See the Ball Like Roger

No two people play tennis exactly the same way, it seems, and Racqonteur is fascinated by the thousands of minute variations in the way that the best players in the world hit the same silly little yellow ball. A wonderful site to visit for the indulgence of that fascination is Revolutionary Tennis, written by Los Angeles-based teaching pro Mark Papas, who seems to have a nearly unlimited stamina for dissecting the minutiae of a single tennis stroke. His latest stroke of genius came with the realization that Roger Federer takes a radically unorthodox approach to preparing for his shots. It seems the Swiss Meister keeps his eyes trained behind his racquet throughout each stroke, rather than following the ball with his eyes onto and then off of the racquet. This subtle difference may be the secret to Federer's extraordinary timing and ball striking abilities. For a much more in depth account of this observation, check out Papas dissertation on Federer's line of site here.