Player Spotlight: Roger Federer

We all know Federer is a class act. Frankly, I chose Roger to spotlight first because he's still number one in the world in my book. The man has won seven Wimbledon's, for crying out loud! Not only that, but he carries himself with the pose and the passion that every junior player wants to replicate, and every person, tennis player or not, admires. So let's make this all about Fed; what he's accomplished, what he thinks, and generally how awesome he is.

Accomplishments

 



You can imagine how long this column can potentially be. Let's go over the highlights, shall we? He's been at number one in the world for a record 302 weeks. He's record is 891 matches to 202 matches. He's played 290 tournaments, and has won 76 titles. He's won Wimbledon seven times, Australian four times, US Open five times, and French Open once (I know, he has a sore spot there on red clay, poor Fed, just one title). Overall, this is all darn impressive. But also remember, he wasn't always the one Roger Federer. He was once a junior player like all of us. He did play really well in juniors, and was top ten in the world in ITFs when he was young, though. Strive high, fellas!

Biography

If I was writing a book on Fed, which I hope one day I can because it would mean I can drool over how awesome he is in person, I would include the fact that he is, in fact, born in Switzerland, is 6'1, and 187 pounds. He was born August 8th, 1981, and alas, is married and has two beautiful daughters (Myla and Charlene, if you are curious).

His hobbies include golf, soccer, skiiing, friends, playstation (rejoice fellow gamer nerds!), music, and playing cards. His idols are Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg. His sponsers include the classiest of types, from Lindt chocolates (who can forget those commercials!), Moet Champagne, Mercedes, Rolex, and of course, a lifetime guaranteed sponsorship from Nike and Wilson.

He's the #5 highest paid athlete on Forbes, and rocks! Check out this youtube video and you'll understand the power this man has.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNoQ9qz4Q-w

Advice

Like many professional tennis players, Fed is asked for advice all the time. His advice to juniors is smart and amazing, just like him! Listen up, because you are learning from the best!

"At the end of the day it's about the effort that you put in"

"I think kids need to be kids. I don't want to see a 12 year old acting like a 25 year old."

While simple, this is advice is good to the core. If you don't try, or don't come off the court exhausted, someone else has, and they put in, that day, more effort than you. Make it a habit, and you will be perpetually worse than your opponents, but in essence, you are beating yourself. As for the kids quote, I agree with that as well. At twelve, a kid has to enjoy tennis; it's a game and a sport after all. It should be about fun then, not about performance. Sometimes we get so cycled up in rankings and tournaments and wins and bad losses that we forget that at the end of the day a.) a junior tennis player is also a kid and b.) tennis teaches you a lot about life, either in a good way or a bad way. You have plenty of time to act mature; it's okay to act immature once in a while if you're young.

Thanks http://www.rogerfederer.com/en.html and http://www.tennishead.net/news/academy/2013/02/21/tips-to-surviving-junior-tennis for the information and quotes!

Footwork

Footwork in tennis is extremely important. Not only do you have to get to the ball, but you have to get to the ball in a way that allows you to effectively hit the ball as well. The complexity of a tennis player’s footwork is very high. From a young age, we teach players how to do side shuffling, karaoke steps, and various other movements that include high knees, butt kicks, and skips. These motions develop the player’s movement coordination and muscles that are used for various tennis movements. These movements include:

The lateral ball

The lateral ball is the simplest of movements; the ball is hit towards the baseline, and the player needs to move laterally across the court to retrieve the ball. This movement requires a sprint out to the side, and a cross step and shuffle back to the middle of the court to the ready position, with a split step in the middle of the court. This movement is developed first and is usually the quickest of the tennis movements. A good drill to work on lateral movement is for a coach or peer to toss the ball side to side to the player, where the ball throw back to the coach/peer is a mimic of a tennis swing.

The inside out ball

Sometimes, on the move, the player gets caught when the opponent hits the ball right to them, necessitates movement away from the ball rather than to the ball. This skill typically develops with age and with experience, as younger players may have a harder time coordinating this movement in conjunction to watching the ball intently. Because of this, players get “caught” by the ball, hitting the ball too close to their bodies. Movement away from the ball can be with short steps or fast side step movement. A lot of players forget that even though they moved away from the ball, they still need to step into the shot to hit well. 

The short ball

The short ball a lot of different tennis players struggle with, because this movement is not forced by the IT-band muscle that moves players laterally, but instead is using quadriceps and hamstrings for movement, both of which should be developed off court to help with on court movement. The short ball requires a burst of energy and explosive start to get to the ball on time and still be able to focus on hitting the shot itself. Always have players line themselves up diagonally behind the ball instead of forcing themselves onto the ball. Approach shots, or any other form of short balls, should be hit more in FRONT of the player rather than behind the player, as the momentum of movement propels the ball aggressively over the net, and catching the ball late ends up with a mishit. This movement should be trained often, and can be trained in many ways, from simple wind sprints, to resistance running, to exercising the quads and hamstrings through plyometrics and weight training.

Backwards movement

Sometimes when a player is at the net it is required of them to move backwards, either for an overhead or for a deeper shot that the player then has to go retrieve. Running back to an overhead will require the player to sidestep backwards, while a running shot can be sprinted back towards as long as the player is watching where the ball is going. :) This movement should be practiced both with the ball and without.