A New Year's Serve

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Might Make a Difference

I always was accused by the first teaching pro who really helped me of accepting some idea but then embroidering or pushing it too far. True but in order to search out, in 102-year-old Aunt Frieda's words, "some stupid little thing that might make a big difference," I need to explore in all directions.

The basic good idea here, coming from Dennis Ralston, is to start backswing with the hand. How much or little I don't recall Ralston saying in the book I read. Now I'm thinking I'll turn body as hand goes after bent elbow no more than it naturally wants to go and I won't be in such a hurry to point across with my other hand either.

No, the elbow will simply twist into position with wrist straight and strings forming a platform.

Then body turn will take the opposite hand across. Then a small step to achieve semi-open stance will open the shoulders a bit more as stepping foot lands on its toes. As elbow throws forward level before rising up the foot will get flat. The whole motion should be quite deceptive. We'll see.

If most forehands turn body then do something elaborate with the hitting hand, doing something simple with the hitting hand first followed by turning of the bod should certainly not take any more time.

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Two-Step Boop-Boopety-Doo

John Higginson, famous seniors oarsman and descendant of Emily Dickinson's boyfriend of the same last name, once fired me as his tennis coach for trying to teach him some Doris Hart footwork. Later at a garden tennis social around and on a beautiful but artificial grass court in northwestern Virginia, he and his partner defeated me and mine in mixed doubles. My wife with a partner other than myself fared better. Even worse, neither John nor I secured the open position of freshman crew coach at Brown. The man who rejected the both of us, Steve Gladstone, has won numerous national championships in heavyweight rowing both at Cal Berkeley and Brown and now may do the same for Yale. The University of Washington crew, currently the national champions and made popular by the David Relin Brown book THE BOYS IN THE BOAT had better watch out this year. Worse, the man who owned the private tennis court became the lawyer who represented my wife. Still worse, Harvard with John Higginson at six narrowly defeated Brown with me at four in the first eight-oared race between these two colleges. Still worse, Tom Bolles, the crew coach who teaches Joe Rantz how to row in THE BOYS IN THE BOAT came up to us on the bank of the Charles River and said, "You guys would have won that race if you weren't so long at the catch that you were pressing the gunwales of your boat together."

You will remember, reader-- won't you?-- Quentin Compson watching the wink of an oar out on the Charles to symbolize eternity just before he kills himself-- in THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner.

The time has come for me to take revenge on John Higginson for all of these indignities. I shall do so by using the two-step step-out here at the Tennis Player website, adapting this footwork seen every month in repeating video each time Cageman hits a one hander to the recently discovered by me basic Stanley Plagenhoef backhand in my Post # 3031 attachment.

Bill Tilden, of course, was working on two-step when he expired if you carefully read the Frank Deford biography of him. Or should we say he "perished" as the psychologically challenged Sea World would. It's all tangled together with his buggery of small boys for which he receives less forgiveness than Jerry Sandusky or any Catholic priest since he was the world's number one tennis player.

First step like Cageman's shall bring right foot near to or in front of left foot. The body can still be turning back.

The hips can then start turning forward even before one's second step which can be small.

And there we have it, the secret of the two-step whether pertaining to Doris Hart or not.

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Report

The stroke did work from first try and the evening's results were fun and fine. Also received separate compliments, one from a stranger, on the smoothness of my backhand. After playing with it for only two days? I was amazed. People should try new stuff all the time. Somebody might find something significant.

In the post just before this one I opined: "Anything is a new forehand if you change one detail or more of it." Maybe I shouldn't quote myself, but evolution, sometimes painful, is what I am about.

If it is true that nothing is a tweak and everything is an overhaul, I'm wondering now whether keeping some stroke intact but merely changing some cue that helps one to hit it qualifies as overhaul.

Yes, I think so. Cues, no matter what else you think about them, are the real dynamite. Now I want to cue the last bit of body turn I mentioned for the new forehand with palm of hand rather than elbow. I want to feel the body turn and palm movement as one after they haven't been as one at all. And face it, hand and body are about to separate again then come together again then separate again.

I'm hoping for a sensation of gathering and consolidating energy, of racket floating when it is back, weightless-- that couldn't be bad.

But when this stroke breaks down-- if it does break down-- the reason will be the familiar expression "lead elbow." Because a light elbow throw is more essential to mechanics here than in the other forehands I have ever tried.

Note, a question: "How much arm roll should there be in this evolving stroke and when should it happen?" It should only happen as the elbow flies forward away from the body. And there should only be enough to keep the strings slightly beveled at a constant angle. Put roll where roll matters, in other words. Similarly, don't throw the elbow beyond where it is doing something. Simply let the arm scissor your knuckles to opposite ear.

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A New Forehand, Never Tried

Anything is a new forehand if you just change one detail or more of it.

I don't want to "key" any longer, just want to fire the elbow from an already keyed position, and a tennis social is coming up tonight.

One starts from racket cheated over to the backhand side.

Elbow leads the backward body turn by a fraction of a second.

Keeping opposite hand on racket as a healthy concept is long gone. Put that lesser hand to work straight away, say I, and shoot it vigorously at the side fence to help achieve big body turn.

The elbow going back is in a twist. It twists to take the racket head down. You want hand and racket to stay in the slot, but racket tip is pointing where? A bit forward? Certainly nowhere near at the back fence.

I'm doing what I say right now with non-hitting side of the strings getting level enough to balance a tray of canapes.

Let's freeze that position and examine it more.

The body is well turned. The two bent arms mirror each other. They and the body form three sides of a horizontal hoop.

One fires the elbow straight ahead. The stroke should feel like a big haymaker rather than a swing. Back of hand will follow through against opposite ear.

I'm trying this again. If backward setting of the elbow and backward turn of the body conclude at the exact same time, the stroke will be too stark.

So I want just a smidge of residual backward body turn once elbow is set to restore good feel.

Mondo of course-- the one loop in this shot-- is going to occur just past start of the elbow throw. Next, a small bit of arm twist will keep the strings from opening up too much in the part of the tract where they hit the ball.

I take the results seriously at these tennis socials. Yet here is a new stroke I haven't tried even in self-feed. If it doesn't work on first try in the first warmup I'm likely to resort to a more familiar something else.

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Reflection

This seems like such a "fundamental" shot that I must regret that I have come to it so very late. Once the arm is straight the slightly upward but basically level arm work (the body work is another subject) consists of A) twist of the whole arm and B) movement of the whole arm from within the shoulder house.

There no longer is arm straightening during or near contact, if we are believers in personal stroke evolution. Similarly, there is no scapular retraction (clenching of shoulderblades together) until one starts the elegant recovery, and even there the SR is optional.

Perhaps the best way to understand this shot is to contrast it with the famous backhand of Don Budge. That one is all natural rotation. The racket head orbit therefore is wide.

The reduced scope of the Plagenhoef comes from designating arm roll in a nifty way. The simultaneous roll and swing is restricted to the hitting area but happens on both sides of the contact (behind it and in front of it).

The teaching pro Vince Eldridge, another tennis author and with a preface by George Plimpton taught backhand the same way.

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Report

The simple backhand depicted in the previous post is a small and effective rapier when used as a passing shot. The delay as arm straightens helps.

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Korda and Plagenhoef Backhands in a Single View

The Korda extends arm from elbow during forward part of the swing. Once one understands that, one should be ready to move on to the more complicated subject of how this extension interacts with forward arm roll, forward arm swing, forward arm lift and forward body transfer.

Or, if one is young and unbelievably athletic without the potential of ever experiencing sun damage, one can simply watch this video of Petr Korda hitting with his son (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqpARpkF8WA) and immediately be able to hit every backhand precisely as well as Petr himself.

Petr unlikely but you never know.

The Stanley Plagenhoef backhand, conversely, extends arm as part of backswing not foreswing. Or as part of a transition. We no longer like transitions though—they take too long. Better to say that all of our tennis strokes use 1-2 rhythm. And that arm extension from the elbow goes backward and down.

This is the way most one-handers hit a tennis ball. Plagenhoef’s version however may be lower, shorter and smaller—“easier” to condense things to a single word.

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Simplest One-Hand Backhand in the World

I found it on page 22 of FUNDAMENTALS OF TENNIS by Stanley Plagenhoef for which I paid one penny and $3.99 to ship. I bought this book on the forum advice of Phil Picuri (gzhpcu), who considers it one of the strong manuals ever.

Beware of anybody who expresses enthusiasm for anything. The danger is that one won't react but rather make oneself into an indifferent twerp above investigation into why somebody cares so much.

This is how I'll often choose a next book, film or play and not once have regretted this approach. I don't have to like every minute but will at least find the answer to my own question-- why did that person like this thing so much?

More often than not however I'll like the whole thing myself then discover, say, that one of the places where Stanley Plagenhoef coached was Wesleyan University where my partner Hope's father was a professor of English and where my father, through publishing, once became a part-time member of the faculty as a writing teacher assisting the social philosopher Norman O. Brown in the teaching of humanities to freshmen who needed somebody to urge them to simplify.

When I took FUNDAMENTALS, Prentice-Hall, out of its wrapper and opened its pages whether by mysticism or luck, it was to Plagenhoef's own drawings on 22, 23 and 24, all of a topspin backhand far simpler than that of Henin, Mauresmo, Wawrinka, Federer or Thiem, and, reader, you are free to say "But not as good" to which I reply "So what if it's workable and more people can do it?"

One of these days I hope to put these 11 drawings up here despite the fact that, based on previous experience with the TP attachment counter, very few people will look at them. Those few however will be like Tina Turner's review of a current boyfriend in the carefully chosen song words "better than all the rest."

In the meantime however-- before I get to the scanner at the library-- let me use words to say that the backhand in mind entails making a little cage to one side with one's two symmetrical bent elbows more or less parallel to the sidelines. From there one will start forward hips rotation even before one steps out and delay full weight transfer by making sure to first set down heel or toes before "crossing the bridge."

"The forward swing has leveled off from a short backswing," Plagenhoef explains in drawing # 5 . The arm at that point will be straight. And the forward arm swing will include roll both before and after contact to keep strings square and get racket around in time and make tip follow the ball before it goes up at which time weight returns to the back foot.

This already is a lot of detail with more to come along with the excellent drawings and their captions. A salient feature however in both this and other backhands examined by Plagenhoef is racket pointing at net before it goes up and around.

For shots that carry more topspin, I'd say, the rise starts sooner and finishes higher. Also, the idea that one can put toes rather than heel down first is my own. When Dennis Ralston expressed it in written form he probably was referring to a delayed weight shift forehand, and I'm telling you from personal trial that this can be every bit as effective as something else. So far, on backhand side, I have examined toes-down-first only in self-feed and therefore reserve judgment.

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Simultaneity

So the hand or rather hands together on the racket shift whole stick sideways to clear the body. Then the bent arm keys the racket backward as the body turns backward.

I tend to agree with this guy-- for some reason-- but don't see the need for well-defined sequence in the backswing for this economical shot.

Left hand can start keying the racket with right hand taking over. At same time elbow can go out to side. At same time whole body can turn backward.

One just needs well-defined start and end places. Best to become clear in one's intention the better to blend all detail and get rid of a deeply engrained tennis idea that may come from habit or fashion rather than reason, viz., that body goes first, then hand (whether for a loop, a drop or any other extra action before the forward part of the stroke begins).

I think of a shortstop barehanding a ball and throwing to first in baseball. He doesn't have time to turn his shoulders back then take his hand back before the throw. Everything is blended. If we want to learn from him while keeping the same time frame we are used to, we now get to be more smooth, slow and deliberate in carrying out the admittedly intricate parts of this newly pared down backswing.

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Budgian Backhand Fails Again

The backhand of J. Donald Budge (http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...l?DBBHRear.mov) fails in imitation once again. Over the decades I've tried to imitate it 40 different times with long intervals between the attempts to allow the psychic component of such a quixotic act to simmer down.

This shot is considered one of the most natural tennis shots there ever has been. Yeah, natural to J. Donald Budge and his blunderbuss of a racket. His other strokes are considered more studied exactly like mine. Not as good as his backhand but not too bad sometimes either. (In social doubles, won twice, lost once last night but that was close.)

When I say "fails in imitation," I don't mean they fail in self-feed. They fail in the transition from self-feed to actual play. They go over, stay in the court, but are more mediocre (for me) than some of the other one handers I have tried, such as the next one I'll present here.

I return to this one now for my model. I want to give it a good shake over the next three weeks. I see similarity to the Budge in ease and followthrough. There isn't the big rollover of a Wawrinka or Thiem. Less rollover equals more dependability for an old guy like me, and I would argue that more dependable is good at any age (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqpARpkF8WA).

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Two Orbits on the Backswing

I hope to have more to say on a Budgian backhand soon but right now want to bring on a cue for the newest of my forehands, viz., create two orbits or perhaps rings of Saturn on the backswing.

The real heresy here comes from Dennis Ralston's advice to start one's ground stroke backswings with hand movement.

So, the hand or rather hands together on the racket, shift whole stick sideways to clear the body. Then the bent arm keys the racket backward as the body turns backward. The body then stops as the arm keys forward with full mondo. Weight transfer meanwhile is delayed until the elbow takes off for contact and return of racket up to one's cheek or neck.

So what is the cue here? A feel of racket keying backward to outside of body turning in same direction. Maybe we should say that one wheel is inside another wheel as both revolve. Or visualize two different satellites in different orbits. However we view this scheme, we ought to understand that by clearing body to start we establish good separation equating to "a longer lever."

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Service Backswing through Transition

Shoulders turn then hips catch up. Then hips turn forward as shoulders stay where they are. Make this a stretch. In other words turn shoulders backward although you already did this once before.

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More Budge on Backhand

All strokes should be in constant evolution. This is the only way they won't become stale. Discovery should not only occur in the shower but when you hit any shot.

The modern paradigm for a one-hander seems a big roll over the ball. Same could be said of too many of the forehands we see. This works on a good day but is a source of ues on a bad day.

I'm back now to early straight arm on my backhand. With thumb still behind the racket. Flying grip change now takes racket to where I can comfortably open it while taking it down behind my back. Arm then rolls racket quickly around. All phases of the shot keep elbow away from bod, but elbow doesn't lead-- it stays back to permit the racket head to do more of the work.

A natural step across followed by forward hips turn is essential to the forward narrative. Since this is still the beginning of a story however the weight is still on the prop foot. As one becomes more adventurous one could try pivoting the hitting step out. A probably wise alternative is keeping toes up (Guga) or keeping heel up to show that weight is still back.

Swing through the ball is when the weight shifts. Because of scapular retraction, the arms go out at same speed. But the long arm also is swinging independent of that shoulderblades clench (different description of the same thing).

Finally, the arm bends a little to relax you. The arm did roll forward early thus getting itself out of the way. The strings if anything are opening rather than closing when they hit the ball.

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Awful Forehand

Roger Federer rolls his racket backward every time he hits his forehand. What an awful thing to do. Far easier is to change one's grip as if taking a trip out west. This closes the strings for you while sparing you the extra effort of rolling them backward.

Yes, you say (assuming you are are sort of person who says anything), but if you change your grip too often you'll make grip mistakes. That is why we all need a better way of thinking about our grips. The first thing to realize is that your forehand couldn't care less about where on the handle your thumb sits.

This realization frees you up to use your bent thumb as a pointer.

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A Backswing that is All Arm

We'd like for the research on this new bam forehand to be over, once and for all, wouldn't we? So that we could join the Know Nothing Party (https://www.google.com/search?q=The+...utf-8&oe=utf-8) and tell it like it's not.

The truth however is that you're either wrong or you're partially right and that's how things are going to be forever.

A two arm one arm backswing then, level as can be. The two hands start the racket to the side. The one hand then keys it back. Body turn is integrated in there somewhere. handbodhandbod was only a starting point, a rough guide.

Let's save the 100-foot museum pendulum idea for our McEnrueful, the shot that has bailed us out so many times. And let's talk about feet in this new BAM!

Should we bring left foot over to right foot during two hand phase? That might work if we possess exquisite balance. We then would key racket back. Then key racket forward all with weight on back foot and front foot right there with it as a small outrigger. Finally, we would pivot to replace left foot in semi-open form as if hitting a Steffigraf.

Balance not good enough for that today and right now? Better then to get left foot where we want it-- once-- but up on toes so hips can pivot the heel down late for almost equally good weight transfer.

Note: These changes in orchestration are producing a new shot, a bent arm forehand with full mondo rather than just a simple reactive wrist layback. Getting forearm roll back into the mondo may feel good but leave one with both a short arm and long arm version of the same wiped shot.

Could be good, could be bad. The temptation for a bent arm flat shot keyed in both directions could still exist, but if you want to do that, wouldn't you be better off just hitting a McEnrueful, that awfully good flat big scope big sweep body shot?