[Monsi]

Thanks dude, you rock! Nice of you to follow Tony as well.

My pleasure. I just take joy in finding logic and reason behind the little miracles.

There is science behind Roger's Neo Backhand. I've also read somewhere than since his racquet change the speed of his strokes increased by 2mph and this year it's higher by 3mph (I assume it's another 1mph, not 5mph delta in total). Taking the balls earlier and hitting them faster and flatter inevitably results in much deeper landing. It all makes sense really.

That last comparison is insane. I don't know what does Nadal expect to accomplish returning that way.

Maybe he's prepping his fans for a new line of excuses - the courts are not large enough. They benefit Federer and handicap Rafa.

 

[FedvsNole]

My pleasure. I just take joy in finding logic and reason behind the little miracles.

There is science behind Roger's Neo Backhand. I've also read somewhere than since his racquet change the speed of his strokes increased by 2mph and this year it's higher by 3mph (I assume it's another 1mph, not 5mph delta in total). Taking the balls earlier and hitting them faster and flatter inevitably results in much deeper landing. It all makes sense really.



Maybe he's prepping his fans for a new line of excuses - the courts are not large enough. They benefit Federer and handicap Rafa.

Believe it or not federer is hitting against nadal his avg backhand close to 5mph FASTER than 2014 if we compare those two aussie open matches. I think it goes beyond this because he is taking it earlier so not only is it coming faster but also since he is taking the ball even earlier it is arriving to the opponent in less time so this is more than just a raw speed mph which 5 mph is a huge number as is.

In Federer-Nadal Rivalry, Has the Federer Backhand Become a Weapon? ·

 

[zjtennis]

Interesting to really see someone as accomplished as Fed still has that want to improve...I mean surely he has to be bored at some point now. :lol:

 

[FranciscoFCB97]

Ljubičić has made some great work with his backhand.

 

[Monsi]

Believe it or not federer is hitting against nadal his avg backhand close to 5mph FASTER than 2014 if we compare those two aussie open matches. I think it goes beyond this because he is taking it earlier so not only is it coming faster but also since he is taking the ball even earlier it is arriving to the opponent in less time so this is more than just a raw speed mph which 5 mph is a huge number as is.

In Federer-Nadal Rivalry, Has the Federer Backhand Become a Weapon? ·

I know. I brought this article on the previous page. I read another source, which I assumed, was covering his strokes against the entire field, not only vs Nadal. So even though I looked at this specific graph a bunch of times, I didn't connect the dots. However, now when I am looking at it again, you're probably right. The shift from 2017 to 2014 is indeed larger, than from 2014 to 2012. So it is +5mph. How insane is that?

 

[Mercury]

Interesting to really see someone as accomplished as Fed still has that want to improve...I mean surely he has to be bored at some point now. :lol:

From 2010 to 2017 Fed had 7 years in which he won only 1 slam. Despite playing GS worthy tennis in several of these years (2011,2014,2015) He was constantly put down by his big rivals. This grew a hunger in him, a hunger we see on court this season.

Often in 2014+2015 I could see him wanting it almost too much to the point where it hindered him, then the big injury came in 2016 and with his age and time out of the game I believe his mind set changed to the point where he was seriously expecting nothing and just wanted to enjoy the game. He came on court in 2017 very loose and with an insanely improved backhand he started playing freely. In AO final he came out a bit too tight again but then thought about it, decided to go for his shots and enjoy it again (his words) and the rest is history.

There's a hunger and a love of the game in him this season, he's having a blast out there and just wants more, this has to be a scary prospect for his rivals and yummy for us Fed fans