What makes roger federer so good

But what is the reason for his brilliance? What does he do better than the rest of the pack? His length of stride, his balance and his poise are incredible. Instead of just watching him hit the ball, watch him for a whole rally to see how well he moves. Throughout his career, Federer's worked with trainers from track and field backgrounds who focus on body speed, developing power through segmentation, turning one part of the body against another part. Most likely his mindset is to be consistent with the topspin backhand in order to create opportunities to dominate with the forehand.

Obviously this game-plan has worked extremely well for him and yet I do think he would benefit from developing a more offensive mindset at times on his backhand side. This is particularly important for him when he plays against Rafael Nadal. The extreme topspin from Nadal? In general I think that hitting his backhand more aggressive is a major component for Roger to play at his absolute best!

He uses the slice to neutralize when he is on defense, he uses it to mix up the pace, he uses it to lure people forward and he uses it to approach the net at times! His racket face gets very open sometimes, causing a strong downward move of the racket at impact which results in a floating slice shot.

A slice that floats up in the air is much easier to attack for opponents; ideally you want your slice to be more of a low shot that moves through the court rather than stop when it hits the ground. Why do I say under rated? Yes, people widely acknowledge that he has a very effective serve, yet since he does not serve as fast as Roddick and some other guys in the Top 20, his serve often does not get as much credit as it deserves in my opinion.

One was a slice down the middle in the ad court and the other was a flat out wide in the ad court. The result was that everything about the serve looked exactly the same until just a tiny fraction before contact!

The ball toss was in the same location, the racket moved identically and the body positions were all the same until just before contact! This is what makes a serve very hard to read and therefore very effective! In order to develop a great serve yourself you need to learn the key body positions necessary for a great serve. To learn more about developing the key body positions check out the tennis video instruction page on this website!

His volleys are solid and even though he plays mainly from the baseline he can decide to come to the net more often whenever he feels it is necessary. To me his forehand volley is definitely the stronger side. Here he is very good at simply sticking the volley with a short motion. On the backhand side he is also strong; yet I do feel that similar to when he hits his slice, the racket-face is too open at times and he tries to hit with too much under- and sometimes even sidespin rather than sticking the volley with a relatively flat racket face at impact.

Roger Federer is very strong tactically. His game plan is built around his forehand. One of the characteristics of great players is that they impose their game and do not worry as much about the other player? Like Roger against Rafael Nadal for example. Roger knows how and when to play offense, defense and neutralize.

He often uses his slice in combination with his great movement to neutralize and get back in the point where other players would be forced to try a winner on the run for example. When it comes to his serve he is smart about placement and knows which serves against which players will allow him to dominate the point with his forehand after the serve.

Additionally he can play the net well whenever he feels it is necessary. It is important to remember though that Roger? If you want to stay up-to-date on my analysis of the current pro game sign up for my free newsletter right here! When ranking Roger for the four areas of Tennis it is very difficult for me to decide whether his technical skills or physical skills should be at the top! Roger moves unbelievably well and effortless on the court.

His preparation for the next shot has begun before the current one has even finished. Federer is a master at preparation on the move. This is in part aided by his incredibly fast and light footed split step. The split step is crucial to balance but also in allowing him to take off on either foot at will and begin the preparation to hit the ground stroke. This jump keeps him light and prevents him from anchoring himself in one position.

It is a very specific detail but it is what gives him the extra speed when it comes to preparing for the next shot. The other thing that he does better than most, is recover from the shot which requires him to move out wide. He is always halting momentum and setting up for the split step return to the middle. This is not just good for preparation and court control, it is also a huge factor in why he conserves energy in the way he does.

He does wipe his brow, but it seems like it is more part of the routine than anything. He likely does in fact sweat, otherwise he might get quite ill, but he never seems to be dripping with sweat like Nadal or Roddick. I believe that his on court demeanour has developed into the calm, ever present in the moment because of many years of playing matches at the highest level. His calmness is his trademark. Calm under pressure - Federer seems to be in a world of his own during matches.

The management of his body, his heat, his exertion, his economy of movement is unique. He often claims to be tired following a match, but his opponents would never guess, and it must be quite irritating in a close match to see your opponent sitting in the chair without changing their expression after hours of play.

Even after losing a punishing rally, he does not seem to bend over and gulp in oxygen. He does not hang his head in disappointment at losing such a rally. In fact he often seems to remain in the same headspace whether he is up or down. Only once or twice could you say he has he visibly succumbed to nerves.

This management of mind and body is something that most humans born with talent have to wrestle with. The curse of a unique ability is how to retain control over it and master its consistency. Knowing you are in control of what you have at your disposal is something Federer understands better than anyone else.

Simple really.