Monday, 03 April 2017 / Published in ATP Tour

Roger def. Rafa. You are going to LOVE this tactic…

Copy This. Roger That.

Roger defeated Rafa for the FOURTH straight time yesterday.

There is so much to learn from this match, and how Roger has once again taken the tennis world by storm. Let’s focus on just ONE thing that contributed heavily to the victory – one thing you can copy and paste into your own game.

Deuce Court 1st Serve Wide = Won 12/13

It’s simply money in the Swiss bank. The slice serve out wide in the deuce court pulls the opponent way off the court, opening up a hole in the Ad court to immediately attack – and that’s if the return even comes back! Here’s the breakdown of all the first serves out wide in the Deuce court to “Position 1”.

Serve Location – Position 1

#	Rally Length	Serve Speed	What Happened
1	1	107mph	Missed Backhand Return (serve & volley)
2	1	105mph	Missed Backhand Return (serve & volley)
3	1	106mph	Missed Backhand Return (serve & volley)
4	1	105mph	Missed Backhand Return
5	1	108mph	Missed Backhand Return
6	1	102mph	Ace
7	3	106mph	1/2 Volley FH Winner (serve & volley)
8	3	110mph	Serve +1 Forehand Winner
9	3	98mph	Missed Return +1 Forehand From Nadal
10	3	105mph	Missed Return +1 Forehand From Nadal
11	3	103mph	Serve +1 Backhand Winner
12	4	104mph	Federer Overhead Winner (serve & volley)

Average Rally Length Points Won = 2.1 shots.

Average Serve Speed Points Won = 105mph.

The beauty of these points for Federer is that they are all done and dusted so quickly. He starts on total offense (even with a comparatively slower 1st serve) and Nadal never gets a change to even get back to neutral.

One Point Lost

Rally Length 4 – Federer backhand error (114mph)

This is very, very interesting. The fastest first serve Federer served out wide to Position 1 was the only point he lost. Nadal actually fed off that power and ripped a backhand return cross court that instantly had Federer on defense. The Swiss missed his next shot – a rushed backhand.

Nadal Return Position

The picture below is from the first point of the match. Nadal is so far back, and so wide. He has got to hit one of the best returns of his life just to get back to even. I think it’s a tactical error. In fact, I know it is from charting this exact sequence for several years, and also coaching against Nadal at Wimbledon in 2015, helping Dustin Brown defeat Nadal. Rafa gets eaten up out there. Nadal needs to be around the baseline cutting that angle off, using the rebounding power to rush Federer with his Serve +1 groundstroke. Standing up to return also makes it tougher for Federer to serve and volley as well. The numbers simply prove that this court position is not the antidote for one of Federer’s favorite and most successful tactics.

So here’s how to digest this info.

Serve & Volley

Roger served and volleyed nine times in the match. He won every single one of them. He served and volleyed five times out wide in the Deuce court. He loved it. You should to. The key here is not to focus if you are serving to a forehand or a backhand. The key is pulling the opponent so far off the court with a slice serve that they are on massive defense with their return. It’s so tough for the returner to get behind the ball. They end up reaching sideways and floating the return. Perfect to serve and volley against.

First Strike

Right around six out of 10 points in the match ended in the 0-4 rally length. Not a single point made it past four shots from a 1st serve out wide in the deuce court. The average rally length was a serve IN, and a return IN… and ballgame. It was just 2.1 shots. This is First Strike Nirvana!

Missed Returns

Rafa missed five returns from the wide slider. Five. Surely he knows Federer is going there. Surely he is positioning himself to get the ball back in play, and make Federer have to hit an extra shot. Remember there was also one ace, so of the 12 returns overall Rafa got a racket on, he missed 42% (5/12) of them. That’s from one of the best returners to ever play our game…

Serve Speed

Here’s the match breakdown for Federer.

Average 1st Serve Speed = 114mph
Fastest 1st Serve = 124mph
Average 2nd Serve Speed = 92mph
Average 1st Serve Speed to Position 1 = 105mph

So it’s kind of a tweener. Federer’s average first serve speed to Position 1 was not really like a first serve at all. His average was 105mph – seven mph less than the average for the whole match. This is great news for you, because you are trying to employ a tactic that you know does not require you to really rip it. Placement and spin are more important than power.

ATP Brain Game Analysis

Click on the following link to reach my full match review on the ATP World Tour website.

BRAIN GAME ANALYSIS: MIAMI FINAL

All the best,

Craig

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

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Roger def. Rafa. You are going to LOVE this tactic…

Copy This. Roger That.

Serve Location – Position 1