That’s it right there. So pure. So much goodness.
If someone could mirror image that for us righties? Maybe blow it up some? It’s so good. All the little freeze frames…
Turns back into the rear leg, lays it off and drops it down, fires everything square into impact and the footwork is super clear (+stylepoints for the clay court), the whole works rotates through completely connected, and he rips it up to the high finish with the lead shoulder out front until it runs out of room, then you finally see the racket flip past and release at the very very end, way after the ball’s gone.
Pretty clear that what Roger does classifies as advanced ball striking, at the highest level.
Thanks for posting that.
1 Like
That would be good. And also…another request if possible. Could it be posted in the older format whereby the viewer can stop the action. The “gif” format is nice, but my older/ slower brain seems to like stopping the action, and staring for a while, so the image can thoroughly sink in. gif doesn’t allow that.
Challenge accepted 
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Hi Eagle,
I’m not sure what the ‘older’ format is, but here’s an excerpt from a practice session where he hits some backhands down the line.
This starts out slow but after a few minutes they start playing some points… enjoy:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d3V7fGWG90[/youtube]
and this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiW_j-nPEZk[/youtube]
Thanks IOZ!
I thought this was pretty cool…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuGNsvuJpEc[/youtube]
Very cool indeed BOM, I think I saw it before (on the private side perhaps?) and it’s such a great visual to use as a mental image.
That is some nice footwork… 
Thanks!
No worries, IOZ. It’s funny, talk about small world, believe it or not I was watching a documentary on Hitler recently and they had a clip of some Nazi youth in the fields all scything hay, and I couldn’t help seeing the similarities to the golf swing! My brain is always on for these types of things apparently. I also remember a photo maybe Twomasters posted a long time ago with Hale Irwin and there was a guy in the background holding a scythe. I always liked that image but had never really seen the action…
Thanks for those Federer clips btw, great stuff indeed.
Hey Green Man 222…nice to hear from you again.
I like the plowing the field image as well and have thought about it for some time now, especially the spine, and its orientation to the ground during load and unload, and is something I have been cooking up in the Rat Lab with a good amount of success.
It is when the spine tilts about 45* right from a vertical starting point for the field plower the scythe is loaded, and an intention to get to the other side- which would be an opposite 45* angle- the process is completed and a quarter circle is cut out, with the small of the back the stationary point. It has a very interesting reaction in the hips…left hip low going into the strike.
Overall, metronomish in feel, but does not look like it…but does take the timing element out of the process, which seems at odds with the purpose of the metronome’s pivot action.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-7zIqckuy4[/youtube]
A couple cut outs for inspection, even Federer seems to load the spine 45* angularly to the load side.
As you can see…the red pills are still in ample supply within Rat Land.
Hope your new endeavors are going well. 
One of new students informed me how much he loves doing the initial module work…he was a quality squash player and said what myself and Lag show is exactly how the right arm operates in squash. Of course he did great with his initial video as he already had a feel for some of it.
Very cool stuff about the squash swing TM. I’ve been meaning to bring it up a couple of times here and on some other forums, but never got around to it. In squash you pretty much hit it with underspin on every shot, so you have to come in level/shallow. Also it seems to have survived the technology attack better than most sports. At the top level it’s a lot more aggressive and nowadays you can’t succeed without a strong attacking game.
Same squash photos with Hogan comparison. Pay particular attention to the angles of the right forearm and wrist.
Good to see you too, Double R, and to see the rat lab in full flow. I remember messing around with that idea a few years back after feeling it in a tai chi/yoga move, and initially loved it. But it caused some issues with the short irons/low point consistency as I recall. There’s something in it in terms of constant pressure/acceleration, but I found there was just too much movement for comfort. That is if I understand you correctly, I don’t always follow the Rat Path with total clarity
Cheers man, I hope all is well…
B
Great stuff, Two, it is indeed a small world.
I’ve talked/posted about hurling before, but this video is great. The squash stuff brought it to mind.
Gotta love the Guinness hoarding in the background too!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q_4I3ae0J4[/youtube]
Two,
Great side by side there, nice! I have a question regarding the baseball swing and how consistently all hitters, regardless of their standing, find the slot pretty much without fail. Obviously the fact that the ball essentially comes to them at hip height helps, but what about how they all set the right arm at the top, does it ever cross your mind that some aspect of this is an optimal way to use it? I see traits of that arm action in my favourite golf swings and feel that it’s relevant. Have you any thoughts on this, or how you might see it as relevant to some sort of optimal backswing action/top of the swing spot? It would be cool to hear your thoughts if you have any whenever you get a chance…
Cheers man, I hope all is well…
B
Hope that discussion gets started, as it could be a good one, and an area strongly on my mind these days, but not necessarily how the trail arm sets, or is a participant, in the action but how the whole process of hitting by today’s experts routes, and relies, upon a "short cut’ to get ahead of the strike, which would include the R arm too.
It’s almost like Hogan said the fastest part is measured feet past impact, which would be the ONLY ARC section of the entire action, and from the top it is a direct route to the ball, and even though some expansion of angles are happening on the way through the ‘short cut’ it is so small as to feel almost nonexistent, or even increasing, through the short cut. In other words, there is no width happening from the top to the strike, everything gets narrower…the width happens after impact during the actual arc section.
Here is a video of arguably the best hitter today with a pretty good look showing he short cuts directly to a position where he can turn it loose and no one can get it by him. There is no bat width behind him, or on the R side of him.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLVj6XCt7Dk[/youtube]
Another related video, starting around 8:30, talks about ‘short to, long through’, which was similar to my comments about no width prior to the strike to speak of, and is what Cabrera does.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS-PcxmaHmQ[/youtube]