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# Roger Federer's Hobby Journey

b. 1981

Swiss tennis champion, 20 Grand Slam titles, considered one of the greatest athletes of all time

## Hobby Timeline

### Childhood

Skiing  Wrestling  Swimming  Skateboarding  Basketball  Handball  Table tennis  Badminton  Soccer — tried 10+ sports

### Teens

Tennis (narrowed focus)  Soccer  Piano

### Career

Golf  PlayStation  Card games  Classical music (Bach)  Cultural travel  Language learning (fluent in German, French, English, Swiss German)

### Post-Retirement

Fatherhood and family  Philanthropy (Roger Federer Foundation)  Travel

## Surprising hobbies

- ✦  Sampled 10+ sports as a child before choosing tennis

- ✦  Credits badminton specifically for developing his legendary hand-eye coordination

- ✦  Played piano (performed Bach in a 2019 advertisement)

- ✦  Still sees tennis as a hobby, not a job — key to his longevity

## How hobbies shaped their career

Multi-sport sampling gave him exceptional athletic versatility and prevented burnout. Badminton developed the wrist speed and hand-eye coordination that defined his game. His calm, cultured off-court persona — music, travel, languages — made him one of sport's most marketable athletes. Playing many sports kept him seeing tennis as fun rather than work.

> “Do other sports too, for fun. Go play squash, go ride your bike, go ski. If you only start focusing on one sport only, you can get burned out and start seeing it as a job rather than a hobby — and I still see tennis as my hobby.”
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> — Roger Federer

## Map your own hobby journey

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> Source: https://significanthobbies.com/journeys/roger-federer