THE FOREHAND

Many observers regard Roger Federer’s forehand as the greatest in the modern game. Why? The first answer is because Roger Federer is Roger Federer. But his forehand is also a combination of classical and modern elements, a synthesis he pioneered, that allows him to maximise his superhuman natural abilities.

In the modern, heavy topspin game, many players, such as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and others, have semi-western grips that put much of the hand under the racket handle. Federer’s grip is more classical, with most of his hand behind the handle, similar to Pete Sampras or Tim Henman.

With the more classical grip, Federer plays in closer to the baseline and takes the ball earlier and on the rise with a lower contact height than most players. This allows him to be aggressive by taking time away from opponents – especially effective on grass.

But Federer combines this classical grip with modern swing patterns associated with more extreme grip forehands. He does this by “windscreen wipering”, or turning his hand and arm over in the forward swing. The racket tip in the wiper swing can turn over 180 degrees, pointing at the right sideline at contact but finishing pointing at the left.

The wiper further accelerates the racket, creating more spin. This is an advance compared with Sampras or Henman, who tended to swing through, with the racket face more on edge to the court and hitting flatter, with less spin.

Federer varies this wiper action in an almost infinite number of ways. He can combine it with a long follow-through on a power drive or break it off faster and shorter, coming across the body and finishing around his upper torso to create different speeds, arcs, angles and spins.

This modern “wipering” element allows him to hit levels of topspin on an average of close to 3,000 revolutions per minute, matching any player, with the possible exception of Nadal and Jack Sock, both of whom have more extreme grips and play from further back in the court.

There are additional technical elements that contribute to this shot’s greatness. One is his compact, “outside” backswing. It might seem logical to assume that a larger backswing would generate more racket speed, but the latest biomechanical data from Dr Brian Gordon, a Florida-based researcher and high-performance coach, says the opposite.

By taking the racket back on a slight diagonal upward and slightly away from his body, Federer pre-stretches his shoulder muscles in a way that increases their ability to produce force by around 20 per cent, in effect turbocharging racket speed. The backswing height stays below shoulder level, among the lowest in the pro game, and his racket and hand stay on the right side of his body throughout.

The result is great power but also a more compact motion compared with the larger backswings of power players like Juan Martin del Potro or any of the top women, who tend to backswing behind their torsos. All this meshes beautifully with playing close to the baseline and early timing.

An additional element that makes Federer’s forehand so technically brilliant is that from the compact outside backswing position, his arm and racket descend into a straight-hitting arm alignment. There is essentially a straight line from his shoulder to his hand at the start of the forward swing out through the contact, in contrast to the more traditional bent-elbow forehand used by most top men and virtually all the women. The advantage of the straight arm, says Dr Gordon, is that it creates a contact point further in front of the body and also allows more use of the arm in the upward and outward swing.

A final, unique element is Federer’s sideways, still head position. He turns his head further sideways than any other top player and holds this position until well after contact. This means better ball focus but also keeps him more in the moment, concentrating on producing the stroke rather than looking up and thinking about outcome. It may be a key to the strength of his mental game and how he stays so relaxed at big moments. John Yandell is a leading videographer and analyst of professional tennis and publisher of Tennisplayer.net magazine.