Overhead sequence: Sampras

A while ago I made a small discovery while watching Federer hit an overhead during a warm-up: the movement was similar to his forehand. Instead of pointing to the ball as some teach, he had his left hand support the racquet on the take-back, then separated the arms and had the left arm straight, like a forehand transposed to a different plane. Today I watched a clip of Sampras's smash, and I saw the same exact thing.

First, on preparation, he turns his body sideways, turning arms as a unit while supporting his racquet with his left hand.










As his shoulders face the side fence, he separates the hands symmetrically.











The left arm straightens out and moves in unison with the racquet hand. At some point, the left hand naturally points to the ball, but it almost seems a side effect.









Finally, as he is about to hit the ball, the left arm bends and gets closer to the body, accelerating his shoulder rotation.