Roger Federer, Is It Time... For a New Racquet?
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Many of us have seen the current world #3, Roger Federer, claiming that he still wants to regain the number one spot, and he believes he can do it. While I’m sure there are people that would love to see him challenging Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in matches deep into tournaments, but it may be time to look at it all realistically.
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 The fact is that Federer will be turning 30 in August, which is still young in terms of the general population, but in the world of tennis, that is long past the prime of many. There are, of course, exceptions. Andre Agassi won the Australian Open a number of times, including at the ages of 29, 30, and 32. Due to the nature of the game today, many players do not remain truly competitive past the age of 28, and others not even that long.
No one can ever argue the inherent ability that Federer possesses. In his prime, and even now, he comes up with shots that many could never even dream about. To be fair, he has had a solid year, thus far, posting a 28-7 record with a title in Doha, but he just really has not been able to pull through those break out matches. He is 0-5 this year against the combination of Nadal and Djokovic. His other losses coming to Jurgen Melzer, and Richard Gasquet, both very dangerous and capable players, on clay, his weakest surface. Looking at a few of his other matches, the aura of invincibility that surrounded Federer has dissipated. So if he wants to truly contend for number one and get past these kinds of matches, what are the steps he needs to take?
 That’s where we start looking at his game in general. It’s no secret that the two handed backhand is here to stay, it simply offers a number of advantages for certain shots and in general is more consistent than the one handed option. The added stability and control from the offhand also seems to offer better results on return. Despite originally learning a two hander, Federer made the switch to a one hander, just as Sampras did, and they both worked fine. When Federer first burst onto the scene, however, he was a much more offensive minded player, attacking the net much more often than now. Far too often he seems content to stay at the baseline and trade groundstrokes until he can attack with his forehand. This begs the question of tactics. Is Federer staying back by choice, or has the racquet and string technology come so far that he feels he has no opportunity or chance to move into the court?
No matter what the answer to that question is, and no matter what style of play Federer employs, it is obvious that there is one major weakness that has begun creeping into his game more and more. It has always been the weaker side, but now that his forehand has lost some of its explosiveness, it seems more difficult to mask the backhand. Whether we like it or not (and trust me I don’t) the way the game has moved is towards larger racquets, strung with polyester strings, perfect for players to stand on top of the baseline and wail away at groundstrokes as hard as possible until the point ends. Federer did make the shift in strings, moving to a hybrid that uses a polyester string in the crosses, but he still uses an extremely low powered, small headed frame with almost zero forgiveness. As a former midsize user myself, there is no sweeter feel than hitting a shot just perfect with that kind of racquet, but is it worth losing just to experience that feel? This stance can be debated amongst amateur and recreational players, but when your goals are dependent on your on court results, one has to consider doing what they can to maximize performance. In fact, here is a rundown of headsizes for the top 20 players on the ATP Tour:
 Nadal: 100
Djokovic: 98
Federer: 90
Murray: 98
Soderling: 98
Ferrer: 100
Berdych: 98
Melzer: 97
Monfils: 95
Almagro: 100
Fish: 95
Roddick: 100
Youzhny: 100
Wawrinka: 98
Troicki: 100
Gasquet: 100
Verdasco: 98
Tsonga: 100
Simon: 98
Dolgopolov: 95
With this in mind, is it time for Federer to move to a larger headsize? Very few, if any other professional players use a headsize as small as Roger, with the two most successful players currently using frames that are 100sq. in. and 98sq. in. Before any comments that Alexandr Dolgopolov uses the same racquet as Federer, let me assure you, he does not. He uses a frame that is slightly larger at 95sq. in. that shares the paint scheme. Pete Sampras played his entire career with an 85sq. in. headsize, and now uses a 98 because it is easier. He has even stated that if he has only tried them sooner, he may have played longer and been more competitive towards the end. We all know that Federer has the game, but the sheer inconsistency on that backhand side offers too many free points to opponents that have started to close the gap on his level. Even making a small adjustment to a 95 or 98 headsize would have a huge enough impact on his groundstrokes, offering both more power, and hurting him less on the more and more frequent mishits.
So what do you think? Would changing frames to something more forgiving help or hinder the holder of 16 major titles? Is it too late to make a charge at that now elusive number one ranking?
What's on your mind? Post a comment below.
Posted by Richard Lucas on 5/12/2011 3:58:36 PM
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