Lesson 13 Sprint 51: Fill & Download for Free

Utah State is the Bomb! Loved my time there on campus and off.Here are some things learned that will help.(#51 is Super Critical)1. Your immune system is not as strong as you thought it was.2. Making friends is easier than you thought.3. Your friends may change after the first couple weeks of school.4. You need your sleep, seriously.5. You can't cram for a test the night before (and do well).6. You probably won't make straight A's.7. You've got to pick your battles. Don't pick fights over stupid things.8. You'll love coffee more than you ever thought you could.9. You will procrastinate, and you'll learn your lesson every time.10. Don't buy textbooks you don't need.11. If you're on meal plan, use it. Don't spend unnecessary money on dinners out.12. But know that sometimes it's okay to splurge.13. Your professor may hate the way you write, and you may have to change your approach towards writing papers.14. You may change your major. It's normal.15. You won't get to the gym as often as you thought you would.16. You've got to start checking your e-mail.17. Some days you'll watch more Netflix than you will study.18. Studying in your dorm is near impossible.19. It's a marathon, not a sprint.20. No one cares how ugly you look for class.21. You'll probably wait until you have no clothes left to do your laundry, it's fine. We all do it.22. Office hours may change your overall grade in the class. Seriously.23. Foreign language classes aren't as easy as they were in high school.24. Sometimes you have to pick fun over school. You won't remember the nights you studied.25. Sometimes the only cure is Mexican food.26. Your college town will have the BEST restaurants.27. College move-in never gets any less annoying.28. Buy everything on sale that you can.29. Rent your textbooks.30. You're gonna lose things. Often.31. Naps are so important.32. So are calls home to mom and dad.33. Good friends are good for your sanity.34. Taking an occasional mental health day is okay, but don't skip your classes regularly. It's a waste of money.35. Don't walk home alone at night. Seriously.36. Park at your own risk.37. Drink more water. It'll cure about half of your problems.38. You can't go out every night.39. Take lots of pictures.40. Go all out for game day. Why not?41. Have a winter coat. Even if you live somewhere warm.42. Thank your parents often.43. If you learn something the "hard way," learn your lesson.44. A great playlist can make your day.45. You'll make it through your hardest classes.46. You'll make it through your hardest days.47. You'll make the greatest friends, and you'll cherish them.48. You'll have a thousand memories in a short time.49. Being on your own can be scary.50. It'll go by too fast.#51 and most Critical…Visit the Aggie Creamery, before and after tests, with dates, and especially if you get home sick :)Best of LuckGo Aggies!

A left-handed player does not have any advantage in tennis that a right-handed player doesn't have himself.Tennis, like other complex sports, is one where:A player makes his own advantages by using his talents at the opportune time and place.And not by relying on some built-in advantage . . . that is, unless he’s a genetic giant with a built-in height advantage, like Big John Isner.That lefties exploit some technical lacuna in the sport is a long-standing myth peddled by righties, as a —flimsy— justification for their failures at the hands of their counterparts.They’ve peddled the myth since lawn tennis took off in the 20th Century; and the peddling spiked through the 1970s and 1980s, the era of the 5 legendary lefties:Rodney Laver, Martina Navratilova, Jimmy Connors, Guillermo Vilas, and John McEnroe.Currently, the myth has entered social media through the idle chatter of those casual fans who have a tendency to favor Roger Federer over the lefty Rafael Nadal.These casual fans bought the peddled myth at face value, and then used it to oversimplify the Spaniard’s success over Federer down to a phrase that is meant to sound nuanced and sensible, but is really just simplistic and underinformed:“The Match-up Problem.”[1]The way they talk about it, one could be forgiven for thinking it was a real-life version of a cheatcode that the Spaniard was given by his coach-uncle (in picture), because he is otherwise “too brawny” to win matches using anything resembling talent or intelligence.*The way they talk about it, Federer should be absolved from all the backhand peccadilloes, slow-court inadequacies, and psychological weaknesses he exhibited when he came up against this “mindless brute,” because the mindless brute had had his left arm imbued with righty-hypnotizing magic by his coach and other consulting witch-doctors on his pagan island in the Balearic.The Match-Up Problem, and its complimentary myth, the Righty-Hypnotizing Technique, will continue to plague tennis long after the Federer-Nadal rivalry, and as long as the majority of the tennis-playing population remain right-handed.This is because most right-handed losers will perpetuate these myths to excuse losses to left-handed winners, rather than own up to their own inferiority or the lefty’s superiority (not that Federer does this; it’s his (mostly righty) fans that make the excuses).This majoritarian process isn’t just restricted to tennis.History will continue to be the sound of other anti-minority myths like the one in this context → the majority will continue to denigrate the minority for anomalous (they imply underhanded) traits, cry bloody murder about it, and get away with it because they own the sonocracy.Examples: the crap you hear about immigrant minorities, LGBTQ people, and any misfit.Semantic examples: We’ve gotten the the word ‘sinister’ from the Latin word for ‘left’, and the word ‘left’ from the Old English word for ‘useless’. We've progressed through history superstitiously thinking lefties were demons or morons.There are two technical bases to tennis’ version of the anti-minority myth:(1) Lefty’s forehand to righty’s backhand:Righties argue that cross-court forehands hit by lefties are exploiting their weaker wing — the backhand — and that this is an unfair “built-in” advantage.This is based on the notion that the backhand is the weaker wing of the average tennis player.The notion might have been truer until the 1980s, when the two-handed backhand was scarcely used, and most players used a single-handed backhand that they found slightly unwieldy for balls that bounced too high too fast, above shoulder-height.And it still might be true in the modern two-handed game, though there will always be exceptional cases, like Andy Murray, whose two-handed backhands are arguably stronger than his forehands.But the obvious problem with their argument is that they, the righties, can exploit the mirrored exchange — their stronger forehands to the weaker lefty backhands.And therein lies the rub.(2) Lefty serve wide from Ad side, to righty’s backhand:Many a time, when a lefty serves wide from the Ad side (i.e. from left to his right), he is using his left-handed slice and spin to get the ball to always curve away from the righty’s backhand, far from that righty’s preferred striking zone.In doing this, he is getting two advantagesHe’s forcing the righty to hit from his weaker wing.He’s forcing the righty to hit the backhand from wide off the tramlines and far from his core, decreasing the chances of him getting a deep, powerful return in.Further, tennis’ side-changing system forces the lefty to serve from the Ad side at any even-numbered point (2nd point: 0-15, 15-0; 4th point: 15-30, 30-15; 6th point: 30-40, 40-30; 8th+ point: Ad).The righties allege that the lefties are getting “more important” gamepoints (40-30, Ad) and breakpoints (30-40, Ad) on which to hit this Ad serve.The obvious flaw in this argument is, again, the mirrored exchange: the righty can do the same while serving from the Deuce side, to the lefty’s weaker backhand, as illustrated in this video by Youtube user, Daily Tennis Lesson.And even though he is doing this at all odd-numbered points (1st point: 0–0; 3rd point: 15-15, 30-0, 0-30; 5th point: 30-30, 15-40, 40-15; 7th point: 40-40), he secretly knows they are just as important as breakpoints or gamepoints.In fact, at any one moment in time, the current point is the most important point you are playing, a playing philosophy Rafa has immortalised among current tennis fans.In criticizing these points as “less important”, righties are suffering from, what I call, chronological hypermetropia: looking too far into the future for catastrophe/salvation, and not concentrating on the present.They're also forgetting that they will have 3 lucky Deuce serves before reaching the same game/break point.In tennis, the only way to plan for the future is to plan for the present.This serving advantage to get ahead is, therefore, equal, and there to be taken by both the lefty and righty servers.Both players, as returners, can also predict a wide serve to their weaker backhands and run around the backhand to get a stronger forehand return in, as illustrated in this graphic from the New York Times, where Federer has the option of the forehand inside-out and inside-in, off Nadal’s slightly-off wide serve from the Ad court, because he expected Nadal to hit there.(Nadal famously served one down the T, instead, on a pressure point in the fifth set of the 2008 Wimbledon final, to screw with Federer’s expectations)These cases show that, in real time, there is no such thing as a built-in advantage.You make your own advantages via split-second decisions based on your opponent’s own decisions, which is guesswork unless you know his “tell” — as Andre Agassi allegedly did, for Boris Becker and his tongue[2] — or his fall-back-on tendencies, as Federer and Nadal know, of each other.The other point that righties make, one more psychological than technical, is that they are “less used to” lefties, while lefties are more used to them.This argument, while on the surface correct, has a deeper flaw that invalidates any lazy excuse they may want to concoct:They’re playing modern tennis with prepatory time, not fighting to the death in ancient Rome or in their favorite high-fantasy series.Their opponent is a known entity.These righties know that they’re going to play a lefty tomorrow, or day after tomorrow.Federer knows he is going to play Nadal a few days before their match.Modern tennis is not like those gladiator-themed movies, where young Federer would be captured by a band of slavers, a rudimentary wooden stake and a dirty loincloth shoved into his hands, and suddenly pushed beyond a curtain, into a bloody arena.Modern tennis is not like the continuation of that movie where, from behind a curtain on the other side of the arena, to the sound of snare drums, a gigantic, muscular bull fitted in resplendent Shardplate and an iron-horned helm, primed for goring men to death, will come to do battle with little, loinclothed Federer—who has no idea how to counter it, no tools of note, and, just a few seconds ago, didn’t even know that such a nightmare existed!No, unlike the situation on top, Federer is given unbiased conditions to fight his lefty opponent.Federer is given time to make a tactical plan around his lefty opponent, with video evidence of that lefty’s favorite patterns, and scores of lefty hitting partners who would jump at the opportunity to play with the Swiss tennis superstar.You are given time to make a tactical plan around your lefty opponent, as well.If you have a modicum of common sense, you will already know the information I have written in my answer without reading it, because it is fairly obvious to someone who has played tennis for a while, and you can form a plan with that information to beat that lefty.It doesn’t even matter if you have never played a lefty before; what matters, if you research him in that prep time given to you, is his weaknesses—and they will be as exploitable as yours; he is only human.Most professional tennis players like Federer, however, will have already competed professionally against lefties before meeting a lefty that particularly troubles them, so will have already got a “feel” for the instinctive patterns of play, in the rare cases that he doesn't find a lefty hitting partner.And Federer had no problem defeating the other top left-handers of the 21st Century.He’s won 42 of 44 matches against Verdasco, Lopez, Mannarino, Ramos-Vinolas, Melzer, Muller, Llodra, and M. Zverev.Nadal defeated Federer not because of the lefty element of surprise (they've played close to 40 times; what's left to be surprised of?), but because Nadal’s level of play was almost on the level of a full-powered bull with armor-plating, one that even sword-wielding opponents couldn't help but go slack-jawed at, finally getting gored through their ...Unlike those other lefties, Nadal’s backhand and forehand were both strong due to him working hard towards mixed-handedness after switching from a two-hand forehand at the age 11.And his tireless footwork, at the deeper court position from where he hit those forehands and backhands from, made it almost impossible to hit through him or force him to a cheaper reply.He played a brand of the sport that few ever dared and even fewer had the discipline to keep at for long hours.It was brinkmanship that usually fizzled out at the end of the 10-month season, but never the end of a 5-hour match.No one had ever imagined a player like Nadal before.His success wasn’t down to the element of surprise or any alleged “built in” advantage as much as the aforementioned two aspects of his mixed-handedness and footwork, and the hard work he put into his own anomalous forehand, as left-handed legend Martina Navratilova once noted:Nadal is not unusual because he’s a lefty. He’s unusual because of how he hits the ball.[3]And as did some others:[Nadal’s forehand], the heaviest topspin forehand in the game, is generally placed wide and high to the backhand of a right-handed opponent, like Federer. The dizzying topspin doesn't give Federer a lot of options, often eating him up and causing him to mishit, or shank the ball.[4]It was because of these three factors that in their matches, he outplayed Federer on every aspect of tennis except the serve and volley.As it was in the case of Federer, but not his fans so much, it would be more honest to compliment your lefty opponent, and acknowledge that he played better than you, than make up a myth that is so easily busted.But let’s take a look at one of the more legendary stretches of the Federer-Nadal rivalry: the 14-minute tiebreaker in the fourth set of the 2008 Wimbledon final, to analyse the patterns of play that favour Nadal, and the ones that favour Federer, and how they were acted out.[Warning: In-depth analysis suitable only for nerds, hard-lining aficionados, and technical analysts]Mind you, they were playing on grass, which is Nadal’s worst surface, due to:Its slippery nature denying Nadal the sure footing he usually has on clay and hardcourts, for his harder running style.The ball getting cushioned on the grass and bouncing lower off his heavy top-spun forehand ball (he’d prefer if it bounced higher to trouble the opponents), which can still go quite high due to the extra kick he generates off that heterodox, lasso-whip technique.This 18-point breakdown is going to showcase how Nadal troubles Federer with his patterns and vice versa, with both having no built-in advantages, except the ones they create with their own talent, grit, and intelligence.0–0[Time in video — 0:00-11]Nadal serves hard down the T, from the Deuce side, to Federer’s backhand, as he usually does.Federer lunges, and makes one of his famous short slice returns. Note this short slice return by Federer, as it will become important in another latter point. These short slice returns usually, and not always, just skim over the net, bounce low on the grass, and force the opponent off the baseline and into the forecourt, into the uncomfortable position of hitting a low ball that provides no possible angle to hit a powerful reply. Usually these short slices don’t trouble Nadal as much as they trouble other opponents, because the Spaniard is double-quick on his feet to set up forehands even from their low bounce. Also, his ruthless forehand topspin technique takes the ball up over the net, and swerves it down with the Magnus effect, just before it reaches the baseline.But Federer’s short slice return is so close to the net this time, that Nadal can’t reach it as fast as he’d like, to put as much speed and spin into it, and he can only tamely hook it to Federer’s backhand side.Federer takes a huge swing with a backhand, straight down the middle at Nadal’s body, denying him any reaction time.Nadal reflexively volleys from the forehand side, but without much time or control, given the power of Federer’s shot. Somehow the volley stays in.Federer reaches it quickly and hooks a lob over Nadal’s head to keep his advantage, but it isn’t as high as he’d like and Nadal uses the backhand smash cross-court.It bounces too shallow, and Federer is able to reach it and hit an easy winner down the line.Analysis: Cracker of an opening point. Federer, at the end of his backhand range, neutralized a good serve by Nadal, showing us that he has a low-percentage chance to stifle Nadal’s follow-up shot (usually the forehand). However, if that short slice return went any deeper, Nadal would find an easy angle for his forehand, and effectively finish the point in the next two shots.1–0[Time in video — 0:51-58]Federer second serves from the Ad side, a deep kick serve, above Nadal’s left shoulder, i.e. the Spaniard’s forehand side.However, Nadal’s deeper returning position gives him more reaction time, and he shuffles to his right, and takes a swing. He utilizes his strength and timing to muscle-topspin the ball, deep into Federer’s backhand corner.Federer has no option but to weakly dink-slice it back, and it falls lamely in the middle of the court. And this time Nadal is easily able to reach it and punish Federer with an off-forehand winner.Analysis: This is another brilliant point that showcases the service-returning prowess of both players, especially the advantages of Nadal’s oft-criticized deeper returning position. That kick serve was good enough to stifle most players, but Nadal was well-placed and strong enough to hook the ball exactly where he wanted it go, deep to Federer’s weaker wing.1–1[Time in video — 1:27-36]Federer second serves from the Deuce side (his lucky side, if he wants a wide slice serve to Nadal’s “weaker” backhand) to Nadal’s forehand.Nadal hooks it back, but it isn’t so deep, and falls slightly beyond mid-court.Federer hits a powerful forehand straight to Nadal, trying to cramp him, but, once again, Nadal’s deeper court position gives him a little more time to hit a mid-court backhand, with him still on the defence.Federer continues in offence, and this time tests Nadal’s forehand, which is rumored to be his weaker defensive wing because of his heterodox technique, grip, and it being his non-dominant hand. Nadal, however, sponges the pressure, and hits one more mid-court ball back at Federer, giving him another shot at finishing the point.Federer goes to Nadal’s backhand this time, but aims too close to the lines, and hits it wide.Analysis: So why did Federer avoid the wide-Deuce-serve-to-lefty’s-backhand advantage and serve to Nadal’s forehand instead? He probably did this to surprise Nadal; he doesn’t want Nadal predicting his patterns, and expecting a wide slice serve. He probably wants to save that wide serve for an important point (But there is another possible reason, which I will come to, later, in my analysis of the 7th point of this tiebreak).This 3rd point showcases the desperation of both players — of Federer in offence, and Nadal in defence. Nadal is always losing the point, but is so desperate to keep himself in it, and Federer in doubt, that he doesn’t seem to mind if he’s providing easy mid-court balls for Federer.Federer is always winning this point, but not quite because of Nadal’s desperation, and is desperate to hit the ball as fast and hard as he can, so he can make the most of his advantage. It is his downfall, as he hits too close to the lines, considering Nadal’s speed and strength.2–1[Time in video — 2:11-15]Nadal serves from the Ad side, his lucky side, if he is to take a slice serve to Federer’s backhand.He does just that. It is a perfect slice serve. It goes deep into the corner of the service, and curves away from Federer always, and the Swiss cannot put his racquet on it. Ace.3–1[Time in video — 2:44-47]Nadal serves from the Deuce side.He uses the body serve this time, and it’s deep enough, possibly even clipping the paint and bouncing lower than usual, to give Federer less time to hit the ball. The ball hits Federer’s racquet and richochets down to the grass at Federer’s feet. Service winner.1–4[Time in video — 3:15-20]Federer serves from the Ad side.He hits a hard serve into Rafa’s backhand, and the Spaniard’s reply is weak, mid-court, and sits up nicely for Federer to slot in an easy-sounding inside-in forehand winner. The players change ends on the conclusion of the 6th point of the tiebreaker.2–4[Time in video — 4:05–24]Federer serves from the Deuce side.He uses the lucky pattern, to Nadal’s “weaker” backhand wing. It has decent slice — not as much as Nadal’s previous serve from the Ad side on the 5th point — and forces Nadal well wide of the tramlines.However, this is where you’d see Nadal’s dominant right-hand strength come into play. Nadal is right-handed, but he’s also mixed-handed in tennis i.e. he is able to do specialized tennis-related tasks with both hands relatively well. And, more importantly to the context, this is not a built-in trait; he evolved it with hard work all through his childhood. His left-hand is the non-dominant one, but he has evolved it to hit the heaviest forehand in the business, since the age of 11. So what do you do to a man who has evolved both his hands to such a degree? You can only mix the play and keep him guessing. Federer, in the tiebreaker, had played to Nadal’s forehand in 2 out of 3 serves before this point, testing out Nadal’s (what should be a) weaker left hand. Now he takes his chance on the right-handed backhand. But Nadal uses his strength to muscle the ball back, and it is an effective shot — it almost clips Federer’s baseline. It’s not hit with tremendous, flat speed that discomforts Federer. But it’s a deep, muscled ball that takes all possibilities of offence out of Federer, and that is very, very important with Federer chasing the tiebreak, at this point. Nadal has basically nullified the exchange that is supposed to play to Federer’s advantage, with his dominant hand. Only practice can give you this complex of strength and agility. This is not built-in.Federer hooks a top-spin forehand to Nadal, as deep as he can. He’s now playing with a vigor that wants to rush Nadal, until he gets an opening. But, of course, the momentum was lost when Nadal made that unnatural return.Nadal just hooks one top-spin forehand back, to Federer’s weaker backhand wing.Federer hits a neutral looking ball crosscourt to Nadal.Nadal doesn’t unload, and just hits it back crosscourt with even more topspin, not particularly looking for the lines or even Feerer’s backhand.Federer is able to shuffle around the backhand and hit a deeper offensive forehand to Nadal, to rush him, now, trying to force an error.Nadal just hits it back a little deeper than the mid-court, and in the middle, telling Federer telepathically, that he will not be erring this time.Federer hits a safe one, deeper than middle, not near the lines, to Nadal’s backhand.Nadal hits down the line, not urgently, to Federer’s backhand, but in such a way that Federer can run around it for another forehand.Federer hits it down the line to Nadal’s backhand, and it is safe and cautious.Nadal unloads on a backhand, and outs a little more pace, and hits it sharper crosscourt.Federer is up to it, and hits his forehand crosscourt, deep into Nadal’s backhand corner.Nadal, using that righty strength, hits the ball flatter down the line, back to Federer’s backhand side, forcing Federer to run back to his ad side.Federer, fed up and slightly nervy, finally goes for a winner targeting Nadal’s backhand, but aims too close to the lines, and the ball goes wide. Nadal exults. Federer is livid, screaming something to himself/his box. The match is now on Nadal’s serve.Analysis: This is the point that changed the tiebreak, and should have given Nadal the advantage to serve the match out in the next 4 points. And it was all built on the impetus of that backhand return, the one John McEnroe commented that only 1 in a 1000 players would have made. The other possible reason that Federer had served to Nadal’s forehand earlier, in the 3rd point, which I had mentioned above, was that he already knew the strength of Nadal’s backhand, and didn’t want to risk him doing something similar.5–2[Time in video — 5:09-30]Nadal serves from his lucky Ad side.He misses a first serve, and shows his hand: he was either aiming for Federer’s body or forehand, forgoing his wide serve for the element of surprise.Probably unsure of what to hit now, and nervy, as this point could bring up championship point, he hits down into the body/forehand, and clips the tape, hoing out. Double fault. He actually has the grace to smile ruefully.5–3[Time in video — 6:04-11]Nadal serves into Federer backhand from the Deuce side.Federer is expecting it, this time, and hits and inside-out backhand return deep into Nadal’s baseline.This forces a shorter, floaty backhand reply from Nadal.And Federer punces and hammers a forehand cross, to Nadal’s backhand side.Nadal, with not enough time to reach the oncoming ball, tries to muscle it with his right hand but the ball is too behind him, and he can only hit into the net. It’s back on serve in the tiebreaker.4–5[Time in video — 6:40-46]Federer serves to Nadal’s weaker forehand from the Ad side.Nadal hits a return, but it falls into Federer’s strike zone in the forehand side.Federer dispatches it with a crosscourt forehand into the open court for a winner. Classic one-two punch (or “serve+1”) strategy. All square.5–5[Time in video — 7:10-12]Federer serves down the T, to Nadal’s weaker forehand.Nadal isn’t expecting it there, or was, but it being a quick serve renders him unable to reach it on time anyway.Service winner. Set point for Federer next.5–6[Time in video — 8:08-31]Nadal second serves down the T from Ad side, to Federer’s forehand.This was one of Nadal’s surprise tactics in this match. With Federer expecting Nadal to target his weaker backhand again, with a second serve wide, Nadal bravely goes down the T instead, to Federer’s forehand. Federer shuffles a little to his left, expecting to run around the backhand, and is surprised by the change-up, a split-second late in adjusting.A little late, he can only hit a mid-court forehand down the line to Nadal’s backhand.Nadal hits it back to Federer’s backhand, which cannot open the court easily, unless Federer has the mental comfort of being up a few sets.Federer uses one of his short slices crosscourt to Nadal’s forehand, and Nadal hits its deep crosscourt, back to Federer’s backhand, almost slips, and recovers back to the baseline, ready for Federer’s backhand shot.Federer notices, and attacks Nadal, who is a little too inside the baseline for his comfort, on the forehand side (a wise strategy considering Nadal’s forehand is weaker defensively on grass, if rushed). But Nadal waits for it to bounce up, and uses his muscle to topspin it back crosscourt to Federer’s backhand. He seems to tell Federer, “If you want this set, you have to win it with your weaker shot.”Federer’s next backhand is crosscourt, but safer: the ball bounces in the middle of the court, with middling depth. He seems to say, “No, if you want to stay in this set, you’ll have to hit yourself out of it with that forehand. I’m playing safe, too.” It’s a neutral ball, that Nadal obligatorily puts back into Federer’s backhand.Federer’s next backhand goes up slightly to the Ad side, but still, for the major part, in the middle of the court. It’s another neutral ball, which Nadal has the time to run around and hook another bigger forehand to … guess where? Federer’s backhand. Their little mini-battle is not going to end anytime soon.Federer parries quickly crosscourt this time. It’s deeper, making Nadal run a little more off to his Ad side.Nadal changes it up and goes hard down the line, returning the favor, by forcing Federer to do some quick sprinting.Federer reaches, and goes hard down the line back to Nadal. Their little backhand-to-forehand mini-battle is torn up. It seems they’re raising the stakes by testing both their stronger shots.But Nadal says, “Nah fam.” He goes crosscourt again, to Federer’s backhand, making Federer run again.Federer reaches the ball and hits a mid-court ball to Nadal’s backhand.Nadal hits a three-quarter ball to Federer, but to his stronger forehand side.Federer is tempted enough by that, and attempts a winner down the line, by unloading on a forehand. It goes wide. Nadal survives. All square. The players change ends.6–6[Time in video — 9:43-52]Nadal serves from Deuce side, to Federer’s forehand.Nadal surprises Federer again by going to his stronger shot, and Federer can only reflexively hit a weaker, mid-court ball again.The ball sits up for Nadal, who dispatches it crosscourt with lots of topspin, making the ball bounce really high.Federer takes the ball on the rise, on the backhand, and goes down the line to Nadal’s backhand. It’s a beautiful shot, a neobackhand before the neobackhand, and it goes deep into Nadal’s baseline.Nadal’s backhand finds a sharper angle crosscourt, but the ball bounces higher than he’d like, and Federer sees this, eager to finish the point off.He hits a topspin forehand deep on Nadal’s baseline, but it just goes long. For good measure, Nadal shows him that he had it covered with a hooked crosscourt (what would have been a) winner deep into Federer’s backhand corner. Championship point 1.6–7[Time in video — 10:23-25]Federer serves to Nadal’s forehand, from Ad side.Perhaps, that it goes to his forehand surprises Nadal. But even if it had gone to his backhand wing, the serve was too flat and well-placed (on the line!) for Nadal to have done anything with it. Nadal can only get his frame on it, and the ball falls to the ground. Service winner. All square again.7–7Legendary point alert[Time in video — 11:00-09]Federer second serves to Nadal’s body/backhand, from Deuce side. He goes on the body after showing his card on the first serve, where he went down the T, to Nadal’s forehand again.Nadal is deep enough to have time to hit the serve on his backhand. I’m not sure if it was an intentional body serve meant to cramp Nadal, or just push him back with the kick, but it is partially effective, as Nadal can only push it back deep, without pace, to Federer’s backhand side.The ball is slow enough that Federer can run around it and hit a big forehand inside-in, to Nadal’s backhand.Nadal parries crosscourt, but his shot is only mid-court, and sits up high enough for Federer to have an easy putaway.Federer doesn’t go for the putaway and plays the percentages, hitting an approach forehand deep down the line, coming into the net, forcing Nadal to run from all the way from his backhand side, and covering the easier crosscourt angle that Nadal can produce.Nadal covers the ground quickly, and produces one of the shots of the match, a forehand, the ball squeezing itself in that tiny window between Federer’s position at the net where he expected the crosscourt ball, and the line. Everyone gasps. Championship point 2.8–7Legendary point alert 2[Time in video — 11:56-12:02]Nadal serves to Federer’s backhand, from the lucky Ad side.Even though it is a brilliant serve that exploits the angle, this time Federer is expecting it, and he hits his second short slice return of the tiebreak (the other one being the 1st point), crosscourt, which bounces in the service box, but not high enough that Nadal can get an angle for an easy put-away.Nadal reaches it, and can only find himself going with the easier crosscourt angle, with Federer aware that that is what Nadal is going to do. Nadal cannot hit the ball with too much pace (or can, but he’s tight, it being a big point) and he sends it tamely to Federer’ backhand.Federer hits a backhand passing winner down the line, mirroring what had happened earlier, but with the point a lot more in Federer’s control than was apparent. All square again.8–8[Time in video — 12:41-53]Nadal predictably serves to Federer’s backhand, from the Deuce side.Federer is ready, hitting a deep backhand down the line into Nadal’s forehand corner.Nadal goes back down the line, deep, with a forehand.Federer goes crosscourt, to Nadal’s backhand.Nadal goes down the line to Federer’s backhand, but the ball is neutral enough that Federer can run around to hit a forehand.Federer hits a brilliant off-forehand deep into Nadal’s forehand corner.Nadal scrambles, but the shot is too good, and he can only hook it mid-court, to give Federer an easy put-away.Federer duly puts the ball away for a winner crosscourt. Set point 2 for Federer.9–8[Time in video — 13:33-38]Federer second serves to Nadal’s backhand, from Ad side.It’s a neutral serve, and Nadal has time on the slower second serve ball to swing away, trying his best to get it as deep as possible to hurt Federer.But the backhand sails a little long, and Federer wins the set.Bottomline:The point of writing all this, even if it was too protracted, was to show how the established patterns of play are never really established in real time, and to show Nadal’s mixed-handedness messing up any idea of him being a typical lefty.His stronger-than-usual backhand, his heterodox forehand, and his tremendous foot speed are the three main traits that caused Federer difficulty to play against, more than other lefties. These positive traits were not “built-in” for Nadal, but rather developed by Nadal on the practice courts over close to 30 years.Federer did try hitting his forehand to Nadal’s backhand, as should be the righty’s favoured pattern.But not as frequently as Nadal did to his, because he knew Nadal’s backhand was stronger than it looked.Federer also made serves to Nadal’s backhand, but after getting frustrated by Nadal’s amazing backhand return at 2–4 down, figured that targeting Nadal’s weaker defensive forehand would give him a better chance to win a point.Rather than any simplistic pattern, the two main technicalities of this, and any, match-up are:The element of surprise.Mixing the play so as to make it difficult to read.If Nadal keeps on hitting to Federer’s backhand, sensing a weakness there, then Federer will begin to expect it to go there, and figure out a way to use that to his advantage, to surprise Nadal, such as running around his backhand to hit a big forehand, or pre-emptively hitting a short slice return (16th point).If Federer keeps on hitting to Nadal’s backhand, sensing a weakness there, then Nadal will begin to expect it to go there and figure out a way to use that to his advantage, such as leaning to the backhand side so as to run around it forehand earlier than usual, or hitting a backhand with more pace and depth than usual, which Federer wasn’t expecting.That Federer knew Nadal exploited his backhand all the 10 years of their rivalry from 2004–14, and didn’t change his position, mentality, or decision-making in using that shot, can allow us to blame Federer for a naive simplicity in hoping “things would all come together one day,” rather than Nadal for exploiting that so-called “simplistic” pattern.*At 11, he switched to a lefty forehand of his own accord, and not on the coercion of his coach uncle. Previously, he was a double-double-hander. Most professional-leaning youngsters who are double-double-handers are advised to chose a forehand at that age, if not earlier, for their careers.Footnotes[1] Rafael Nadal Often Measured Through a Roger Federer-Centric Lens[2] Never, ever play poker with Andre Agassi[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/tennis/being-a-left-handed-tennis-player-isnt-the-advantage-it-once-was/2016/05/31/fad2abd2-2740-11e6-a3c4-0724e8e24f3f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.969c6e64f1b5[4] The Physics of Federer-Nadal

My name is Jo.I’m Asian-American.I speak Mandarin.I can understand a little bit of Cantonese.I’m in high school.I’m non-binary.I go by they/them.I’m in the LGBT+ community.I’m bisexual.I’m a major bookworm.I’m seriously addicted to books.Actually though, my friend says I have a “depressed reading mode”. As if I know what that means.My mom tells me to stop reading. I keep on reading.I’ve read “The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart” by Stephanie Burgis.The sequel, “The Girl with a Dragon Heart”, is good too.I’ve read all the books in the “Spirit Animals” series.I think the “Spirit Animals” series is really good.I’m sad the series ended.I also read the “Wings of Fire’ series.I know all of the details in all the books in the series except one.I haven’t gotten “The Poison Jungle” yet.I’m still waiting for it to arrive. It’s been over a month.I love Tillie Walden’s graphic novels.I’ve read “On A Sunbeam”, written and illustrated by Tillie Walden.“Spinning”, another one of Walden’s books, is good too.I read “I Wish You All The Best” by Mason Deaver and it’s so good.I love to write.I write fictional stories.I write on Quora, mostly relationship advice.Ironically, I’ve never dated before.I’ve had a major heartbreak in eighth grade though.It took me months to recover from that.It was my first heartbreak from a crush.I procrastinate. A lot.I want no homework.I have to do homework.I want to sleep.I definitely need some sleep.I get insomnia.I can’t sleep if I drink Thai milk tea.I question my purpose in life.I want to be a therapist.I want to be a music teacher.I want to be a novelist.I want to be a journalist.I want to be a singer.I want to be a geologist.I want to be an illustrator.I am very indecisive.I am decently athletic.My friends say I’m very fast.I sprint very fast.I don’t like encountering sharp turns whenever I sprint.I’m in the marching band at school.I don’t like marching band rehearsals very much.My feet hurt from those.Field trips are awesome, though.I play the flute.I play the piano.I’m level 9 on the Certificate of Merit piano exam.I’m going to level 10.The songs are stressing me out.I play the ukulele.I play the fulushi.I play the harmonica.I haven’t touched my harmonica in months.I used to play the zither.I still have my zither picks.I played zither back in fourth grade.I take singing lessons.I sing opera.I’ve taken level 8 for the Certificate of Merit vocal exam.I’m a TA at a children’s choir.I love teaching.I touched a snake-skin banjo before.The banjo was my uncle’s.The rest of my family is in China.I’ve been to China before.I’ve been in Beijing.I’ve been in Liuzhou.I’ve been in Guilin.I’ve been to Hong Kong before as well.I’ve been to Texas.I’ve been to Arkansas.I’ve been to California.I’ve been to Nevada.I’ve been to Arizona.I’ve been to Utah.I’ve ice-skated a few times in the past.I took ballet 5 years ago.I’m trying to get back into dance again.I’ve watched season 8 of “Dance Moms”, as well as “Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition”, some of “NBC World of Dance”, and a little bit of “So You Think You Can Dance?”I love mystery genres.I watched “Instinct” and “NCIS LA/New Orleans” on TV.I watch “Steven Universe”. Yes, the movie was spectacular!The songs from “Steven Universe” are amazing.I like lo-fi music.I like calming instrumental music.I love “Dear Evan Hansen”, “Be More Chill”, and “Hamilton”.Mike Faist is awesome.