Roger Federer's precise serve placement was the key to his beautiful game | Acing It

In this episode of Acing It, ESPN's Bill Connelly looks at the importance of Roger Federer's serve approach to his overall game. After holding him back as a young player, Federer found consistency in 2004 and never looked back, as he became the first man to win 20 Grand Slam singles titles.

0:00 Intro
0:26 How Federer's accuracy made his serve dominant
1:28 Federer's early serve struggles
2:19 Serve improvement in 2004
2:57 The importance of placement
3:56 The dominant years
4:42 Waning dominance, but a better serve
5:19 Late-career renaissance
6:06 Wimbledon memories
7:34 The art of Federer's game

[Vladimir-gs]

Most incredible was Roger's second serve, high quality and so overlooked weapon in his game.

[lngun]

To this day I am partially convinced that Federer was secretly one of the physically strongest guys on tour. He could easily hit 130+ mph on his serves but he always stayed within the 120 range because he favored placement. I don't think we will ever know how much he was sandbagging his full physical strength but he will always be missed on the tour.

[twinwankel]

Excellent video. The best I've seen in breaking down his serve statistics. Clearly the best server inch per inch. That serve is the most beautiful and elegant serve I've ever seen. But the toss is just so reliable that I rarely ever seen him do a retoss, maybe once. GOAT.

[SimplyCourtLevel]

From his service motion to his toss to his placement, it was all peRFect!

[JiraiyaSama]

As Federer pointed out, he figured that 120 to 125 mph was already good enough against the field most of the time. Essentially, any harder is redundant and may sacrifice precision and effect. And the effect part is also important. Faster isn't always better. Especially if the range of placement isn't wide enough. If the fastest serves are averaging to within, let's say 8 ft of width in the service box, and the server is serving the same speed about 70 percent of the time, those can eventually become makeable returns. In other words, you can eventually camp very comfortably inside the range without worrying too much about the wider serves as much.

Now say you can hit precise serves with a decent amount of power. Because if you're just placing the ball, the person might as well step up to the baseline or inside. You need some amount of power in your serves to establish a range. A range that says - "Hey! I'm going to make sure that you feel like you have to stretch yourself like a mongoose if you want to cover all my serves." A perfect blend of power and placement will help. But let's also not forget spin. The spin that will affect how the ball behaves and therefore increases the range. From sidespinning which can drag or jam, to kicking which can mess with the timing and height at which you want to strike. Master the 3, and that's pretty lethal.

[botanistmartian]

these videos are SO GOOD! keep it up pls

[vivekchavan]

He would win half the battle with his serve only. The main reson behind his extented & successful career.

[philanthropenos]

Even in 2019 Wimbledon Final, Djokovic had to wait till fourth set for his first service break. His placement is impeccable.

[StardustLegacyFighter]

By far, the best server out of the big 3, and iirc he's ranked number 3 in the list of leading acers in Men's Tennis.

[ithehappy]

Bruh needed just ONE of these at 40-15 though. JUST ONE.
Anyway, best of my era by a gigantic margin.

[mrgee]

Brilliant work. Those stats are insane.
I feel his dip was caused by contacting mononucleosis (mono) at the end of 07. So no pre season training going into 08 and playing catch up for the rest of the year. Despite that, Federer manages to get to the semi-final in Oz, the finals at the French and Wimbledon, then wins the US open. Insane feat considering Soldering was forced to retire after contacting mono.
Additionally, the adjustment from a 90 Square inch racket to finally settling with a 97. A mega jump in tennis terms.

[jeffhermida]

every shot RF hits just looks smooth and aesthetic.

[sultanabran]

this is a great video. rare to see federer's first serve go above 200km/h. often around 160-180, which is unheard of in the modern men's game.

[rawrss]

Thanks for covering Tennis - these have been great.

[chrism]

One of the things that I always found unique about Federer's serve was how much he used his abs. You can see it by how much his knees move up, his whole body kind of snapping forwards at the moment of impact. All the other players extend their legs fully as they jump up, but Federer uses his abs and legs to squeeze that little extra juice from his serve.

[Frenzinh]

Great great content! Keep on doing it.Days will not be enough to cover most of Roger game elements. He is a different breed. The one and only Federer. Michael Jordan of tennis.

[jinntakk]

The fact that Rafa and Djokovic beat Fed's 20 GS would've been unthinkable in the 2010s

[StardustLegacyFighter]

The best serving motion I've ever seen.

[Nill]

The well placed serve w some pop is so much more effective than the monster serve, as when a returner does get a hold of one, it’s coming back w all that pace, taking time away from the server.

[vintageaveee]

I could watch Roger's serve day!😃 Such a beautiful serve 🤩, his motion on serve was so flawless! His whole game was a beauty to watch! He was the #AirJordan of tennis, his game had so much swagg!😎😏
Gosh I wish he was still playing.😞
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