...

That's the number 1 thing. Even Federer couldn't hurt Roddick when the ball was deep. But whenever Roddick hit shallow, it was over. He has all the physical tools to be a #2 or #3 player. The things he can change are minor and anyone can point them out. Connors has done a great job so far, but there's still more to do.
 
tangerine said:
Tip for Andy Roddick: continue to ignore any lame, dumb advice given by TW posters, many of whom seem angry that they're stuck playing club tennis on the weekends while you're playing real professional tennis and making a pretty good living at it. :p
Click to expand...
Andy: continue to listen to Tangerine, and to Tangerine alone. Connors is Tangerine in disguise. She loves you. She worships the ground you walk on. She worships your Babolat. Heck, she even worships the jeans you forgot to zip up.:mrgreen: .
 
Polaris said:
Andy: continue to listen to Tangerine, and to Tangerine alone. Connors is Tangerine in disguise. She loves you. She worships the ground you walk on. She worships your Babolat. Heck, she even worships the jeans you forgot to zip up.:mrgreen: .
Click to expand...
Jimmy Connors is a woman?!? WHA!?!?!!
 
I'd have 2 disagree wit u RIOS... When Roddick kept good length on spin on the fore hand he forced a couple of winners and several unforced errors against fed... Also his backhand dtl caused fed sum discomfort... I also think improved mental game and fitness will extend their encounters further...
 
Connors has definitely helped Andy---Andy still hits the ball to short sometimes--I see it landing in the service box!!---Connors was the best for hitting DEEP---He'll help him---
 
WayneCM said:
I'd have 2 disagree wit u RIOS... When Roddick kept good length on spin on the fore hand he forced a couple of winners and several unforced errors against fed... Also his backhand dtl caused fed sum discomfort... I also think improved mental game and fitness will extend their encounters further...
Click to expand...
I see your point, but you're on about specific isolated points and situations, that I'm sure can buy Roddick more points... but , I think it'll take much more than that to actually look like he's a contender against Federer.
Roddick's game has flaws in many levels.. those flaws don't normally matter against the rest of the players, but they seem so obvious every time he faces Federer... watching him hitting approach shots and coming to the net is just appaling to watch, I can almost hear him say 'pass me please'..
 
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