A Focus on Fitness

06-07-2010

Fitness has many aspects, many flavors and many roads for the fitness seeker to take. It can not be a singular, predetermined journey. People come to fitness at different ages, and with varying levels of strength, health and athleticism. They come to it with a wide range of goals and aims.

The way we see it is as a subset of personal choices in life. We're not talking here about the Big Picture, about fundamental issues of identity and so on. Yet, what is interesting is that a human being can 1) develop a philosophy of fitness, and 2) discover that developing it well has benefits in other areas of life.

UptoFitness has taken a fairly structured approach to fitness, all within the context of the 'user's choice.' We think that makes sense. At the same time, we have learned quite a bit about the fitness game since starting the site - new approaches, new programs, new ideas.

It is our intent to bring some of these to you in the coming weeks and months. We hope this will be of benefit to our readers.

The Federer Genius

Switzerland's Roger Federer is a tennis genius. This statement is not new or earth-shattering. Yet it is demonstrably true.

Federer is an amalgam of athlete and artist. His game defies logic and reason. His superb technique is built on both - and the wisdom imparted by dedicated coaches in his youth.

Roger's game is predicated on speed, efficiency and variety. Much revolves around the twin secret Federer weapons, the feet and the eyes. Tennis commentators love to talk about stroke production, but it is just one element in the construction of a great tennis player.

Let's start with these two vital components, the feet and the eyes, as we assemble the Roger Federer puzzle.

Footwork

The Swiss legend appears to be gliding when he moves about the court, though he is in fact running, turning and stopping. In reality, Federer lacks special jets or platforms. What he does is anticipate extremely well and use seamless footwork to approach the ball. Roger implements whole step sequences into his game.

These are all adapted to the situation at hand; despite the apparent choreography, Roger does not have literal scripts to call on.

What the great Fed does do is move immediately and swiftly towards the spot where he wants to intercept the opponent's ball. He moves gracefully, altering his path slightly as his eyes hone in more precisely on the exact landing zone. His steps adjust to establish the correct body position for his shot.

It may look like magic, but it comes down to: 1) watching the ball off the opponent's strings, 2) running immediately toward the estimated landing spot, 3) knowing when to 'cut' the steps and switch to 'little' steps to set up the hitting platform.

The Eyes

Roger Federer watches the ball. This is a simple and obvious statement, but in watching the ball into his strings on every shot, Federer obeys the first law of sports.

What is remarkable is the consistency with which his sight follows the ball until his strings meet it. Watching the ball facilitates quick reaction and fluid footwork. A player who keeps his eye on the ball is priming his mind to - in turn - instruct the body to react.

Most amateur players remove their sight from the ball just before contact, out of impatience and anxiety. They want to know where their shot is going and they want to be ready for the opponent's reply.

Federer was taught the advantages of lingering sight for clean contact. He knows that a well-executed stroke gives him plenty of time to recover for his opponent's next shot.

Physical fitness helps trigger the footwork. Without proper conditioning, you won't achieve the footwork level necessary.

Mental fitness provides the awareness. This in turn produces the necessary relaxation and confidence for great play.

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Strokework

Does Roger Federer possess awesome physical and mental fitness? It's clear that he does. Federer is also grounded in top-flight tennis fundamentals. He learned most of these at a tennis academy in his native Switzerland.

His strokes are amazing. The forehand is a work of art, hinging as it does on his anticipation (the eyes, again) and footwork. The stroke itself is fluid and powerful: like nearly all top players Federer has the massive forearm muscle going. He has the ingrained habit of adding topspin to nearly every stroke. The degree varies according to the purpose of the shot, the phase of the rally and the type of court surface.

A particular aspect of Roger's forehand is the way he finishes across his body. The cross-body finish is tied to an open-stance forehand and the application of topspin. It derives from the open stance. Finishing to the side shortens the follow-through and returns you to Ready position.

The Federer backhand is in some ways a more interesting stroke. It was once considered weak, and other pros would attack it to 'break it down'. He would begin to shank the backhand; as with any player, the frustration that misses would bring register with the opponent.

Federer knew that players and critics alike thought his backhand vulnerable. What did he do about this flaw? He played. The great thing about a weakness is that you get automatic practice from opponents' efforts to exploit it. The Federer backhand is now artful, varied and dangerous.

Great backhands in the pro game? This list includes players like French Open champ Gaston Gaudio. Britain's former top player Tim Henman had a beautiful single-handed backhand. Probably the paradigm for the modern one-hander is the multiple Major winner Ivan Lendl, whose forehand was also a thing of (devastating) beauty.

On the distaff side, Justine Henin has the most aesthetic backhand in the women's game. I also like the backhands of Sam Stosur and Vera Zvonoreva, to name two.

The 11:45 Serve

The Federer serve is another unsung component of his game. It features the kinetic chain illustrated better by Pete Sampras than by just about anyone in tennis history. Fed arches his back, which promotes the rotation that is a prerequisite to 'unwinding' the kinetic chain.

What is really interesting about Federer's service motion is the first-serve toss location. While most pros and other advanced players toss the first serve ball about 12:30 (if your head is the center of a clock and a toss directly above it is 12 o'clock), Roger generally lays the ball just to the left of his head, or somewhere about 11:45 on the virtual clock. This produces more spin and net clearance, and forces the back arch. It may also account for some of his back problems in 2009.

He rarely goes all out on the serve. Rather, Federer stays within his margins and emphasizes placement most of the time. This increases his serve percentage and helps avoid reliance on the second serve. The old tennis truism 'you're only as good as your second serve', while accurate, is trumped by attaining a high percentage of good first serves.

This is the thing about Federer's game in general. He plays within himself. It is both a measure of his relaxed state on court and proof of the value of this savvy approach to playing the yellow-ball game.