Video Analysis

Quick notes after watching a video of myself:

1. Serve: the tossing arm looks rushed, jerks up too fast. The racquet arm falls way behind. Federer raises the tossing arm smoothly, and the racquet arm seems to go back before he even starts to toss, and goes up almost together with the tossing arm. His racquet head lingers for a moment in a perfectly vertical position before making a loop and hitting the ball. My left arm goes down and is straight; his arm is bent and he tucks it close to his body. I turn early and am in this weird unsightly position. His shoulders are at 45 degrees on the wind up and then pivot around the neck. Left arm, shoulders, and right arm pivot as a unit. I seem to have my left arm already down low before swinging at the ball. Also, he launches himself up and forward, at about 65 degrees. He bends his knees and moves down and forward just as the racquet is slowing down in its uppermost position; as he pushes up, the racquet goes down.
   
2. Forehand: I support the racquet and turn my body on the preparation, but instead of straigthening the left arm and pointing it to the right fence, I take it back bent and then straighten it. Physics tells me that this will slow down my rotation. Instead, if I start rotating with my arm straight, and then bend it, I will accelerate the upper body rotation. I also need to try to catch the racquet on the follow through on the other side.
3. Backhand: step forward with the right foot and keep the body centered and bent at the waist, back straight. That was the feeling of having my chest close to my knees. Everything else seems ok.