Why doesn't Fed do his little ball trick before his serve anymore?

stephan_58

Rookie
I'm talking about that bounce between the legs that he used to do pre 2006 (?) or so. I always thought it looked so cool and easy. He suddenly stopped doing that and I always wondered why. Did he ever explain why?

Isner does something similar before his serves but he doesn't catch the ball with his hand I think.
 

MAXXply

Hall of Fame
As good a reason as any for Fed to make the switch, a bit more hitting area might make it easier.
 

fednad

Hall of Fame
I'm talking about that bounce between the legs that he used to do pre 2006 (?) or so. I always thought it looked so cool and easy. He suddenly stopped doing that and I always wondered why. Did he ever explain why?

Isner does something similar before his serves but he doesn't catch the ball with his hand I think.

Courts are similar and high bouncing..
So???
 

FederErizeD

Hall of Fame
Mirka told him not to. She was afraid one of those could bounce high (especially with the progressive continuous slowing of the courts) and hit his goods. Thus unable to make a brother to the twins.
 

Camilio Pascual

Hall of Fame
Why is this important?

To an opponent, it can be extremely important. A change in an athlete's behavior can be indicative of a problem. Remember, a professional athlete usually has a very highly trained and ritualistic behavior. Any deviation is almost always indicative of some underlying problem such as aging, injury, loss of confidence, etc.
As an example, in softball we were always looking to see if the opposing pitcher was truncating his follow through. This usually happened when he lost confidence in his control. Most of us would then take more pitches and draw walks. The arc on the pitches would be flatter and the sluggers would swing away at a flat pitch in the strike zone.
I watch my opponents intently and stick to my act as much as possible during a match.
 

swizzy

Hall of Fame
I prefer how he bounces the ball before a serve hit on the edge of his frame.. I play with the same frame and it's mighty narrow to consistently strike it so cleanly.. can't wait for the meeting with nadal!!!!
 

SwankPeRFection

Hall of Fame
I prefer how he bounces the ball before a serve hit on the edge of his frame.. I play with the same frame and it's mighty narrow to consistently strike it so cleanly.. can't wait for the meeting with nadal!!!!

Took me a bit of time to get it going, but now I can do it all the time without issues like it's easy. I will sometimes use this trick to also stop balls that are passed to me from someone. I'll hit it with the edge of the frame to the ground and let it bounce up and catch it or something. It's no big deal... ;)

I'm going to work on this one next. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWBWibFfN4c#t=1m56s (He missed the ball on the downward fall. It was supposed to be hit back up with the edge of the racquet, but he played it off well. lol) Watch the point on this serve. It's pretty funny how the crowd was all like "Oh my god!!!". He does put on a good show, that's for sure. Actually this video has a couple of tricks in it. Wish I could do the propeller one, but I'm too much of a puss. lol
 
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They say as you age your "balls" drop with gravity pulling down over the years and, well, like the poster above says, don't want to hit the goods. (this thread is funny btw)
 
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