In the second part of this series, I take a close look at how Roger drops the racket below the level of the incoming ball and then swings forward and upward to contact!
Federer Forehand Analysis Part 2
Video Summary
Welcome to the second part of the Roger Federer Forehand Video Analysis series. In the first part, we looked at Roger’s forehand grip as well as the unit turn with which he begins his swing.
We saw that Roger has a conservative Eastern forehand grip and we also saw that he starts the motion with an excellent unit turn, which is a fundamental aspect for any great forehand
Drop The Racket Below The Level Of The Incoming Ball
In part 2 we are going to take a look at what happens after the completion of the unit turn. We will see that Roger drops the racket below the level of the incoming ball and then swings forward and upward to contact
From this position (image above), Roger is simply going to let the racket drop below the level of the incoming ball. He is using gravity and his arm stays very relaxed throughout this process.
Here at the lowest point we can clearly see that the tip of Roger’s racket is below the level of the incoming ball. The blue line represents the tip of Roger’s racket and the yellow line represents the level of the incoming ball.
From here Roger can now swing forward and upward to contact. How much forward and how much upward Roger swings, depends on the situation that he is in. If he wants to drive the ball more, he will swing more forward and less upward and if he wants to hit with lots of topspin, he will swing less forward and more upward.
Now let’s take a look at another forehand from a different situation. This time Roger hits with a semi-open stance and we will see that he also swings forward and upward to contact!
Here we can once again see that Roger drops the racket below the level of the incoming ball!
From this position Roger now also swings forward and upward to contact:
The forward part of the motion helps Roger get enough depth on his shots and the upward part helps Roger get enough topspin on his shots so that the end result is a shot that lands with a lot of topspin and deep towards the baseline.
Allright. So much for the second part of the Roger Federer Forehand Video Analysis series. The important aspects to remember are to drop the racket below the level of the incoming ball and to swing forward and upward to contact. If you do that, you will get good topspin and depth on your shots!
Please let me know your thoughts and comments below!
