Score with tactics: play like Roger Federer!
Play like the legends? Pretty heavy. But you can at least try. An excerpt from the new tennis book Scoring with Tactics: The Art of Thinking About Tennis .
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Sep 23, 2022, 10:47 am
Has a player ever played tennis like the Swiss Maestro? So seemingly relaxed, weightless, effortless? Probably not. It is clear that there is only one Federer and attempts to imitate him often fail. On the other hand: If we want to learn something from the pros, please also learn from what is possibly the greatest player of all time!
Even as a teenager, Federer had a fine technique and all strokes in his repertoire. And that wasn't always an advantage. "Those who have the choice are also spoiled for choice," as the saying goes - and in the case of the Swiss it was no different. The young Federer had to decide too often which ball he wanted to play, after all he had some alternatives ready. Usually too many, and Federer liked to unpack the less favorable variant. Unlike some opponents who were stuck on their game,
this but stubbornly (and initially more successfully) pulled through. It wasn't until his early 20s that Federer figured out which shots to unwrap and when. And from then on it worked! (Also because Federer eventually mutated from hotspur to Mr. Cool and learned to control his emotions better.)
Spin, Slice & SABR
Federer is particularly known for his variety. He can do almost every shot perfectly and therefore has several possibilities to build up a rally. Sure: Federer likes to play his favorite combo, serve plus forehand winner. Who would not do that. When it comes to rallies, however, Federer varies like no other, especially with the backhand again and again between topspin and slice, which he likes to place briefly and with a good bite into the T-field to take the opponent a few steps
forward and then either pass or, if the opponent is still lost in no man's land, take the initiative with the forehand.
At the beginning of his career, when grass was still fast and carpet was still being played, Federer played a flawless serve-and-volley, which he intensified again in 2014 thanks to Stefan Edberg as a "super coach".
In 2015, Federer also invented the blatant form of chip-and-charge by walking so fast and far into the field on the return that he took the serve as a half-volley and built up at the net (which completely irritated the opponent, especially with the Knowing that Federer could repeat this action soon). As a SABR, this Sneak Attack by Roger has
sometimes even a semi-official name.
A slice with massive backspin
There is always talk about the number of revolutions in topspin, Rafael Nadal is in the front here with sometimes more than 5000 revolutions per minute (on sand). But Federer also has a lot of spin when he wants to (and doesn't prefer to straight through, which of course he can do). Especially Federer's slice has a lot of bite! Notice this isn't an Edberg or Rafter slice from years gone by, with the clubhead pointing in the direction of the shot. Federer swung almost vertically down to get extra bite into the ball to play it flatter and faster. A nightmare for the opponent, who has to constantly switch between topspin and biting slice, rarely knows what to expect and has little rhythm to build up his own game.
Play like the Maestro!
Of course, imitating Roger Federer is impossible. But try to get more variety into your game. Alternate between topspin and slice and irritate the opponent with a serve-and-volley insert!
Insidious tip
Try chip and charge! It is (almost) irrelevant whether you are successful. From now on, your opponent will be prepared when he serves that you could charge straight ahead with the return taken early. The result: he will serve more risky and throw in a few more double faults than usual.
#IMG2#
Scoring with tactics: The art of thinking about tennis was recently published. You can order it from Amazon , Thalia , Hugendubel or Copress-Verlag , among others. And of course at your trusted bookstore!
Here you can browse something.