Keeping Your Head Still Like Federer

If you have watched pro tennis over the years, you likely noticed that Roger Federer keeps his head down and still through the duration of his swing. As you can see here, you will find most pictures show his head still down by the end of his swing. However, every student I have worked with moves their head either before making contact with the tennis ball or while they are making contact. And no matter how many times coaches tell students to keep their head down during the swing, most will never fix this problem. In this article, I will explain why it’s important to keep your head still, the reason most have not been able to truly fix this problem, and the solution to a permanent change.

The reason you must keep your head still as you’re swinging is because when you move your head, your shoulders tend to follow. That leads to opening yourself up too soon before or during the swing. This also means your swing path will shift along with your shoulder movement. This causes one of two errors: (1) if your swing path shifts up before making contact with the ball, your strings will hit the top of the ball and send the ball towards a declining trajectory, which increases the likelihood of hitting short or the net; (2) if your swing path shifts up as you’re making contact with the ball, you will lift the ball up and it will likely sail long.

Why is this happening? Imagine yourself playing tennis. Now, visualize how you’re set for the shot and are about to swing and hit the ball. In the live scenario, what I always witness, is that once the student is set up and ready to swing, their mind has figured out within the few split seconds how to intercept the ball. Confident they will hit the ball; the player then turns their attention to where they want the ball to go. And bam, they don’t hit the shot they intended to because their swing path was altered suddenly.

Many will try to fix this problem by mechanically forcing their head down. But there is a problem with this approach: it’s not sustainable. Forcing your head down and keeping it still means that you must be attentive to keeping your head down. That attention takes away from your state of awareness for everything else. And once you stop focusing on keeping your head down, your problem will resurface. Your best tennis will be played through intuition and not controlled thinking.

The underlying problem is a lack of self-trust and a need to control the outcome of shots. Players move their head because they want to see where the ball goes with a hopeful wish to control the outcome of their shot with eyes. It’s absurd because once the ball leaves your string, you have zero control over where the ball goes. It’s already determined.

This underlying problem brings us back to fear of failure. We don’t like to fail and thus feel the need to control our outcomes. But the world of physics does not know about the tennis scoring rules and it will thus not make any adjustments to make you feel good about yourself. It just tells us we must play by the laws of physics and geometry.

Roger Federer has talked about letting go of outcomes. He learned to trust himself and be OK with missing shots. You can do the same and learn to stay in the moment. All you need to do, is work on letting go of controlling outcomes, being OK with missing, and keeping your mind in the moment.

Mindfulness training and acceptance of missing shots are the best tools to keeping your head still like Roger Federer as you’re swinging. The universe does not care if you win or lose. We invented scoring to make it fun, entertaining, and to measure our progress. Tennis is just a game that teaches you intuitive physics, math, psychology, and athleticism. These benefits far outweigh the need to win points or make your shots in.

Self-Belief

Have you noticed how anytime you return a serve that lands out, your return is almost always fast and flawless? We can do that because we're relaxed, and there's no pressure to win the point. On a deeper level, we don't doubt ourselves because we don't expect an outcome. The ball landed out, and we can just hit it without any consequence. So, the lack of doubt unlocks our ability to hit the shot we like. Isn't that a sign you can take steps to unlock your mind for any point you play?

The pressure you build on yourself to win makes you fear bad outcomes. So, consequently, your body and mind tighten, and you end up playing with inhibitions. It's normal at first, but you need to grow out of it. You do this by using tennis and life as a journey to reach enlightenment.

Your enlightenment is to fear nothing and be in the moment when playing in a state of relaxation and focus – that becomes your optimal performance. All players will tell you they play their best tennis without thinking about how to play. They're simply in the moment.

Here are two ideas you can use to gradually achieve that optimal mental performance:

(1) Learn to let go of controlling outcomes. The irony about wanting more control is that you'll get much less of it. The logic is quite simple. The world is full of variables outside of our control, and your mind is built to interact with this world. But when we're conditioned to focus on results that will take place in the future, our brain spends its resources on thinking about that future. I can predict when a player will miss an approach shot with 99% certainty – it's when their head moves to look to the other side before their racquet makes contact with the ball. It signals they're thinking about hitting a winner, so they move their head where they hope the winner will happen, and they suddenly become a spectator rather than the actor.

The future does not exist, and you have no control over it. Only the present moment exists. Accept that you have no control over the ball once it leaves your strings; so, focus on the moment.

(2) It's not so easy to stay in the moment. But you can practice that like anything else. Meditation, mindfulness, and equanimity are your three pillars to building mental strength.

• With meditation, you sit and spend a few minutes at a time focusing on your breathing and letting your attention stick with that. Without forcing thoughts out, you simply let them slide away as they appear.

• Mindfulness is the practice of observing the now. You pay attention and feel objects in your environment without distracting yourself with thoughts.

• Equanimity is the practice of being mindful without judging. You look at a cup, and you're not for or against it. You watch your opponent hit an ace against you, same rules apply.

Adapting to Different Environments

Andre Agassi excelled in windy conditions compared to most of his opponents. He attributed his ability to cope with strong winds to living in Las Vegas, where windy weather was common. Similarly, Roger Federer trained in Dubai from noon to 4 pm, allowing him to acclimate to the sweltering summer heat he would face during the Australian Open. These are just two examples among thousands of professional athletes who train in challenging environments to prepare for any situation they may encounter.

Imagine training indoors for seven months and only experiencing mild summers during your outdoor season. Then, you participate in a tournament in Palm Springs, California, where the climate is hot and dry. How do you think you would fare? Would the heat affect you during a lengthy match? If your opponent regularly trains in hot and arid climates, would they have an advantage? Although it may not always be the case, many players struggle when competing in unfamiliar environments.

For instance, in 2003, I competed in the Windmill Cup, a clay court tournament in the Netherlands. In the second round, I faced a player who was highly skilled on clay courts. He was more comfortable maneuvering on red clay and employed more topspin than I did. He won the first set 7-5. However, due to heavy rain that flooded the courts, the tournament director moved our match to an indoor carpet court. This faster and more predictable surface favored my style of play, allowing me to win 6-1, 6-0. On clay, my opponent had the upper hand, but indoors on a flat and fast surface, I held the advantage.

Over time, I dedicated more effort to training and competing on clay courts, which eventually enabled me to excel on that surface. Sometimes, I would even defeat superior clay court players. It's essential to identify your weaknesses and learn to adapt to various environments intuitively.

If you find yourself disliking certain surface types, windy conditions, extreme heat or cold, humidity, early mornings, or late-night play, recognize that this aversion often stems from insufficient training in those conditions. Your first step should be to identify and list the specific aspects that make you uncomfortable, such as "I struggle with high balls to my backhand."

Once you've compiled your list of discomforts, analyze how you can acclimate to those elements. While you may face some limitations, find ways to adapt within your constraints. For example, if you can't move to a warmer climate for training, arrive at tournaments a few days early to practice with other competitors and get used to the faster-paced play.

“Love Winning, Learn From Losing” – A Few Insights from Roger Federer’s 2022 Laver Cup Interview

As a kid, Roger Federer imagined of becoming a professional tennis player and perhaps number one in the world, but he never thought that his career would turn out to be one the greatest in tennis history. Roger trained well but his career achievements were not set in stone. Rather, his career was a reward for everything he did leading up to each match and tournament. You can take this as a lesson that you do not need to imagine yourself becoming the greatest of all time, you just need to train well consistently.

Roger gives credit to his coaches for shaping his game. He told his most recent coach, Ivan Ljubicic, who has been coaching Roger from 2016 until his retirement last week, “I don't want to hear from you what you think I want to hear - I want to hear what you really think; I want to hear the truth.” Roger needed to hear the truth so that he could know what to improve. This is likely an important reason he turned out to be a 20-time Grand Slam champion – his skills never stagnated. He just kept getting better. This mentality relates to the fact he did not need to dream up that he’ll win 20-Grand Slams, rather, he needed to know what to work on each day, so that he could continue improving.

One of the key aspects of Federer’s game was his footwork. And when asked about the new generation of players, Roger told reporters that “the best movers are the best players. It’s been like this for the last 10, 20 years already now, and it’s going to stay like this.” Movement unlocks your ability to get behind each shot and control your shot selection. If you move poorly, you won’t have much control over how you hit the ball.

To win those slams, you need more than just good footwork and strokes, you also need grit and resilience. That toughness is not gifted or handed to you, you must learn to become tough. Roger never felt he had the natural grit some other players seemed to possess – he had to struggle with getting toughness. Federer was being told by people all around to fight harder, but it was not clear to him what they meant by getting tougher. Someone even told him to be mean but it didn’t work and he decided to stick with being nice, where he felt authentic. He eventually discovered how to stick with fighting on the court without needing to act like he was fighting. The key is to not give up simply because things are not going your way. Be yourself and keep playing.

Full interview below:

Your Kid Can be the Next Champion

Success starts with showing up. Neither Carlos Alcaraz Garfia nor Iga Świątek would have become the 2022 U.S. Open champions if their parents hadn’t signed them up to their first tennis clinics. Alcaraz started playing at the age of four and  Świątek at five. Andre Agassi, a nine-time Grand Slam champion, also started very young – in the crib. Almost all top players out there began training in tots clinics – making friends, hitting red balls, learning to move around the court, and developing hand-eye coordination.

Our colleagues and consultants at JTCC helped Frances Tiafoe break top 20 ATP this year. They took him in to red ball tots at age 4. Frances went through their pathway program, the same one that our club, Kings Highway Tennis, uses. Today Frances is one of the best American tennis players, making history! Tiafoe beat Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 U.S. Open and then Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals. This was made possible because the coaches at JTCC noticed he was curious about tennis and invited him to play with other kids in clinics. More importantly, his family supported his tennis from his early age. If they hadn’t, the Washington Post wouldn’t be writing about his success story  and LeBron James wouldn’t have tweeted “CONGRATS Young King!!!”

Frances Tiafoe at the 2022 U.S. Open

I emphasize the recognition Tiafoe’s been receiving to point out one thing: when Frances was four, he didn’t go online and select a tennis club and a clinic to train at, he couldn’t have. He showed an interest in tennis but it was his parents and coaches that helped him get started. Moreover, no one knew he would land in the semi-finals of the U.S. Open at 24. They enlisted him to have fun.

Your kid is in the same position — filled with potential and waiting for you to help him or her get started in a sports program that will teach life skills, bring good health and lasting friendships. The stardom is a bonus. And you don’t need to be in Florida, California, or Spain to think your kid will have a chance to get good at tennis. Connecticut has had a fair share of successful Division I college and professional players, most notably James Blake. Blake reached No. 4 in the world. He grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut and began playing when he was five. 

Kings Highway Tennis Club has been working with JTCC for six years to develop the best kind of junior tennis pathway possible. Therefore, whatever your child’s current level, we have a program for them. Our goal is to make the best use of our skills and help children enjoy tennis while getting good at it. 

If you are thinking of registering your child to a tennis program, please call us at (203) 655-8769 or email our Director of Tennis, Zack Lahmar, at zack@tennisct.com. If you get in touch with us, we’ll set your child up with a free 15-minute evaluation by one of our tennis pros. If you are not thinking of tennis, you should still call us and let us convince you that your child will love this awesome sport!