Footwork

When I watched this awesome rally, I started seeing how Federer constantly makes a split step when Hewitt hits the ball, and how he's always on the move.

Straight arm

In a practice session this morning, I hit a few sweet forehands when I was able to prepare early and hit with my arm almost straight, in front of me, the wrist laid back, head down, eyes looking down the arm. Trying to channel the big guy.

On the backhand, whenever I hit with a straight arm, the shot always turned out better. One other thing: I noticed I was being lazy with my footwork on the backhand, reaching for the ball, stopping early and then bending and reaching towards it, instead of aggresively coming up to the ball.

Footwork: Agassi vs. Hewitt, US Open '02

I watched a recording today of the Agassi-Hewit semifinal match at the '02 US Open. For one thing, this all-out banging back and forth is depressing. What kind of consistency does one need to keep up a rally of ten, maybe twenty exchanges, at what looks like maximum power, racquets swinging wildly and ending up way behind players' backs! When I was not mesmerized by the ball streaking back and forth, I tried to watch Agassi's footwork. I noticed that he in most cases turned completely sideways when preparing to hit, on both sides. On especially hard forehands, he ended up with his body turned in the opposite direction on the follow-through. His footwork is so quick that he has time to almost always hit from a semi-open stance.

Notes after today's practice

• Ready position: while watching clips of Federer, I noticed that he keeps the racquet close to the body, so much so that his elbows stick out behind him. I tried this today and discovered I can turn more quickly when reacting to a shot with the racquet close to my body, the right hand almost touching the pelvic bone.
• Backhand slice: I noticed in photos and clips of pros that on a backhand slice, they start with the racquet high and almost parallel to the ground. I tried it and had much better success with hitting deep, low slices.
  

• Wrist: Notice on this photo how laid back the wrist is. I lay the wrist back as I wind up for the backhand (both topspin and slice), which results in more consistent shots. On the forehand, I also try to hit with a laid-back wrist. Even on the toss, I started to lay back the wrist of the arm holding the ball: that way it's in fixed position and doesn't move, which seems to result in a more consistent toss.
• Backhand: Today I emphasized the shoulder turn when preparing for the backhand, and tried to make sure my body stayed sideways and my head was down. I had a funny feeling of not seeing where the ball goes for a few moments after the stroke, but just knowing it was over the net and deep in the court. It sometimes helped when I kicked back with the left leg and straightened left arm while moving it down and behind me.
• Serve: I still tend to toss right above me. I can't find a balanced position when the ball is in front. The few times I did put it slightly in front, I hit aces wide into corners that felt great. I also tried imagining that as I'm starting to unwind into the serve, my knees are bent, and there is a slightly arching line from the knees all the way up to my head, with my body leaning back.