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  • Roger Federer exposes the biggest lie in tennis (Part 1/5)
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Monday, 24 July 2017 / Published in Wimbledon

Roger Federer exposes the biggest lie in tennis (Part 1/5)

 

For a deeper analysis of the massive impact the length of the rally has on winning a match, I highly recommend THE FIRST 4 SHOTS.

The First 4 Shots Video

What frightens Roger Federer?

A week ago today, Roger Federer walked into an interview room at Wimbledon to talk about his historic eighth title. These Monday “day after” interviews are meant to be very fluffy, lots of fun, and reflect on what it’s like to win the biggest prize in our sport. A continuation of the celebration…

It certainly started that way, and then we got some serious “straight talk” from the Swiss champion. He touched on strategy and player development. He talked about coaching philosophies.

He then exposed the greatest lie in tennis… that the net does not work anymore in our sport.

In his own, subtle, sophisticated way, he called out coaches, and he called out players. He especially shook his head at the strategy of younger players, who hope to be successful at Wimbledon against the greats – with a one-dimensional baseline game. He called it how he saw it.

Let’s go through the interview and clearly understand Roger’s point of view. Just a reminder that very few players speak this openly about our game. Comments like these carry a lot of weight and don’t come along that often.

Quote 1 – Celebration

“My head’s ringing. I don’t know what I did last night. I drank too many types of drinks, I guess. After the ball, we went to a bar and there were almost 30 to 40 friends that were there, so we had a great time. I got to bed at 5 am, then woke up and just didn’t feel good.Roger Federer

If you can’t celebrate winning a record EIGHTH Wimbledon title, what can you celebrate?

Quote 2 – Not Strong Enough

Every generation definitely is different. Since my generation and Rafa’s generation, the next one hasn’t been strong enough to push all of us out really, so that has been helpful for us to stick around.Roger Federer

Roger is just warming up here. He correctly asserts that players younger than Roger and Rafa have not been able to remove them from the pinnacle of the sport. He does not get into the “why” yet. He is just laying down the groundwork…

Quote 3 – If You Can’t Volley

“They can choose not to play that way, too, if the coach has taught them to play differently. I know you can easily get sucked into that mode when you don’t want to attack, but if you can’t volley you aren’t going to go to the net.Roger Federer

“IF YOU CAN’T VOLLEY” 

Bang. Take that #NextGen. Right between the eyes.

Think of it like this. Roger, Nole, Rafa & Andy sit at the top of the tennis mountain.  They only look down the mountain, seeing player after player after player trying to climb up to their lofty heights to dethrone them.

These players are simply not fully prepared/equipped for the task. They are trying to do it with an incomplete set of tools. This next generation of players loves to slap a forehand and a backhand from the back of the court… but finishing points at the net is much more a weakness than a strength.

Interesting that Roger mentions coaches here (of which I am also one). Globally, the coaching community fixates much more on the back of the court than the front of the court. Tons of forehands and backhands. Precious few volleys. What is universally lacking is the development of the correct continental volley grip, fundamentally sound “catching” technique, and the high percentage strategies to transition from the baseline to the net.

When a player finally reaches “The Big 4” for a shot at the title, they think they are ready. They are not ready. They can’t volley. They don’t have 10 years of volley work under their belt, so they completely shy away from the net under the bright lights.

Quote 4 – It’s Frightening To See

I have played almost every player here that wouldn’t serve and volley. It’s frightening to see this at this level. I look at the stats and go into whichever round it is and see that the guy I’m going to face is playing 2 percent of serve and volley throughout the championships. I’m going, ‘OK, I know he’s not going to serve and volley’, which is great.

If Roger Federer is frightened, then we should all be frightened too.

The new generation of players are too one-dimensional. They have spent their entire junior careers mindlessly, endlessly hitting groundstrokes. They love to grind. They boast about it. They are completely missing the point.

You really think you are going to out-grind Murray, or Djokovic, or Nadal, or Federer, or Thiem, or Nishikori, or Goffin, or Ferrer? Come on now…

The new generation can’t serve and volley. Period. The reason is simple. From ages 10-18, during the formative growth/improvement years, they overwhelmingly dismissed it. Coaches can also get more “wins” on the board quicker for juniors by developing the baseline. It turns into complete overkill, and incomplete players are now flooding our game.

It is frightening, Roger. The youth think they are prepared. Far from it.

QUOTE 5 – Good Things Do Happen There

“Then we are talking about grass, it was playing fast this week [compared with the first week]. I wish that we would see more players taking chances up at the net because good things do happen there. You want to be there and have to spend some time up there to feel confident and good there.”Roger Federer

Of course, they do! It does not matter if you serve and volley, or approach and volley. The average tournament win percentages at the front of the court for both men and women are ALWAYS higher than the win percentages from the baseline.

We have bred a generation of “1/2 court players”. They specialize in the 1/2 of the court from the baseline to the back fence. Whatever happened to the area from the baseline to the net? It never stopped producing a winning percentage, even as players and coaches overwhelmingly lost faith in it.

QUOTE 6 – Good Luck

Federer then responded to a question that maybe players were following the lead of Murray and Djokovic, who seemingly dominate from the back of the court.

 “They are very different. Andy has a lot of variety in his way but, yes, a slugfest with Andy and Novak from the baseline, or Rafa for that matter, good luck. If you are No. 50 in the world, it is not so simple to take them out.”Roger Federer

How in the world are you going to out-hustle, out-run, out-work, out-maneuver, or out-hit Novak or Andy or Rafa from the baseline? That’s their sweet spot. You have got to find other areas to attack… such as the net.

Summary

When Roger says it’s frightening to see players not have the ability or confidence or know-how to serve and volley on grass at Wimbledon, it’s high time to sit up and take notice. Now is the time to re-adjust our global tennis development paradigm.

The net worked yesterday. It works today. It will work tomorrow as well.

Speaking of tomorrow, Part 2 of this 5 part blog series will focus on the following:

  • Wimbledon 2017. Players aged 18-23. There were 25 of them. How did they perform serving and volleying?
  • Is Roger really correct to call them out for a lack of serve & volley?

See you tomorrow.

Craig

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Ten Tennis Strategy Products

Brain Game Tennis is the world leader researching and teaching strategy in tennis. Below are ten products to choose from to remove the guesswork and opinion from your game.

THE FIRST 4 SHOTS

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

Short Ball Hunter

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

Num3ers

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Dou8les Num3ers

Doubles Numbers

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

between the points

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

25 golden rules of singles strategy

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

25 golden rules of doubles

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

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Dirtballer clay court tennis course

Getting Tight

Getting Tight tennis strategy course

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