Does Roger Federer's slice backhand compare to Ken Rosewall's? Of course not. On his slice, Roger has a weak backhand grip. He prepares the racket too far back. He takes too big of a backswing, catches the ball late, chops down too much, and drops the racket head. In general, the angle between his forearm and his racket never has a strong "L", as it should. There is no strength is his slice, as compared to Rosewall's. His slices usually sit up for his opponent to hammer. Rosewall's body was different than anyone else's . . .so why don't people try to develop slices that are as great as Rosewall's? By the way, my friend Luke, with the USPTA, hits hard slices as Rosewall did, and can teach it. Luke could help Roger. I taught Luke. Of course, Roger could use my help, also.
About Roger's topspin forehand: I love the crosscourt passing angles that Roger sometimes hits. He sometimes has nice sidespin on those passers. But in general, have you noticed how often Roger shanks the ball or otherwise mishits his forehands? Often, Roger's forehands do not land close to where he was aiming. Roger's forehand is similar to the way many coaches teach. Shoulders sideways. Racket back a lot, and pointing up, controlled by only one hand . . . with the left arm pointing sideways for "balance." . . hahaha . . .then Roger emphasizes "racket head speed" and jerks the racket over his shoulder so fast. Roger cannot place his strings on the ball exactly where he wants, or with the exact motion he wants, because: (a) he has a backward-emphasis swing; (b) he does not have a smooth, forward-flowing 1-piece swing but rather a jerky 2-piece swing that he sometimes has trouble getting started forward; (c) he cannot control the racket well because he does not track the ball well with his racket strings, and his single-hand emphasis makes for an unstable swing. Also, he forces himself to get too sideways too often, so that his body gets in the way of the racket attacking the ball out front. Yes, often Roger catches the ball too late and too far to the side of his body rather than getting behind the ball and pouncing forward on it.
About Roger's topspin forehand: I love the crosscourt passing angles that Roger sometimes hits. He sometimes has nice sidespin on those passers. But in general, have you noticed how often Roger shanks the ball or otherwise mishits his forehands? Often, Roger's forehands do not land close to where he was aiming. Roger's forehand is similar to the way many coaches teach. Shoulders sideways. Racket back a lot, and pointing up, controlled by only one hand . . . with the left arm pointing sideways for "balance." . . hahaha . . .then Roger emphasizes "racket head speed" and jerks the racket over his shoulder so fast. Roger cannot place his strings on the ball exactly where he wants, or with the exact motion he wants, because: (a) he has a backward-emphasis swing; (b) he does not have a smooth, forward-flowing 1-piece swing but rather a jerky 2-piece swing that he sometimes has trouble getting started forward; (c) he cannot control the racket well because he does not track the ball well with his racket strings, and his single-hand emphasis makes for an unstable swing. Also, he forces himself to get too sideways too often, so that his body gets in the way of the racket attacking the ball out front. Yes, often Roger catches the ball too late and too far to the side of his body rather than getting behind the ball and pouncing forward on it.
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