I watched most of the matches last week from  ATP season finale  in London and it looked to me like Federer has tweaked his Backhand technique just a  little bit to enable him to rip the face of the racket up the back  of the high balls that he gets as a steady diet from  most opponents.

The court surface played a role for sure in Rogers dismantling of Rafa in the final, but he was just ripping the ball off of the backhand side all week against everybody!

The kind of racket head speed he was producing was reminiscent of Justine Henin's technique that is executed with a much more closed face requiring an explosive upward face movement .

The grip didn't look different but the ball flight he was creating was something new, and could be the result of a couple of degrees of racket angle difference allowing him to cover the shoulder high ball more readily.

I've been critical  of Roger's stubbornness and maybe new coach Annacone's  fresh eyes and  his clear minded look at Federers game have had a beneficial effect on his willingness to modify a few  minor details.

Whether it was the court surface(creating a lower  ball bounce) or a technical adjustment from the Swiss wizard it looks like 2011 will be an interesting year in mens tennis!   

                                                                              Just my opinion, Howie Burnett

My book---- Net Notes ---- is available at AMAZON.COM