Roddick needs to change his style?

[Arbartrator]

Does Andy Roddick need to change his style it seems like hes getting beaten from the baseline these days. With a big serve like his I think he should serve and volley more what do you think Andy should do to stay dominant and get back in the top 10, what was Andy doing in the first half of 2009 that made him play so well I forgot.

 

[ibbi]

He's changed it a fair bit over the years, he still just lacks the consistency to do it week in, week out. He lacks the temperament to hold it together and really grind it out mentally with the best of the best. His problems are all in his head, I think he's been pretty good in terms of adapting his style over the years, that's why he's stuck around the top 10 whilst others of that generation have all vanished.

I know a lot of people who think the 2009 Wimbledon Final just broke him, killed his spirit, but he's had some decent results since then...just not at the slams. Honestly, I'm not sure he has the mentality to keep doing it at that level, best of 5 anymore.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

He's changed it a fair bit over the years, he still just lacks the consistency to do it week in, week out. He lacks the temperament to hold it together and really grind it out mentally with the best of the best. His problems are all in his head, I think he's been pretty good in terms of adapting his style over the years, that's why he's stuck around the top 10 whilst others of that generation have all vanished.

I know a lot of people who think the 2009 Wimbledon Final just broke him, killed his spirit, but he's had some decent results since then...just not at the slams. Honestly, I'm not sure he has the mentality to keep doing it at that level, best of 5 anymore.

His forehand isnt the weapon it used to be, his backhand was never more than a stay in the rally type shot- I think it was better in the early 2000's, his movement is clumsy, his volleys and touch are not good. Don't know how much more he can adapt; I think his problems are both physical and mental.

 

[dantesinferno18]

He is not able to dictate from the baseline, he needs to come in more. When he comes in consistanty a couple times a game he does way better. He also backs up too far off the baseline, all are fixable problems

 

[MurrayisBEAST]

He needs to stop with the slice and come to the net crap! He always gets passed!!! Also his serve isn't such a big weapon anymore since he slowed down the speed and most players don't have too much trouble with it. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Roddick fan I just don't think his style of play is getting him anywhere

 

[RyanRF]

His fitness, backhand, and volleys have improved over the years.

However, his serve has declined a little and his forehand has declined a lot.

 

[Spin Doctor]

All the analysts are saying the same thing. That he is not agressive enough and apparently has made the conscious choice to play defensively and that this choice has backfired on him. Whatever, not sure I agree. While his serve lends itself to having a netgame to back it up, I don't think Andy has the skills at net to pull it off. I think his movement to the net is terrible.

 

[Rickenbacker4003]

His problems have been discussed to death. The people who say he needs to come to net more have obviously not watched a Roddick match in like...EVER! The last thing Andy Roddick should do more of is come to net. He has to be the worst net rusher of all time. He gets passed by more often than the ugly fat chick at the night club.

 

[Spin Doctor]

He has to be the worst net rusher of all time. He gets passed by more often than the ugly fat chick at the night club.

So much WORD.

 

[salsainglesa]

he would benefit from relearning to volley, start from scratch...
With stefan edberg or someone who knows how to volley.

and then serve and volley his way into qrts and semis

 

[iriraz]

The problem is that he can't volley, he said so himself, he just doesn't have the touch, his style is camping behind the baseline waiting for opponents to make a mistake and holding serve which is not to hard to do with his serve.

That`s exactly the problem.He hopes his serve is a winner and if it isn`t then pray the opponent misses from the ground.It works a lot against average opponents but against top players he has to play more agressively and then he does things like come to the net in desperate mode to end the point.Certainly he is not able to hang on in long rallies with Federer or Nadal and then he tries things out that he would never try against a nr.70 in the world for example

 

[cknobman]

Does Andy Roddick need to change his style it seems like hes getting beaten from the baseline these days. With a big serve like his I think he should serve and volley more what do you think Andy should do to stay dominant and get back in the top 10, what was Andy doing in the first half of 2009 that made him play so well I forgot.

WOW you really created a thread for this????????

There have been 10000 threads on this dating back to the mid 2000's.

 

[joeri888]

Only thing he needs is a shot to kill the rally. A flat forehand to kill the first shot after his serve is pushed back into the court.

 

[dominikk1985]

Only thing he needs is a shot to kill the rally. A flat forehand to kill the first shot after his serve is pushed back into the court.

he definitely should be aggressive. however the problem is that if he goes for it and plays more aggressive his errors shoot through the roof.

 

[TheRed]

Yes, he sorely needs to change his style but that's nearly impossible at this stage of his career. He's simply playing the wrong game for this body/skill set. He's a big guy with average speed. He simply isn't going to outrun and outgrind any of the top guys. He needs to take more chances and play a bigger game. Except he doesn't. He tries to play like Michael Chang with a big serve. Except, he's not that fast. He needs to play big, hit big and not get into marathon battles with smaller guys. He needs to dictate and let the chips fall.

 

[Marty502]

Yup. It's a shame that Roddick lacks weapons to the point where he'll publicly admit it - his volleys are terrible and he isn't too good at rushing the net, so it's always the same:

He goes up and is either passed by a CC shot or whatever or,
His rivals nail a shot to his body, and Roddick gives a too long/too wide volley in return.

And he doesn't have the forehand he used to, so he can't really dictate from the baseline.
In fact I'm surprised at how loopy and short he hits it most of the times. You'd think he would try at least to put it on the baseline or something.
So he's a bit condemned to get thrown around the court, and he's too slow and bulky for that.
He has developed a very good DTL backhand shot during the last 2 or 3 years though, a really nice defensive shot. But far from enough.

A bit of a dead end.

 

[monique s]

And while playing like crap, he won 30 tournaments......

 

[loosegroove]

I liked the Roddick of old when he just went all out on his forehand.

 

[Cfidave]

Big serve and playing like a backboard just does not cut it any longer. Not enough weapons for todays game. He won't beat the top guys with his current game.