Roger Federer's amazing shot - fake or real?

In this video, Roger Federer accomplishes a feat of accuracy while shooting a tennis ball at a water bottle sitting on a person's head. I can't decide whether it's fake or not. What do you think?

haha great thread! R-Fed said himself that a "magician never reveals his secrets". SO i'm assuming it's not real. however, if anyone can pull off a trick shot like that, it's Roger.

I'm not sure about this one.

If he was just lobbing it toward the subject--then I'd believe the subject would have the cujones to stand there.

But since he's serving and hitting the tennis ball pretty hard, I'd have to say fake for now...

I certainly wouldn't stand there and risk a broken nose...but that's just me.

after reviewing the video, id say its definitely real. i think most top players could do that. hitting targets is a huge part of their past training.

reply to post by buddhasystem


first glance it looks pretty real to me, then again, the human eye is easily fooled

With the compressed video that largely misses the ball when it's in motion, I can't tell anything and withhold judgement about it.

I'm gonna go with fake, most certainly.

Then again, anyone who can play a shot like this....



...might just have 'da skillz'

That was an entertaining two minutes.

He does look like he's acting a bit, but i think it is real. I'm not sure why anyone would go to the trouble to fake something like that.

He's got to have been pretty pleased with himself for pulling that off!

I would have been more pleased if Mr Federer had hit the ball straight into that guys face, as punishment for having an offensive beard!

If all tennis games were like this, I'd watch. William Tell style, I love it.

As others have said, why would they bother faking it? Looks real enough, but I'm not video specialist (or tennis pro).

The ball looks CGI when he's bouncing it on the second serve.

If I had to trust any tennis player to do that though, it would be Federer.

Fake.

Peace

Really?

Just read the description of the video you posted.

They are trying to get a running on water out of a video that DOESN'T even show the actual shot!

It's got all the hallmarks of a phony viral ad: the fake impromptu conversations, a bearded guy, jumpy camera angles that "accidentally" miss the actual event, people in the background doing other things who are suddenly interested in the proceedings, etc. On the other hand, Roger Federer isn't that good of an actor. And the second shot looks pretty real.

I have no doubt that Federer could easily knock a bottle off somebody's head, and I have no doubt that it'd be fairly easy to find someone who'd be willing to play the Walter role (William Tell's son). I mean, what's the worst that can happen, you get a tennis ball in your face. But it looks a little fake, no?

The response of Gillette's public relations firm in London doesn't shed much light on the matter.

"All we'll say at the moment is we'll leave the "real or fake" debate up to the viewers, but the evidence is there to see. Roger's skill and ability is incredible (that's why he's a Gillette ambassador!) so of course it was filmed in one take during a shoot for Gillette Fusion's partnership with the British Skin Foundation."

Claiming it's "filmed in one take" doesn't mean it's real. I'm sure some shots from "Avatar" were filmed in one take too, it doesn't mean there were blue people running around the movie set. That seems like a classic non-denial denial.

Still, I'm torn. The cynic/realist in me knows that even the most mundane of these viral clips are completely fake. There's enough realism here, though, that gives me pause. I'm sure Roger Federer could hit a ball off a guy's head if he really wanted.

fake, although one can get really accurate at serving , it's down to the court and not target shooting....so the body mechanics are different. thus, making a real tennis player used to serving, a dangerous thing when asked to hit something up above level.
also, the stance was wrong for a real "past the lateral" overhead swing, where we stand so that we serve behind our back overhead. "beltbuckle away from the target"

It's fake, he was doing a commercial for Gillette. And what do camera people have available.... editing and CGI! If he could do that, he could serve an ace for every point! Come one, THINK about it!!

Originally posted by Dr Love
The ball looks CGI when he's bouncing it on the second serve.

I see what you mean, the ball seems a bit odd - but ive been trying to see the switch between him bouncing around a real ball and then an imaginary one and i can't. If it is a fake, it has been very well done.

I cant make my mind up and i confess to being baffled!


I still think it might be real, which probably shows what a mug i am for falling for a viral marketing campaign. If that is so, i despair of myself sometimes!

Originally posted by GBP/JPY
also, the stance was wrong for a real "past the lateral" overhead swing, where we stand so that we serve behind our back overhead. "beltbuckle away from the target"

The stance could have been "wrong" simply because he was trying to do something unusual and not playing a normal game of tennis.

reply to post by buddhasystem

I can't watch, as the viddy won't play.

He can do a lot, but he won't add a drop shot to his repertoire, at least not willingly. For top players this shot is essential. Never use a drop shot at the end of a match as this is when a player will go all out to get to it.

I am going to assume this is staged to perfection, and that no one was in danger.

Is this shot real? Possibly.....
I once saw an interview with Bill Cosby where he talked of seeing Althea Gibson do something similar. They placed a ball cap on the baseline and she hit it with a full power serve on the first try.

Without a doubt fake in my opinion. Federer is a sicko though.

You want a shot ??? you got a shot !!!

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www.boreme.com...

Regards

PurpleDOG UK

It looks and feels like Gilette getting in on the "viral marketing" action. Its a good idea though.