Biology Lab Project: Dissecting Maestro Roger Federer's Forehand

Roger Federer's game can be described in many ways, but one word comes to my mind: classy.

I've been a Federita since I started tennis and have been so fortunate to see pretty much every single one of his matches.

Every part of his game is so technically sound that it is unreal.

First, and foremost, let us uncover the Federer forehand to see what secrets it holds.

We will see the old and new class of tennis within just a single one of his strokes.

The grip

Roger plays with a modified version of the Eastern grip.

Everyone these days is taught to play with a semi-Western grip: I was taught it by my third year of playing.

It was a shock at first, but now I absolutely love it because I can easily flatten it out or put even more spin on the ball whenever I like.

Roger's hand is a bit off the end of the grip, but he still keeps it on the back of the handle.

What is easy to notice is that his grip is very relaxed and never "chokes" the grip.

He's so relaxed, which is easily portrayed in his tennis.

His index base knuckle is a little bit shifted down to half a bevel—close to the popular semi-Western.

They key factor to this Eastern version is that it is good for a player who likes to stand directly on the baseline and take the ball at an early contact point.

This has always been something that Roger hurts his opponents with—taking time away from the other player. 

Core strength and the stance

Unlike the neutral stance, Roger hits with a semi-open stance or the full stance.

Let's have a quick review about stances. The definition of a stance is how you position your feet as you hit the ball.

Open stance: feet are parallel to the baseline.

Neutral stance: feet are perpendicular to the baseline (forms a 90 degree angle).

Closed stance: when the inside leg crosses over the outside leg.

With this in mind, you are never really going to have a true open stance or neutral stance every single time.

If you were to draw a line from one foot to the other, there are times when the pros' feet will be neither parallel or perpendicular.

The open stance is when the torso is still facing the court, and the player is about to hit the ball.

Back to Roger: He can hit with a neutral stance but he usually does not.

Roger has immaculate core strength.

He radically rotates his torso, ending with his right shoulder facing his opponent at the end of the stroke. 

Another thing to notice is how Roger extends his right arm through the stroke; his arm then wraps around his torso to finish the swing.

Most do not know, but the length of Roger's swing, in the direction of where he is hitting, is over or equal to pretty much anyone else on the tour.

This is the source of his effortless power.

During his stroke, his hand is usually between shoulder and eye level. Roger's hand and torso are approximately two feet apart, but sometimes more than that.

It is important to note that Roger always hits through the ball completely before the racket wraps around his torso.

Racket in motion

With Roger's windshield-wiper motion, accompanied with his grip, he is able to hit with such power and have a low trajectory over the net.

He turns his hand and racket over as he makes contact with the ball, and finishes the swing with his arm around his torso.

I've calculated the degree of his rotation to be almost 180 degrees.

Roger is also capable of creating as much spin as anyone else on the tour, although Rafael Nadal is in a league of his own in this department.

Depending on the speed of how he turns his hand over and the length of his extension, Roger is able to create an array of amazing show that leave us gasping in awe.

The combination of old and new into his game enables him to keep up with the ever-growing strong armada of men attempting to make their place on the tour.

He may be getting older with age, but his tennis is resilient to time.