Roger Federer and the Evolution of
the Modern Forehand

Part 2

Page 1

By John Yandell

Printable Version

Torso Rotation

In our previous analysis, (Click Here) we saw a direct correlation between grip style and torso rotation. In general the more extreme the grip, the more torso rotation. A player like Sampras rotated about 90 degrees or a little more on the forward swing, with the shoulders normally finishing something like parallel to the baseline. Players like Agassi and Safin, with moderate semi-western grips, rotate further with the rear shoulder, coming around slightly past parallel to the baseline or slightly further. Players with more extreme semi-western grips like Hewitt, Guga and Roddick rotate further still. At times their shoulders rotate 180 degrees or more on the forward swing, sometimes finishing with the rear or right shoulder pointing at the opponent.

According to that gradient, we would expect Federer's forehand to have a moderate overall rotational pattern, probably somewhere between Sampras and Agassi. And sometimes that's true. But at other times, his rotational pattern looks like the most extreme players such as Roddick. Or it can be somewhere between.

So you'll see him rotate about 90 degrees from the turn position to the hit, stopping with his shoulders about parallel to the baseline. Other times, the shoulders don't stop and come all the way around, rotating 180 degrees or more with his back shoulder finishing facing his opponent. Or it could be halfway in between. Again all three rotational patterns can be paired with all the variations in the hitting arm position, and any degree of hand and arm rotation. So to say the least once again, Federer simply doesn't fit within the parameters of our paradigm.

Interestingly the one constant seems to be his shoulder position at contact. This is consistently parallel to the baseline, or close to it. This is yet another element that is different than we might predict based on his grip. We saw that Sampras was closed about 45 degrees or a little less at contact. Agassi was usually closed about 30 degrees. The more extreme players were open at contact, with their shoulders generally parallel to the baseline. In all these cases, whatever the angle of the shoulders at contact, the contact appeared to be about in the middle of the overall rotational pattern.

Federer doesn't do that. His shoulders are consistently parallel to the baseline at impact, what we would have previously considered to "open" for his grip style. The position of the shoulders at the contact point doesn't seem to vary much whether or not the shoulder rotation stops or continues after the hit. It doesn't seem to vary with the different hitting arm positions either. He can extend the hitting arm in the straight position. Or stay vertical and hit the classic finish position, or snap it off with a sharp right to left rotation of the hand and racket head and finish on his left side. The shoulders stay parallel at contact or very close. The only possible exception is on some inside balls hit with the straight arm position and with extreme rotation. In those cases, his shoulders can sometimes appear to rotate further at contact, so that they are somewhat past parallel to the baseline.

Hand and Arm Rotation

We've already referred to Federer's hand and arm rotation quite a bit, but let's look at it in more detail, and put it in the context of what we've seen with the other players. In our previous articles, (Click Here) we identified the rotation of the hand and arm as a key variable across the grip styles and found that the more extreme the grip, the more hand and arm rotation players used on their basic forehands. We also found that the players with extreme grips increased their hand and arm rotation further when they wanted to increase spin, hit angles, and deal with low balls or wide balls. The classical players, by comparison, had much less total hand and arm rotation. They also tended to vary it less when dealing with different types of balls.

We can see the amount of hand and arm rotation in a given shot by looking at the position and angle of the racket tip as it moves through the swing. Once the hand arm and racket reach the hitting position, they will rotate to the player's left, or counter clockwise during the forward swing. To understand it, you may want to check the Advanced Tennis article that isolates just the rotation. Then it's easier to see in the context of the swing. (Click Here.) For example, if the tip of the racket starts pointing directly to the back fence at the start of the forward swing, and finishes pointing directly to the sky, that's 90 degrees of rotation, about standard on a classical forehand.

When there is more rotation, the racket tip won't stop when it is pointing up, it will continue to rotate to the left. The more internal rotation, the further the tip goes to the left. At the same time the racket face is turning upside down. What this means is that the top edge of the racket at the contact starts to turn over and point back toward the player. In the extreme case, the racket turns over completely so the face in on edge to the court and the tip ends up pointing at the left sideline, or even slightly backwards toward the baseline.

It won't surprise anyone at this point to hear that when it comes to hand and arm rotation, once again Federer has it both ways, or more accurately, many ways. It's starting to sound like some kind of repetitive mantra but it's also true: Sometimes it's classic, sometimes it's extreme, and sometimes it's at various points in the middle. This is exactly same kind of flexibility and variety we saw in his hitting arm position and his shoulder rotation.

This rotation of the hand and arm is the reason so many observers immediately conclude that Federer has a semi-western or even a western grip. These so-called "windshield wiper" finishes can be as extreme, or even more extreme, than those we are used to seeing from players like Juan Carlos Ferrero, or Andy Roddick or Gustavo Kuerten. But the reality is that Federer is doing this with a much more conservative grip. With the extreme grips the hand and arm rotation is a basic component of almost every swing. With Federer it's an option. He's more than capable of hitting through the ball with something close to a classic finish.

Since there has been so much confusion about what is actually happening with the hand, arm and racket rotation, and how it effects the finishes in Federer's forehand, let's try to understand it as accurately as possible.

Let's start with the simplest case in which this hand and arm rotation is closer to the classical model. On some balls, Federer's finish could be the model in a textbook on old school eastern tennis. He can finish with his arm in the classic double bend position, with the racket on edge, and the wrist at eye level. This finish indicates that there has been about 90 degrees of hand and arm rotation, which is associated the classical forehand. At this point his racket has reached the universal finish position that we identified in the article on commonalities across the grip styles.

You see Federer make this finish on some balls in the center of the court. Also on short, relatively low balls. Sometimes on these balls, he also steps directly into the shot with a neutral stance. You can see the same finish on inside balls, especially if he is moving backwards or playing a more defensive ball. You also see it on his forehand returns. It probably accounts for 20% or less of the total finishes on his forehands.

But those aren't the Federer finishes people notice. On most of his forehands, he incorporates significantly more hand and arm rotation. This is what catches the eye of fans, players, and television commentators, particularly the more extreme examples, where the racket turns over the most. When this happens the wrap at the end of the swing also takes the racket further across the body to his left side.

There is no doubt that with the extreme rotation, the wrap is definitely lower and further across the body. Sometimes, however, commentators and other observers describe this wrap position as much more extreme than it really is. This is the so-called "finish in the pocket" where his hand at the end of the wrap is supposedly at the same height as the pocket in his shorts. In all our filming, I've yet to see that. Occasionally, you'll see him finish around the center of his torso, but that is as low as it gets. More typically the wrap finishes a little below shoulder level. From that point, Federer starts to recover, putting the left hand back on the racket and sliding it up the shaft to the throat as he moves back toward the ready position.

The left side wrap is characteristic of all forehands hit with more internal rotation of the hand and arm, whether by Federer or Roddick or whomever. But it's critical to understand that the left wrap is actually the deceleration phase of the swing. This means that during the wrap the racket is actually going slower than at any point in the swing. See the Myth of the Wrap.) This is where a lot of people who try to model Federer make a mistake. The left wrap may look dramatic, but it's not the key to racket head acceleration. Its function isn't to accelerate the racket, it's is the opposite, to decelerate the racket. The left wrap is the result not the cause of racket head acceleration. In this respect, it's purpose is exactly the same as the more traditional over the shoulder wrap. The different places the wrap ends up are just the result of differences in the shape of the swing path.

When players develop more hand and arm rotation, they should be ending up more across the body, but it should happen naturally if the swing pattern is correct and the hand and arm are relaxed. Emphasizing the left wrap and trying to make it happen will usually have negative consequences. Typically when players try to mechanically force themselves into the wrap position, they end up reducing their swing extension, hitting through the ball less, and losing racket head speed. It's frequently a disaster for competitive junior players.

With Federer, you see a range of hand and arm rotation. Sometimes he rotates only slightly further than a classical forehand. On these balls he also makes the universal finish position. Itt looks like the extreme players at the same point in the swing.

When the hand rotation is more extreme, he doesn't make it all the way there, again, the same as the extreme grip players. In this case, when the hand gets across to the left edge of the body, we can see that the spacing between the racket and the torso is definitely less and that the hand is noticeably closer in to the body. The angles in the arm position are also different. Sometimes the upper arm doesn't reach parallel with the court and is still tilted slightly downward. The forearm is also at a lower angle, at most about 30 degrees to the court surface, but sometimes less or even at times horizontal.

These are the correct technical checkpoints, but again, it's important to recognize that extreme hand rotation is a variation on a continuum and not an absolute or even the norm. Again, people who try to blindly model Federer without examining the full range of his technical options end up exaggerating the left side finish and lose the ability to really drive through the ball.

Sometime when Federer rotates the hand and racket all the way, the extension along the line of the hit is considerably less, but that's not always the case. It depends on the hitting arm position he uses. Usually, Federer uses the double bend position when his rotation is extreme and comes off the ball more quickly. But when he pairs the extreme rotation with the straight arm position, the extension, can be as pronounced, or more pronounced, as on any forehand he hits. Again, it's that complexity thing. Too many players copy the extreme, and end up overexaggerating it to the detriment of their strokes.

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John Yandell is widely acknowledged as one of the leading videographers and students of the modern game of professional tennis. His high speed filming for Advanced Tennis and Tennisplayer have provided new visual resources that have changed the way the game is studied and understood by both players and coaches. He has done personal video analysis for hundreds of high level competitive players, including Justine Henin-Hardenne, Taylor Dent and John McEnroe, among others. In addition to his role as Editor of Tennisplayer he is the author of the critically acclaimed book Visual Tennis. The John Yandell Tennis School is located in San Francisco, California.