Photo Study of the Roger Federer Forehand

If you watch Roger's forehand closely in person or on TV, you'll see that his racquet accelerates extremely quickly in the last 18 inches or so before it meet the ball. In this photo, you can see the key to this acceleration in the laid-back position of his wrist. Here, Roger has already executed much of his swing, and his wrist is about to whip forward in response to all of the energy from the movement that has already occurred in the larger parts of his body--his legs, his upper body, and his upper arm.