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This came up in another thread. I noticed Fed, and many pros often have shoulders tilted forward in the backswing of their 1hbhs. I was stumped at first trying to figure out the "why" ... what did it gain him? I think I came up with the reasons below ... please chime in if I'm wrong, or there is a better explanation.
Note: video at bottom of post.
On many of Fed's 1hbh strokes, he has a shoulder tilt forward at backswing, gets to level or shoulder tilt up by contact, and finishes with shoulder tilted up in follow through. Note: the arm in the follow through finishes in line with shoulder line, not arm raised above shoulder line (The hand ends up above head because of shoulder tilt up ... not because the arm swing path took the arm up in the shoulder joint above shoulder line).
At first I thought, maybe he just tilts laterally in the prep. No, that does not seem to happen. Then I thought, he is lifting the racquet with off hand in backswing, so it's really the left shoulder coming up causing the tilt. That theory lasted a while until it hit me ... if you bend at the waist, then rotate the shoulders, the back shoulder goes up, and the front shoulder goes down. DOH!!! or is that DUH!!! At a minimum, maybe rec 1hbh players need to consider if they need to bend at the waist more ... and when.
OK ... fine ... that explains the shoulder tilt, but why the bending at the waist. This is my best theory ... maybe others can explain it better.
I think Fed is trying to hit the stroke with his hitting arm as close to the shoulder line as possible. If you consider the best serves (read that here ... ttw can be good) happen with the arm aligned with shoulders line (we tilt shoulders rather than just raise arm up). That is the power source. I think Fed is trying to come as close to that as possible with the 1hbh. He can't exactly in the backswing and initial swing ... the arm is angled down some with the drop to slot. BUT ... if you watch his full 1hbh strokes, it seems pretty apparent he is staying close enough to shoulder line to get the easy shoulder rotation power (requires less arm addition in stroke). For example ... I checked my 1hbh video. I don't bend enough, so when I have to hit a waist (or lower) 1hbh, the only way to do that is to drop the hand lower (my angle at right shoulder to right arm is bigger than Fed by quite a bit). By definition, if you lose shoulder rotation power/efficiency ... pretty much leaves the arm to make up the difference.
I guess my main thought is other than high 1hbhs which require a more horizontal swing (arm more in line with shoulder line), I think a bunch of us rec players need to bend at the waist more on many 1hbhs. Most of us are plugged into "bend the knees more" ... to which I say "up yours, my knees are about to be 61". But now my response might be "dude ... your bending of the knees so you can keep from bending at your waste is robbing you of 1hbh power".
I like this ... I like the idea of bending at the waist more than deep knee bend. I also already knew I needed a better hand swing path from the slot to above my shoulders. I had the false idea I needed to lift the arm more at the shoulder joint. Don't think so.... think I need to tilt the shoulder line up more at contact while bent at waist ... and do all of it with more easy power because arm stayed closer in line with shoulder line.
That is my theory until ttw destroys it.
This came up in another thread. I noticed Fed, and many pros often have shoulders tilted forward in the backswing of their 1hbhs. I was stumped at first trying to figure out the "why" ... what did it gain him? I think I came up with the reasons below ... please chime in if I'm wrong, or there is a better explanation.
Note: video at bottom of post.



On many of Fed's 1hbh strokes, he has a shoulder tilt forward at backswing, gets to level or shoulder tilt up by contact, and finishes with shoulder tilted up in follow through. Note: the arm in the follow through finishes in line with shoulder line, not arm raised above shoulder line (The hand ends up above head because of shoulder tilt up ... not because the arm swing path took the arm up in the shoulder joint above shoulder line).
At first I thought, maybe he just tilts laterally in the prep. No, that does not seem to happen. Then I thought, he is lifting the racquet with off hand in backswing, so it's really the left shoulder coming up causing the tilt. That theory lasted a while until it hit me ... if you bend at the waist, then rotate the shoulders, the back shoulder goes up, and the front shoulder goes down. DOH!!! or is that DUH!!! At a minimum, maybe rec 1hbh players need to consider if they need to bend at the waist more ... and when.
OK ... fine ... that explains the shoulder tilt, but why the bending at the waist. This is my best theory ... maybe others can explain it better.
I think Fed is trying to hit the stroke with his hitting arm as close to the shoulder line as possible. If you consider the best serves (read that here ... ttw can be good) happen with the arm aligned with shoulders line (we tilt shoulders rather than just raise arm up). That is the power source. I think Fed is trying to come as close to that as possible with the 1hbh. He can't exactly in the backswing and initial swing ... the arm is angled down some with the drop to slot. BUT ... if you watch his full 1hbh strokes, it seems pretty apparent he is staying close enough to shoulder line to get the easy shoulder rotation power (requires less arm addition in stroke). For example ... I checked my 1hbh video. I don't bend enough, so when I have to hit a waist (or lower) 1hbh, the only way to do that is to drop the hand lower (my angle at right shoulder to right arm is bigger than Fed by quite a bit). By definition, if you lose shoulder rotation power/efficiency ... pretty much leaves the arm to make up the difference.
I guess my main thought is other than high 1hbhs which require a more horizontal swing (arm more in line with shoulder line), I think a bunch of us rec players need to bend at the waist more on many 1hbhs. Most of us are plugged into "bend the knees more" ... to which I say "up yours, my knees are about to be 61". But now my response might be "dude ... your bending of the knees so you can keep from bending at your waste is robbing you of 1hbh power".
I like this ... I like the idea of bending at the waist more than deep knee bend. I also already knew I needed a better hand swing path from the slot to above my shoulders. I had the false idea I needed to lift the arm more at the shoulder joint. Don't think so.... think I need to tilt the shoulder line up more at contact while bent at waist ... and do all of it with more easy power because arm stayed closer in line with shoulder line.
That is my theory until ttw destroys it.