A New Year's Serve

[don_budge]

Alligators and iguanas...Shades of Puerta Vallarta

THE NIGHT OF THE IGUANA.

You heard me right, my esteemed reader, Think Tennis and Tennessee.

Some years ago I went to Puerta Vallarta but I didn't take my tennis racquet either. It was hot then too. I took my golf clubs though...lucky for me. I had my only hole in one ever there on a golf course that had alligators but I am not certain about iguanas. Those were some big lizards though. Pitching wedge on a downhill 115 yard par three. It spun back into the hole. That must have been 15 years ago but I still remember it coming back to the hole...baby! I had a double eagle once...I didn't see the ball go in but my friend Blase Sparma did. Second shot was a 4-wood from 215 yards. Blase was the son of Joe "Blase" Sparma former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. Speaking of baseball. Speaking of golf.

Welcome home...-9 in Detroit? It's like +40 here in Sweden. Strange weather this year. Warming winter this year but last year was freezing. That is a cold reception. Man...that is like a three dog night as they say in Australia.

Excuse me...didn't mean to interrupt.

[tntenniswhiz]

Any possibility of making this a video blog?

[bottle]

Me, I'm a word guy. But I sure would like to see the backspin from that pitching wedge draw the ball into the hole as the flickering alligators gnashed their teeth.

[bottle]

More Thought to Grip Change

No, everything has not been invented before. People have always sought out the nearest rut-- the one that will mercifully deaden all sensibility and need to question and invent.

But there are a few inventions in every age and I'd like one or two of them. If I am wrong in my cynicism, then let's call my discoveries personal discoveries and leave it at that and what's the difference?-- unless we're in a contest of ostentation to exhibit our sophistication and knowledge of history.

Since I like Rick Macci's admonition to servers to "get their house in order" with a right angled trophy position either frozen or almost paused, I think I'll call that sensible position a skunk's tail and apply it to my backhands as well.

And chide the weenies jealous of Rick Macci's ability to hold a crowd as "jordans," which is Olde English for piss-pots. Jordan was also the chairman of an English Department in which I worked (and where I had help in verbal acquisitions from a great Shakespeare scholar, Professor Smith). John Casey, a National Book Award winner, moved to the University of Virginia, and although I could come back to teach for another year I stayed in Eastport, Maine.

Skunk tail in a one hand backhand is certainly not the only type of initial backswing available but is a sensible one, a "get the house in order" one.

As one achieves this verticalness one can, if one started with big knuckle of hitting hand on 2.5, use thumb and fingers on throat to twiddle the racket so that its handle ROLLS down into the web between the hitting hand's index finger and thumb. The hitting wrist can comfortably straighten at the same time.

I put the word "ROLLS" in caps since the grip changes we were taught tend toward a relaxing off of the handle altogether. One will still need to relax hand but can keep contact with handle throughout the roll.

Additionally, one may feel a need to then relax throat thumb away from racket to create a flat launching pad with throat fingers.

[bottle]

Seixas or Bollettieri BNP Paribas Tug-o-War Team?

Watchers of the TV series MADMEN are aware of the iconic BNP Paribas ad that ran for years. Politically speaking, Paribas sponsors tennis tournaments and who would wish to cavil about that, but I point here to a more human aspect of backhand existence.

Bathed in soft pre-dawn light rising over the warehouses and Fin-de-Siecle cupolas of The City, the leggy worldwide employes of BNP Paribas, especially one that everybody male or female wants to take home, pull on the same rope to make the world a better place.

And the thrust on that rope is linear, not circular. Everyone-- oblivious of the fish-hooks embedded in their mouths to use D.H. Lawrence's expression-- is pulling in the same direction. This is the final triumph of unfettered capitalism. And everyone is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY looking forward to the cocktail party at the yacht club down by the East River that will follow the shoot.

In another place and time Vic Seixas wrote a boastful autobiography a bit too soon in his long life. It is not my favorite tennis book except for two items: 1) his gleeful rendition of destroying Vic Braden in a singles tennis match while praising the other Vic's backhand and 2) his autobiographical conclusion, that, in hitting a one hand backhand, one ought to bring the racket tip all the way around from pulled back position in a measured and even way.

Everybody knows that Vic Seixas had no backhand. Could the above stated philosophy be the reason? Here is the way this no backhand statement usually is worded: "Vic Seixas is the last player to win the Wimbledon singles championship without a backhand."

Me, I get my "pull the rope" jollies any time I hit Rosewallian slider-slice out wide in the opponents' deuce court alley. When I hit my slice crosscourt, however, I'm not sure whether I pull any rope or not-- could be that the two rolls of the shot are more closely linked. My immediate ignorance of what I do once something works relates to my theory of Seixas-Wawrinka backhand drive.

Similar to the Emily Dickinson poem about how the loser in a contest is the one who understands victory, the one who doesn't have a great backhand could be the one who best understands it.

As I overhaul my backhand drive (but not my backhand slice), I wish now to incorporate the Vic Seixas idea. I shall pull knob straight toward the ball simultaneous with forward hips rotation as in a Charley Lau Jr. baseball swing but this front arm extension shall be inside track circular rather than linear.

Using a Maypole as working image, I shall recognize that some ribbons stretch out farther from the pole than others. At the outer extremity is a J. Donald Budge backhand. Closer in to the pole with 90-degree hammer grip is a Stan Wawrinkle backhand. If this picture is too feminine, we'll send Vic Seixas on a left side halfback plunge between tackle and guard.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/stanislas_wawrinka/sw_backhand/sw_bh_center/sw_bh_center.html?SWBHCenterOpenStanceFront1.mov

[bottle]

Why Do It?

Why mess with grip change so much? Because the goal is the fluid, tension-free swing of Charley Lau Sr. and Charley Lau Jr., two top baseball coaches in succeeding generations.

Batting coaches may or may not provide instruction superior to any I've ever read on the 1htsbh in tennis, but I have decided to go with this father-son combination, and I don't much care about the small differences between them.

By getting all changes of racket pitch out of the way early, a fluid, one-piece swing becomes a distinct possibility.

[bottle]

Love without Love

I love doubles sets that go 0-1, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 6-2 . They really show that you and your partner have figured some stuff out.

[bottle]

If You Can't Play While You're Thinking, Then You Can't Think While You're Playing

The forum letters lately have been very clever and I can tell that klacr is going with annual serve and volley to my forehand in The Tournament of Prominent TennisPlayer Posters, after which, with newfound cyclical confidence, he will become a middle age Isner-Raonic-Anderson-Karlovic only with better service returns, and no one will care if he has lost one half-step since young age tennis along with young age sex will have bored themselves into the obscurity of death.

This scenario, already started with the success of the Ploughshares Tour, will continue to unfurl thanks to our overwhelming arguments against American celebrity, along with a worldwide revaluation of American society, and finally our luring away of BNP Paribas sponsorship from the majors, Indian Wells, Davis Cup Winston-Salem and all the others.

I, meanwhile, cannot play tennis for a matter of weeks because of the slow healing implant process that my number seven tooth gap requires-- all energy as my new friend in Mexico asserts must go to the heal. This development is even worse than taking an oar like Ulysses to the Libyan desert where no has ever seen an oar before, or going to Mexico without a racket in hope of returning to the U.S. with THE PERFECT BACKHAND.

That backhand still isn't perfect, still is abstract as it was in Mexico but with a new grip change that I'm dying to try out.

A palm sandwich is at the core of my brother-in-law's home run swing. And during Mark Orr's time in this house last night, I lured him into miming his own home run swing. Mark, not my brother-in-law Allie Malavase, played Mickey Stanley in a prominent baseball film. Mark is the youngest player ever to hit a home run in Tiger Stadium, and his record is secure since Tiger Stadium is gone. Mark coaches North High School and was instrumental in the Grosse Pointe Little League march to the World Series tourney last summer in Williamsport.

Mark goes more with Ted Williams than Charley Lau father and son, but I'm telling you, the four swings are more same than not.

So, in the new tennis grip change to prepare for this uni-swing combined with the skunk tail structure of Stan Wawrinka, the two palms get parallel early just as the skunk tail goes up-- no, today let's call it a cobra rising in East Africa from tall grass.

Guide wrist depresses as hitting wrist does the opposite (straightens). Guide fingers roll the handle into hitting hand web to form a 90-degree hammer. All of this can happen at once and must.

Note: The cobra image comes from an anecdote told to me at an annual woodchoppers' convention in Front Royal, Virginia. One half of a Peace Corps couple, the woman, told how they were hiking in long grass in East Africa when a King Cobra raised its head. Book says don't move, but the man (I won't call him her husband), ran. The cobra had mercy and lowered its head, but the love between these two persons was never the same.

[bottle]

Closed to Square, Open to Square, Square to Square?

Because of the slow and delicate tooth implant process, I can't go cross-country skiing (best of the whole winter when there was none, not one good day last year) and can't resolve my tennis issues.

Am wondering how much Chris Lewit's favoring of a ten-degree roll before 1htsbh contact relates to him also favoring a slant rather than hammer grip.

When I get the chance I'll be exploring these options and more.

Grip change to early skunk-tailed full hammer meanwhile is evolving to the simple forward feather used by a sweep oarsman, i.e., a subtle combination of wrist straightening and fingers twiddle of the hitting hand.

Guide hand becomes a passive flat platform to support this action before taking over to start a full loop.

The twin bread of the palm sandwich is vertical before it is horizontal or even slanted down a little.

Rosewallian slice with knuckle on 2.5 (Australian grip) and air behind the handle evolved through initially left brain and overly conscious dividing of upper register loop into passive and active components-- now I try not to think about it.

The slightly larger loop of 1htsbh may include a longer section of free drop.

Because of the 90-degree hammer head, the hand can relax around the front of the stomach while the racket head moves outward for inside out concision with the ball.

Stealing from the baseball coach Lau Jr., the front arm extension, regardless of release of guide hand or not, should complete the earlier begun rotation of the hips.

For the first time in many decades I will be trying two-handed swings just to see how this might work.

One thing I know for sure. If I ever again hit a two-hander in a match it will be of the variety where lead hand pulls the whole way and guide hand only guides, never pushes.

Two-handers that are left-handed forehands in disguise are not in the works for me.

[bottle]

Who Are You? Written by a Book Reviewer

You are not a book reviewer. You are not a film reviewer. You are not a reviewer of the political scene. You are a tennis player.

If you are serious about the game, you crawl up through the woods on your belly to overhear a tennis lesson. If you read a 300-page tennis book, you look for the item on page 186 that will speak to you.

If you are listening to Rick Macci hold a huge and diverse crowd, you may wait for a single comment, which might be "Get your house in order."

[bottle]

A Different Slice, by John Escher

First rule of free-lancing: Place same article in different publications.

Everyone at Eastside asks how I hit my backhand slice. With an easy double roll starting from skunk tail or scary cobra or upright racket.

The model is in a 3-minute YouTube video called “Davis Cup 1954.” Just put those words in a search engine. The four slice backhands shown in its third minute are the best footage ever made of Ken Rosewall hitting his famous slice.

He was 19. I am 74 and only learned my version when I was 73 . Should have believed anyone a lot sooner who said that “Rosewallian slice” means pay attention.

In the basic shot, one’s strings come level to the ball despite the double roll. Australian grip between continental and eastern forehand is essential. That creates organic feel by placing big knuckle on second pointy ridge. The right-hander slowly rolls racket open, then opens it more quickly then reverses roll and adds a bit of downward sting from the pointy ridge for an easy followthrough down to right and up and out.

Is there spearing with racket butt between the two rolls? Sometimes.

[bottle]

Some Stupid Little Thing That Could Make A Big Difference

Starting from the peculiar backhand slice of # 2021, keep the exact same relaxed grip but only wag the racket tip 45 degrees off of vertical.

That wag-- which is easy motion-- is similar to the finesse at the top of a good golf swing.

To hit the slice, you next wag 45 degrees more-- which is vigorous motion. This is the last instant but extreme opening of the strings that forms so much body in the racket work of Ken Rosewall behind his body or back.

I just used the word "body" in two separate ways, 1) to refer to the human body and 2) to refer to the backward belly of a swing.

To hit drive and not slice now, I choose to eliminate backward belly from the shape, spearing forward instead to form a tension-filled 90 degrees between racket and arm, a cocking or late loading of a slingshot if you will.

Then comes release and followthrough. One could do this part of the stroke by holding tip back with opposite hand but holding back at the racket throat is more convenient.

Was embarrassment from this shot possible? Not if one was operating in safe mode. No trip to a tennis court on doctor's orders today, thus this is a shot in design phase, good, bad, about to change, not about to change.

Note: The little backhand proposed here seems to deny the intelligence coming to us through Ellsworth Vines that Pancho Gonzalez used the Australian grip on all of his backhands, then kept it for his service returns but strengthened it (adjusted hand backward on handle more) for ground play in order to do better against Jack Kramer on their tour together.

Just because Pancho Gonzalez may have decided after too big a dinner that he was pushing his backhand, however, does not mean that you, reader, need to do the same thing. Could mean that though. I'd go with trials.

[bottle]

Re Steve's Thoughts on Experts

An obvious but valid-- I suspect-- response. People do not trust their own experience enough. They would rather go with what somebody else has to say.

[stotty]

An obvious but valid-- I suspect-- response. People do not trust their own experience enough. They would rather go with what somebody else has to say.

Or maybe they just want a second opinion, or a third, or a fourth...to set their own compass better. Developing a trusty compass is a valuable thing...

[don_budge]

The Flaw...the model in the model which is Richard Gonzalez

Note: The little backhand proposed here seems to deny the intelligence coming to us through Ellsworth Vines that Pancho Gonzalez used the Australian grip on all of his backhands, then kept it for his service returns but strengthened it (adjusted hand backward on handle more) for ground play in order to do better against Jack Kramer on their tour together.

Just because Pancho Gonzalez may have decided after too big a dinner that he was pushing his backhand, however, does not mean that you, reader, need to do the same thing. Could mean that though. I'd go with trials.

Great note. As you well know my coaching paradigm is "The book is Bill Tilden. The model is Richard Gonzalez with the Don Budge backhand. The coach is Harry Hopman and Roger Federer is living proof". This is where it pays to be a true student of the game. These little "nuggets" are worthy to ponder.

That little note accounts for my inclusion of the Don Budge backhand into my paradigm. Gonzalez is the model for a plethora of reasons but your note is the sole reason that his backhand may not have been the total package. No one is perfect and that was the Achilles Heel of Gonzalez. The rest of his package managed to all but cover up this one flaw and because the rest of the package was so complete it was more or less impossible to exploit this flaw. Like the flaws of the great ones...they more or less turn a flaw into a lesser strength.