The Federer Forehand 

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Great analysis, Nicola... Yours is one of the best tennis coaching channels on YT... Keep up the good job 👍

Really great information! 👍

Nick, Totally agree with the other positive responses about your wonderful breakdown of "Fed's" forehand and it's synchronicity with the body. Love All your videos.

very good breakdown of the Federer forehand....thanks and keep up the great work👍

Very good video,coach,as always.Thank you and keep going !

Excellent video as usual! Thank you sir!

good analysis. it was sufficiently detailed to illuminate that unique forehand, not full of bs (ie to sell something) like many would be tempted to do and contained an underlying appreciation of the genius of Roger Federer, as well as also providing constructive ideas for the club player to follow.

Extremely well done video! I'm very impressed! I like how you think for yourself, and don't just follow all the other teachers out there! You're analysis was spot on, exactly what an advanced player needs and wants! Thanks!

Great insight Nick. Interesting the difference you’ve visually assisted me with in the Grip change alone. The same stroke & “the hit” with a semi-western looks totally different with different timing. Thanks!

Nick, thank you for your wonderful insight into the Fed forehand. As you point out, some elements are impossible for mere mortals to copy - like keeping the head still looking at the contact point long after the ball is gone or the straight arm at contact - but I'm hoping I can at least get my right shoulder to rotate past the left before contact as Fed and every other pro does.

Wow the best analytic video about Federer’s forehand I ve ever seen.

As always great analysis, Nick. Every rec player should know the fundamentals of strokes (ROTATION, weight transfer, timing, bend the legs etc.), but most important: Be loose and yourself, and have a positive attitude! That's crucial, IMHO.

I enjoy how you analyze the top players of today and throughout history. Makes me feel young again trying to imitate a popular player. I did not grow up playing tennis, but I did imitate a lot of my favorite baseball players swing. The way you make your subscribers aware what is intuitive, highly technical and even adaptable at the recreational level is cherished by many viewers. I love studying the Croatian servers, especially Sampras too. Really helped my serves. Look forward to more videos every Tuesday & Friday in future 😬 I’ve only been playing tennis four months and thanks to this channel I’m being labeled a 4.0. Feel like I’m only lacking the grind it takes to get even better. The knowledge to hit so many shots on this channel is AMAZING!

Very comprehensive Nik. Thank you. Gordon

Awesome video! I'm a fan of Federer for years and I started to play copying a lot of aspects of his game, whoever, at the end, no one will recreates but corporate some aspects of his game. I started to play self taught on fall of 2017. At the beginning was frustrating, but I kept going, learning the fundamentals through his game and make MY Federer forehand hahaha Nowadays I'm very satisfying about my foot work, rotation, forehand and backhand (very similar to him) but I know that came intuitively, in my pace and just for a little, remember of my Idol ehehhehe You should "copy" your tennis preferred player at the beginning, will motivate you to see slow motion videos, study the game itself, but it is a matter of time that you will face the true and start to create your own game and apply some aspects of the pros.

Very nice demonstration

The way you analyze strokes is incredible. I could see where you get the intuitive name for your site. With early Rodger Federer footage you state that he is intuitive in his style of play. Very meaningful of the great players, also so interesting. I took lessons from a John Nogrady who payed in the Tilden area, and who introduced me to the loop and the drop. very interesting. You are true student of the game.

Excellent analysis!

Really good video Nick! I wish some tennis coaches out there watched your video before they make players copy technical elements of Federer’s forehand . I’ve seen coaches go as far as implementing tennis drills focused on Federer’s wrist lag and head position.

Never was stylish off the court at all until he started winning loads of slams and got the RF logo thing down... that's when his off-court style started!

Thanks Nick I have started doing the unit turn that Djokovic does which is very similar to Federer as you show including using the non hitting arm as a sort of guide and balance. What I found that when I did this to some extent in practice I felt I could hit the ball with tremendous power compared to my normal weaker forehands which tend to have lots of spin but very loopy, effective as usually bounce close to base line. Not so effective when I want a more penetrating ball travelling quickly through the air. So I could hit the ball with real power but the control was not good but I feel that is because I am not used to the movement and not quite in the right position. Hopefully with practice it will become unconscious and then mot📁

Amazing forehands

I think it's the hitting shoulder forward thrust that opens the racquet face after the racquet drop. Racquet drop --> shoulder thrust --> opened racquet face. You don't have to think about any complex wrist movements. The racquet head doesn't move back -- the shoulder and then arm move forward rapidly and the hand and racquet get dragged along behind.

Excelente!

Thanks for the great discussion, and the footage of junior Federer is amazing. Even among pro forehands, it seems there is great variation in how relaxed the arm is. I think that Federer maintains the most relaxed arm of any player on tour, which makes his forehand so explosive yet minimally taxing. I agree that at the moment of impact, the forearm tightens and grip pressure increases to absorb the impact. But I think in the best forehands, any tightening is kept to the bare minimum. An indicator of maximum relaxation of the arm is the follow through. In the most explosive forehands, we see the tip of the racquet is almost “launched” into the court. The arm then wraps around the body passively. This can only happen with maximum relaxation of the arm. It is what makes the Federer forehand so breathtaking in my opinion. Favorite clips, see especially 0:09(!) in ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ydMHJGpypQE.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-stHcABybqrM.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ji914RSFrew.html

Hi, thanks so much for this video. When I was young I tried to copy the technique & style of my idols - first Edberg later Sampras. In hindsight this didn't serve me well, since I didn't develop my own intuitive technique and thereby didn't reach my potential. Now at age 43 and having restarted playing tennis after a 25 years hiatus, I really like to watch these analyses of the pros and to try out on the court which aspects of their technique fit into my own game. Could you please at some point do a similar breakdown of the Djokovic forehand? Thanks so much and all the best from Muenster/Germany!

Rather than thinking about the position of the various joints it is better to think about why it moves in this way: 1) eastern grip (which will then determine the orientation of the strings towards the ground during the fall of the racket). 2) unit turn, lift the racket keeping it oriented slightly forward (in this way the strings will automatically be parallel to the ground during the drop: no need to think about this position) 3) let the racket fall naturally down and in a relaxed way using gravity until it falls below the level of the ball (just let the racket drop, don't change anything) 4) simply proceed with the uncoiling and acceleration forward (the lag is created automatically if the arm remains relaxed and the acceleration phase begins with the rotation of the torso and shoulder) 5)hit with elbow almost completely extened (more momentum generated with long leverage)

thank you for the interesting Fed fh vid and jr clips. i think you made a prev vid discussion of fh's of some of the top players, and it's difficult to hit straight arm a la fed/nad, and most top players hit bent arm a la djo. i'm afraid some (incl me) may be mislead (moth to flame) into believing this is the best way to hit fh's... it's too hard for nearly all recreational players and most college players?

Hi Nikola, I greatly value your opinion, hence my long question (sorry if it is too long). I watched ian nstructional RU-vid video of a tennis “coach” who recommends the following, in order to have both the power and top spin on the forehand (since many rec players have a loopy and a slow forehand). He suggests hitting the ball not on the sweet spot of the racquet but rather a touch/a little below the sweet spot. Therefore, he says, the force of the oncoming ball will close the face of the racquet, and allows for a harder shot. As a result, you could hit harder and still have top spin and power. Does it make sense to you? (I tried to watch RF forehand in slow but it is hard to see if he hits on the sweet spot or lower). Thank you in advance for your opinion.

On the footage at 8:08 Federer actually initiates his stroke and releases the racket BEFORE the ball bounces - not like you said))..I was able to catch that watching the ball on video intensively, like you recommend)

i figured it out the complex movement of fed forehand :D

Short story of mine, maybe you're gonna find it useful. Especially if you can't find technique that works best for you. I've struggled with my forehand A LOT. As a left-hander I've always was throwing balls with my right hand. So when starting tennis, I thought: right arm it is. For about 2,5 years I couldn't find my forehand. Sometimes it was better, sometimes worse. But I had no power and little control. Had a lot of doubts, such as: "Maybe I should switch hands?" "Maybe I just suck at this game, just have to put MUCH more work into it?" I watched LOADS of tennis technique videos. Many of them were guides on how to use same techniques as pro players, which is often counter-productive as Nick said here. However, after this video I was curious how would Roger's forehand technique apply to me. Sceptical at first, I started to wave my racquet like a maniac in my apartment (scratched a wall by accident, lol). Curiosity began to arise. "How and why the f*** this feels so... Easy and natural?" Tested it during sparring - still wasn't sure because I was adjusting and experimenting. Saw a lot of potential though, watched some slo-mo Fed and Dimitrov (similar technique). Then, last sunday I had training with my coach. And it started to happen. I have never been blasting balls like THAT on my forehand. It was like another realm of tennis for me. Surreal feeling. The only advice coach had to give me was to be more stable on the left foot. Damn! Even looking to the side happened naturally on occasion (maybe it just happens by itself when hitting like that?). So, why am I rambling about this, what's the conclusion here? Well... Don't blindly copy your favourite pros. It will hurt your game. Just try different approaches for yourself just like Nick said. (Thank you Nick!) If something doesn't work for 2-3 sessions, then try another approach. It's sometimes very hard to find your style and what applies to you the most. Sometimes your coach will help you, sometimes you'll have to discover stuff on your own like I did. With an open mind and will to experiment you'll find your game. ps. I like Roger, but personally I'm a huge Nick Kyrgios fan. Not willing to try his forehand at all though, it looks too odd for me ;)

Great vid! But what if my intuitive play isn't up to snuff? Need to try to copy someone great! LOL

Can you elaborate on how to time a forehand so that the dominate shoulder is in front at contact? I struggle with timing my forehand to meet the ball in front. I feel as though it has to do with when to initiate the forward swing.

The low finish is the key to his power and consistency

leanred so much from ur video! so let the intuition to guide the stroke!

I wish you are my coach.

why dominant shoulder need to be in front at contact?

fed doesnt cut it anymore

Recreational players shouldn’t copy Federer’s racket drop and racket lag?????? Federer drops his racket in certain way because when he throws his right hip, the racket will NATURALLY lag, next NATURALLY twist with racket top facing the back fence then the racket head is NATURALLY driven forward at phenomenal speed. The racket lag is caused by the racket being dropped a certain way and when he throws his right hip forward.

You look with your eyes not with your head. Fed keeps his head up .

more consistent

海外の方が、「フェデラー」を利用する悪質業者が多いな。苦

Though Federer is a successful player he must learn the game of Tennis . Though he is World no. 1 player , he is not at all a full fledged Tennis player. Roughly to say , he don't know the perfect game . There are two types of fore hand . Forward fore hand and back ward fore hand . Here Mr. Federer used backward fore hand . ( I don't know English properly ) whenever the player is not able to reach the ball , in time , it is better to depend on backward forehand . If he reach the ball in time , he can hit the ball powerfully by forward fore hand shot .

he uses a lot of his wrist lol A LOT!!!!!! so are wrong

U cant copy it

This guy honestly doesn’t know how to analyze Fed’s forehand. He’s all over the freaking place. I, extremely feel sorry for the viewers who watch your channel to improve their game. The swing works like a whip, and it all starts with a kinetic chain. ANKLE, KNEE, HIP, SHOULDER, ELBOW AND WRIST!!! 15 points of TENNIS IS THE WAY TO GO FOR ANY REC PLAYER TO ADVANCE THEIR GAME. WITH NICK, your game is extremely limited to an average or below average Rec player.