Bouncing ball on racquet

[uspta2331024484]

I saw another article today that recommends that when teaching a beginners class we start with the "older than time" tradition of bouncing the ball on the racquet so as to give them a feel for the game. Can we, meaning all the tennis instructors in the world, just sign a pact that says we will never, ever waste a students time by doing something as useless as having them stand around and count how many times they can bounce the ball on their strings. It's equivalent to having calculus students on the first day of class, punching in numbers 1 through 100 just to get the feel of what the numbers will look like if they actually ever figure out how to do calculus problems. We only get so much time with our students as it is so let's put that time to good use. It will make all of us look better.

[ochi]

Wayne Bryan is wrong?

One of Tennis Channel's quick tips features Wayne, Mike and Bob Bryan doing that and other simple hand-eye things. As I recall, he said they've always done it, and why. Turning the racquet face is part of their routine. I agree, it seems like a waste of time, especially for a parent spending plenty on lessons, but Wayne Bryan is no dummy. This is something a kid can do before arriving for a lesson or drill, out in the parking lot. And what about instructors who have students run around the court and do push-ups?

[CraigC]

Wow, I Totally Disagree.

Bouncing the ball of the racket, up , down, on the handle, on the frame, spinning the racket, flipping the racket over between bounces, etcc.

This accomplishes several things that are critical to tennis players.

It develops hand-eye coordination.
It familiarizes players with the weight and maneuverability of the racket, making stroke development a faster process.
It helps players develop familiarity and comfort with the various Grips.
It teaches very young players the relationship between the face of the racket and the direction of ball movement (i.e. face of racket open, ball goes up)
It helps young players create a sense of feeling the middle of the racket, and gain an understanding of the different torques on the frame when a players hits the ball off center.

I have seen many many professional players perform more advanced hand-eye coordination drills with their racket and the ball, and without the early foundation, this would be more difficult.

So again, wow, I totally disagree.

-CC

[EdWeiss]

I am in Craig C.'s camp. In the book I did with Welby Van Horn who had a tremendous track record in developing players (including Charlie Pasarell), Welby stated that he was a big believer in ball bouncing drills as a way for players to develop a comfortable relationship with their racket. Having said that, Welby had the players perform the drills by holding the racket in a particular way and with a particular motion so as to more closelyl simulate what you do on your strokes. For example, in doing the bounce up drill he had them hold the racket in a manner similar to the contact point on the forehand (albeit with the strings facing the sky) and having the motion come from the shoulder not from a flip of the wrist.

[tennis_chiro]

CraigC nailed it. I will only add that I start a lot of students out with ball skill drills with the racket. Then I ask them to master those skills and practice them until they are no longer challenging or exciting. At that point, I tell them not to waste any more time on them. But until a player can really control the ball when he has it literally sitting on his racket or bouncing on his racket, you can't expect him to control it when it is moving across the net!