"The Federer Mistake"…Federer BH vs. Wawrinka BH

[GeoffWilliams]

Not many back hands are hit in these matches. They all run around any back hand possible. Fed has a better record due to his other shots, not his weaker high bh.

[bottle]

Big Money Billiard Backhands

For four guys from a medium-sized City Desk newsroom Vinnie Marino once put a lot of money on me and my cracked pool cue against John Pekkanen and Richard Woodley.

Or maybe it was me against Vinnie. In any case somebody put money on me and I therefore lost.

To finally master an elusive one-hander, I am convinced, one cannot put any money on oneself.

The model: Justine Henin. The reason I have a chance: I just play doubles where backhand slice and occasional quick flat backhands are much more important. Way of hitting the ball: As loose and unhurried as Arthur Ashe.

I have no doubt that a flowing one-hander is the worthiest goal in tennis.

[bottle]

Griping on Grips

All starts with grips. The big knuckle designation comes FIRST. The heel of hand designation comes SECOND.

Thus Justine and Guga are 8/8 . Roger is 1/1 and Stanislas 1.5/8 . Did I know that? Did anybody? Hell no.

[don_budge]

He does not make the federer mistake: lifting the hitting heel off the ground too soon which degrounds his weight, and lifts his head. Stan stays grounded/planted with a deep knee bend and solid weight and hip turn into his bh, and hits hit better than Fed does for that one reason.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Ten...t-Federer.aspx

You've been making this criticism of the Federer backhand for quite some time now. It's an interesting observation…but I am not certain this is just more than a difference in "style" although I think that I follow your drift.

But when Roger is cranking it up as he does in this backhand against Novak Djokovic in Dubai all of his weight is squarely on his front foot…just where you would like to see it. It doesn't seem to have adversely affected his balance either. It looks to me that the weight comes off of the back foot as part of the process of his swing.

But Stan Wawrinka does seem to be more deeply "coiled" into the ground and when he uncoils it certainly is a different ball than the Federer backhand. I attribute this more to style and the Federer style overall is definitely more appealing to my eye. He is more versatile overall whereas Wawrinka finds himself planted squarely on the baseline or actually some couple of meters behind it a lot of the times. He actually plays a bit farther back as a rule which is another factor that gives him this split second edge to get such great preparation on that backhand.

Roger's slice backhand is much more effective than the Stanislas slice also…another huge factor that all things being equal…I'll take the Federer backhand any day. We haven't even begun to discuss the backhand volley either…which is of course another variation of the backhand. Overall the nod has to go to the Federer backhand. What Roger is doing with his rear foot is not a mistake at all nor does it appear to be contributing to any weakness on that side either…it is fundamentally correct (FC). It is an artistic flourish or idiosyncrasy that he has evolved into.

I think that historically speaking too…Roger's perceived weaknesses on the backhand side have had a lot to do with his racquet. By going to a bigger racquet his backhand has definitely been beefed up. It is really a shame he didn't do this three or four years ago. It's hard to fathom why his "team" failed to convince him of the necessity of doing so.

To me, it is hard to choose between Roger's and Stan's backhand. I agree with what DB said. Stan can certainly hit a bigger shot with his backhand but I do prefer Roger's slice and how he tends to take the ball earlier. I think much of the perception of Roger's backhand being somewhat of a weakness comes from watching Nadal break it down with his hook forehands. I do not recall anyone else really breaking it down. Stan's backhand, with his stronger grip, does seem to stand up better to the Nadal barrage on that side.

The Federer Mistake...

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Ten...t-Federer.aspx

I just love this comment by GeoffWilliams. He reminds me of Jiminy Glick…I can just see Jiminy saying it. This business of lifting the back heel of the Roger Federer backhand. I love it because it provoked a response from me and when coupled with stroke's comments relative to the Rafael Nadal exploitation of the Federer backhand it gives the dilemma possibility of interesting and illuminating discussion.

stroke really brings up a wonderful point regarding the Nadal dominance of Federer and you cannot forget that he also dominates the other Swiss bookend even more thoroughly.

Nadal vs. Federer (23-10)

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/...=N409&oId=F324

Nadal vs. Wawrinka (12-1)

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/...=N409&oId=W367

I wonder if stroke realizes what a thought provoking comment he has made. I suspect that he does. Let's just see where this little nugget takes us. We are adding fuel to the fire regarding the discussion of the one-hand backhand. Stan Wawrinka's backhand has brought a lot of attention to the discussion recently and John certainly gave us a load of food for thought with his article last month on the same. Gunther Bresnik tossed some gasoline on the inferno as well with his thoughts on the Dominic Thiem backhand…as he muddled through the transition from two-handed to one-handed. klacr also made the startling revelation that at one point in February that of nine ATP tournaments, six had been claimed as champions by players using one hand on the backhand side.

Now I must organize my thoughts…try to make some sense of the whirlwind going on inside the Gold Mine. This is deep stuff…deep doo-doo. If you know what I mean.