A New Year's Serve

[bottle]

To Stotty:

The key lies in your phrase "to set their own compass better." That suggests people willing to take responsibility for their own fate rather than give all the credit or blame to somebody else. I'm arguing for listening and even robbing other people's brains but never completely deferring to the other the way people do who somehow got short shrift in the personal compass department, e.g., Ryan Harrison or Sam Querrey despite their physical gifts. Oh well, to generalize is easy, to form a complete philosophy of tennis or of anything else pretty hard. It's all about being one's own woman, I mean man. Prize of the day goes to Alex Dolgopolov. If he never wins another match, he has persevered. And the twin stories of his reconciliation with his father-coach and his identification with the Ukraine are nothing but heartwarming and admirable. Beating Nadal isn't too bad either.

[bottle]

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.

I'm appreciating Ellsworth Vines and his book TENNIS: MYTH AND METHOD more and more as a source of inside information on the game's really important stuff. He's not the most colorful writer I've ever read, but he combines technique from more than one sport-- obviously-- and he was right there competing with the ten best players he identified from his day (and beat them more often than not?). As you would expect from a golfer like him, there's more on grip and on other players' grips than in most tennis books. I just think that we're overly dependent on journalists and sports writers (and "announcers" now) for our knowledge of intricacy in the game and lots of times these people really don't know much about tennis, only know what their own game was, only really know television. It's unusual that a player as great as Ellsworth Vines has a corresponding ability to express himself. Most fun though was getting to watch Vines' coach Mercer Beasley play doubles once with Judge Wright and his brother and somebody else in Old Saybrook, Connecticut. A big old jovial guy with grace out of all proportion to his advanced age. And he WAS a colorful writer (and solid too!). His own book is one of my proudest possessions. It's around here somewhere. If I could find it right now I'd give its correct title but Mercer Beasley-- I recommend him.

[don_budge]

Mercer Beasely...

Nothing like searching the past looking for the way forwards...eh bottle? Great find...another "Bible".

http://www.si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1133367/index.htm

"When a pile of congratulatory telegrams was shoved at him, he deftly extracted the sentiment from the moment by leafing through them and then announcing firmly, "All sent collect.""

http://www.amazon.com/How-play-tennis-Beasley-instruction/dp/B00086XISC

[stotty]

My compass

To bottle,

For the avoidance of doubt, this aside is in no way directed at Steve in a negative way, whom I hold in the highest regard imaginabubble. It is directed at him in a positive way:

Whether aware of it or not we are always sharpening our compass. Even the most unwavering person can be made to stop and think sometimes. Some doubtless develop a better compass than others. But at the end of the day each must make his own judgements, often in the heat of a moment.

At one end of this continuum is the ditherer; at the other...Ghandi. But you can only be a Gandhi if you are absolutely certain...crystal...unwavering. Few coaches are knowledgeable enough to be crystal about their trade, and of those perhaps only a handful turn out to be right. At least this is my experience.

My compass is reasonable but not infallible. I sometimes waver. I simply have to be honest with myself even if I get hurt. I tap my compass now and then to ensure it is still true. I compare it to a handful of other compasses on Tennisplayer known to be excellent, and of course there is the compass if Tennisplayer itself. These sources have become my benchmark, and, in a way, my dearest friends. For this I am truly grateful.

[bottle]

To bottle,

For the avoidance of doubt, this aside is in no way directed at Steve in a negative way, whom I hold in the highest regard imaginabubble. It is directed at him in a positive way:

Whether aware of it or not we are always sharpening our compass. Even the most unwavering person can be made to stop and think sometimes. Some doubtless develop a better compass than others. But at the end of the day each must make his own judgements, often in the heat of a moment.

At one end of this continuum is the ditherer; at the other...Ghandi. But you can only be a Gandhi if you are absolutely certain...crystal...unwavering. Few coaches are knowledgeable enough to be crystal about their trade, and of those perhaps only a handful turn out to be right. At least this is my experience.

My compass is reasonable but not infallible. I sometimes waver. I simply have to be honest with myself even if I get hurt. I tap my compass now and then to ensure it is still true. I compare it to a handful of other compasses on Tennisplayer known to be excellent, and of course there is the compass if Tennisplayer itself. These sources have become my benchmark, and, in a way, my dearest friends. For this I am truly grateful.

Nice. And I like the word "imaginabubble," a place where I often dwell-- you could ask my partner Hope or almost anyone.

[bottle]

Nothing like searching the past looking for the way forwards...eh bottle? Great find...another "Bible".

http://www.si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1133367/index.htm

"When a pile of congratulatory telegrams was shoved at him, he deftly extracted the sentiment from the moment by leafing through them and then announcing firmly, "All sent collect.""

http://www.amazon.com/How-play-tennis-Beasley-instruction/dp/B00086XISC

120 pounds! He definitely had put on some weight by the time I saw him playing with Superior Court Douglass Wright and his brother, who had been doubles champions of Connecticut.

[bottle]

Mudpies

The grip for this stroke can have the racket hand extremely behind the racket, like a hammer grip, or with thumb slanted across the back bevels of the racket grip (or with the thumb actually in line with the racket throat, at the back of the racket). Or the grip can have the hand extremely in front of the racket (e.g., Francois Durr). Federer, to my eyes, has the grip hand just slightly on the front side of the racket. John McEnroe uses a continental grip, on top of the racket -- hand neither behind nor ahead of the grip. (Most people don't realize the amazing angles that Johnny Mac can pull off with his topspin backhand.)

The grip is one of the major determinants of the swing. All pieces of a good swing must fit together in an efficient motion. If you change one element, one detail of the swing, chances are that you might have to change other elements, so that all the elements fit together smoothly.

The great Don Budge, to my eyes, had his hand slightly on the front side of the grip. (In other words, start with Continental grip, then shade it slightly forward.) Budge had a devastating backhand. He said the backhand was similar to swinging a baseball bat. I see in Budge a somewhat weak backhand grip, with strings a little open to the sky during the backswing. Budge did not compensate much by rolling his wrist or forearm too much. He used a topspin swing similar to players with stronger grips.

The combination of Budge's weak grip with open strings, with the topspin motion, created for Budge a very fast, hard, flat, penetrating backhand that often could just be too much for opponents to return. I do not teach this motion, because for a lot of players, it creates inconsistency & loss of control. But it certainly worked for the great Budge. I have noticed some good local & regional players using the Budge-style motion, also. (I am a big believer, when you are having problems with a stroke, in fiddling around and exploring new things, so don't hesitate in giving this Budge method a try.)

Here is a drill that can give you the feeling of the strength of a catapult on the forward motion of the topspin backhand. Say you want to project mud pies, or vegetable pot pies, at your enemy or opponent. Put the pie on your strings. Hold the tip of the racket at the end of the strings, way high on the racket. Pull the racket with your racket hand on the grip -- pull the butt of the handle towards your opponent. At the very last second, release your free hand from the racket tip, & release the pie with your powerful catapult motion.

That is the same feeling that you should have as you blast your 1-hand topspin backhand. You will notice that the release point (letting go of the tip in order to release the pie) is not far behind the body. It is rather set forward, somewhat. It is a compact motion. For instance, Kuerten used to have a seemingly big motion on his backswing, but his release point was relatively compact. In other words, you should always be ready to lash your racket arm forward quickly to hit the ball, with that backhand punch motion that I talk about, in my post above. You should always have the racket ready to release that catapult quickly. (Yes, i remind you to think of the topspin backhand as a catapult or a backhand punch.)

To learn an efficient topspin backhand motion, hit some tennis balls with a broom!! Don't use a push broom. Use the traditional straw broom. You will have to choke way up on the handle. Hit the ball tossed to you after it bounces 1 time. Hit the ball on the straw part of the broom. You will discover that the broom stick & your forearm should form the letter T. Right angles are important in the 1-hand topspin backhand.

Using a broom to hit balls will teach you to position yourself behind the ball, & to have an impact point that is close to your body but well out in front of your body towards the net (in a line with your target). You will see the strong T form at impact. I even believe that this seemingly crazy broom drill could improve Roger Federer's already relatively good topspin backhand.

I have been pursuing the mudpie (or propelled chicken pot pie) idea elsewhere in the forum. Here is the best explanation of mudpie once again.

[bottle]

"Lash." An interesting verb.

"In other words, you should always be ready to lash your racket arm forward quickly to hit the ball, with that backhand punch motion that I talk about, in my post above. You should always have the racket ready to release that catapult quickly. (Yes, i remind you to think of the topspin backhand as a catapult or a backhand punch.)"

I remember having a hit one day with an Asian guy who the day before had purchased a very expensive lesson for himself on one-hand backhands. He was one of the better juniors in Winston-Salem and could really keep a backhand rally going for a long time. He also had the seasoned wisdom of some old man (perhaps not this old man).

After the hit, he told me he liked my backhand but thought I was hitting the crosscourts a bit too much toward the center of the court. I wasn't getting to the outer edge of the ball, in other words, just the way the TV announcers always say.

Those dumb clucks, of course, never give you a clue as to HOW to get on the outer edge of the ball, just suggest in their know-it-all way that you probably aren't doing that (based on observation of every one-hander there ever has been).

Well, what are the options for doing it? Different racket position just before it should happen. Last instant rolling of the racket. Change of direction with racket stalk (the right-hander suddenly pulls the butt rim violently to the right) and this brings hammer head around really fast.

Well some of these options may work better than others or in combination. This mudpie idea however is an entirely different animal, implying as it does the creation of last instant spring-load with barred arm to racket just having formed a T.

Maybe you, reader, like me, had a magic afternoon in a singles match 20 years ago where every topspin backhand was a winner-- why? Because you were lashing better though you didn't really understand that this lashing was a spring-loaded thing, and you lost the trick by the next day when playing another opponent.

Prescription: You get ready by holding tip of racket back with opposite hand to create a slingshot effect. Then you replace opposite hand where it belongs on throat of the racket but do the same thing.

Well, I've already described my next proposed 1htsbh (one I've never in my life hit in the exact proposed way). If I do hit the rafters with it and can't find my way round that I'll soon be performing some of the exotic grip change experiments I had underway-- mostly taken from my knowlege of sweep and scull rowing both.

Come to think of it, it would be a shame not to continue those experiments in any case. But know this, reader. None of this is medical emergency. We've all got enough of those to look forward to. So let's not confuse them with tennis experimentation, which is for fun-- to see what one can do, to discover the unexpected.

The unexpected is out there. One has more potential than one thinks and at any age. My Rosewallian slice has proven that for me once and for all. Unless all the people praising it are just being polite. No, I know them well from playing tennis with and against them, and their manners are okay but not THAT good. So I'll take their response as a sign of actually getting somewhere. Along with tennis scores. And gut feeling more important than anything.

Note: The straight lift Oscar method for introducing topspin one-handers to complete beginners is interesting-- recently re-discussed in this forum by Steve. Everybody always talks about their dear old coach, and I don't know how "dear" mine, Jim, was, but despite what Emily Dickinson's boyfriend's descendant thought, Jim Kacian, haiku editor and USPTA pro, is one of the most brilliant men I have ever met. He taught me a simple straight back and lift topspin backhand that for a long time served me well and was my best shot. But then I kept getting blown away by a very hard hitting cabinet-maker exploiting my backhand side and... knew the time had come for some change.

The lash of WBTC is very different from pukey lift from the shoulder.

[bottle]

Mudpies on Serves, Too?

I'm only asking. The idea of mudpie projection comes from power cocking racket tip by holding it back with opposite hand just before releasing it like a slingshot.

That happens in a good 1htsbh. But why couldn't it happen in a serve, too? You probably would shoot something from edge of the racket frame-- a mudpie, a vegetable pie, a chicken or turkey pot pie-- rather than from the strings, which is a far tidier image, but so what?

The way to run the possibility would be to sit in a chair and hold the racket out in front of you in an extreme version of your service grip in which the throat end of the handle is firmly pressed down against the yoke between your thumb and forefinger.

Fingers though still on handle will be wide open. It has been suggested that a very weak swish of the racket could be produced from this position by closing the fingers.

One could make the swish even weaker by removing first three fingers from the racket to leave only the thumb and pinkie to oppose each other.

Strength of swish not weakness is however the goal, so you can hang on with all of your fingers AS IFF ON A CLIFF while putting the whole force of your serve on the little yoke.

While sitting in the chair, you can hold back the racket tip with opposite hand to see how this might work.

Since opposite hand will be otherwise occupied in a real serve, you will need to replicate pressure on the yoke (but hopefully a lot more) through the mechanics of your service motion whatever they are.

What then might happen? (I can't play. This is down time in my office.)

The edge-on frame might get closer to the ball than usual because of the abrupt and uninhibited release.

Pronation might return to a form of protection rather than projection.

A bunch of pronation or internal rotation of the upper arm or both or whatever you want to call such a monstrosity is, after all, same thing as turning over the wrist or wrists in a baseball swing-- which turnover is seen by some famous batting coaches as a weakening agent.

Racket path: A neat overhead arc with no flat place in it. Kinesthetic cue: Throw a tomahawk.

[bottle]

Arrhythmia Set in a Buttery Swing

Sorry, Mr. Seixas, that you no longer play tennis. We could finally straighten out your backhand.

With apology to Louis Armstrong: Mudpie munchin on the mudpie munchin on the mudpie-- MUD PIE!

[bottle]

Initial Setting of Opposite Elbow in the 1hbh

Rosewallian slice keeps left elbow away from body. Start clicking at 1:38 .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR7kvBGntW8

A flat backhand depending on about 10 degrees of wrist turnover at contact is possible from the same skunk tail, the same grip and wrist lock but isn’t a very big shot and therefore is hard to justify since the sliced version can go just as fast.

In search of a bigger drive, I turn here to an example from Stan Wawrinka in which Stan also keeps left elbow away from body, with upper arm in fact parallel to the court.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/stanislas_wawrinka/sw_backhand/sw_bh_center/sw_bh_center.html?SWBHCenterNeutralStanceSide4.mov

Stan straightens wrist shortly after raising the racket tip but I want to straighten wrist sooner as part of a grip change.

Disadvantage: This loses the forward set in which edge of racket tracks the ball.

Advantage: The complex stuff in the stroke quickly gets out of the way.

Backhanders who use this type of quick takeback (Bungalo Bill) sometimes say that they line up ball with the front shoulder.

Advantage: Pulling of knob straight at ball coincident with forward hips turn happens farther back. This means one can “slingshot a mudpie” sooner and not quite so far out in front of the body.

It was Ivan Lendl who pointed out in his book with Eugene Scott that contact TOO FAR OUT FRONT weakens a 1htsbh, that a willowy human being just doesn’t have enough strength out there.

Advantage: If one’s initial skunk tail is not perfectly vertical but tilts racket slightly toward left fence, knob pulling downward and forward can more fully load the two hand to one hand slingshot. Put another way, one pulls the racket tip to inside in order to lash with it in the opposite direction toward the outside.

Advantage: The two palms get parallel to one another at top of the initial backswing as part of a grip change. They are still parallel to one another at low point in the stroke but are also parallel to the court. This creates a Lau type baseball swing in which there is no turnover of hitting wrist at least until after the ball is gone.

Note: My terming of some initial backswing as "quick" does not imply "mindless." The initial backswing I want simply takes racket tip a big farther than Wawrinka's since it includes the same wrist-straightening that he delays. Measured straightening of arm and additional shoulders turn during a hitting stride is exactly the same.

[bottle]

New 1htsbh's Continued Conceptualization

Set racket not quite to vertical to tilt slightly out from body toward side fence. Keep this tilt as arm straightens back.

The next motion will be an improvement to Bollettieri's "flashlight" or BNP Paribas tug-o-war or "pull on a rope" or Lau's "drive knob straight toward ball during forward rotation of hips."

I say "improvement" but a person for whom I do not enjoy credibility may say "embellishment."

My argument that this is improvement hypothesizes slingshot or catapult of imaginary mudpie as an effective cue for a faster turn of the 1htsbh around its tight hitting corner.

Jim Courier has warned, reader, that if you value logic, don't look for it among tennis players.

But even tennis players should be able to understand the imagery of catapulting a mudpie.

This relates to stretch-shorten cycle and Brian Gordon's theme of pre-load depending on HOW the racket butt gets lowered into flashlight position.

Is the load just a twist of the arm one way as preparation for it to twist the other?

That would be twist down to prepare for twist of wrist over the ball, would it not?

Unwanted!

The two hands rather fight each other to stretch elastic as if they are opposite poles of a loading Wham-o slingshot (handle beneath fork at one pole, thumb and forefinger holding the stone at the other).

Front arm can meanwhile be falling/driving forward to the ball.

Tension between the hands matters (understatement).

Final hammer grip is a dynamic rather than passive 90-degree configuration.

The arm is straight but the wrist and fingers are still producing more bend to become the full right angle.

The racket twists and bends to swat or "lash" or snake-strike.

One could grind the throat end of the handle into the web between forefinger and thumb or rather take Don Budge's advice from an old instructional film to "put more thumb behind the handle."

As best time to put more thumb behind the handle, I nominate initial grip change.

The swing, though liquid and single piece, draws elasticity-- in the hitting area-- from wrist and fingers both. And draws solidity from more thumb. If not getting around enough, one can slow winding down with opposite hand to allow more time to load slingshot all the way through turn of racket butt to the right.

Whether one has slid thumb up handle to a Budge-like diagonal or even beyond to fully lengthwise but awkward-seeming support; or, whether one wraps thumb for more flexibility combined with a "stronger" (this may not be true) grip, the goal of more hand behind the racket remains the same.

Note: Each new verbal iteration of a tennis stroke is apt to contain contradictions with what came before but should push logic forward. In view of the above, I declare that "one pulls a rope" for most down the line shots but doesn't for most crosscourts in which one circles the body at shake-hands distance instead.

One won't tip anything off since pulling a rope and slight circling to outside, to begin with, will appear the same to all of one's opponents.

[bottle]

Learning How to Learn: A Lifetime Project

I'm chuffed as usual except when I'm the knight of rueful countenance (as usual). Here I am with a new backhand. Will it be as lousy as the one I brought back from Mexico? That one took ten days and a few drinks under the beach umbrellas of Puerto Vallarta to develop.

The part in my prescription about finding little cousins of paranhas to nibble away the dead skin on one's feet was good.

The rest of that backhand was 90 degrees colder in Detroit than P.V. and I don't remember exactly why.

And there have been disappointing permutations since. But I am excited about the tennis social tonight which for me is all about arriving early. With luck there will be somebody to hit with; if not, I'll self-feed a few balls.

Influencing factor: J. Donald Budge's low key advice to try more thumb behind the racket in his old teaching film recently posted by Phil Picuri in this forum.

That is a sentiment that never has been sufficiently discussed in any tennis circles I know. And I'm going to put more thumb behind the racket than even J. Donald Budge himself and feel liberated enough to try that thanks to a post by WBTC, who at least was open to the possibility. Thumb wrapped around handle provides more flexibility, sure, but less flexibility and more solidity could be what I need.

Honestly, where do ideas originate whether from oneself or other persons and what's the difference if an idea is a dime a dozen idea-- nothing more and nothing less?

So to give the backhand of # 2037 a fair shake is my first goal for tonight. My best chance I think will come from a revised grip change that slides thumb up along back of racket while straightening wrist and setting palm to palm.

Meanwhile there is maintenance of Rosewallian slice (normally my best stroke) to think about.

Once something is good it is supposed to stay good but in my case at least this is untrue: Any good stroke is apt to require the renewal of fresh thought.

After watching the video "Davis Cup '54" for the hundredth time, I notice that Ken Rosewall's elbow is farther separated than that of his great imitator Trey Waltke. And that Rosewall finishes with his left palm pushed down at the court.

A single brain impulse could push both index base knuckles downward at the same time.

[bottle]

Use Edit Function of Doubles Ad Court BH Service Returns

Hit a lot of balls, won four times, lost once, came from behind to tie things up at the end. That is six sets with different partners.

Verdict on the backhand was that it is too long for a new stroke for someone of my age (74). The good poachers picked it off since it crossed net too close to center.

Eliminate most loop. Forget disguise. Have two variations, beginner's or service return topspin per Oscar and one more like Tony Trabert at 2:35 in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR7kvBGntW8

New grip change and shrink-wrapping long arm into a thumb-supported catapult are the two features I choose to bring across from the # 2038 backhand.

[bottle]

Volley Up?

That's what Luke Jensen said to do when he was conducting a large clinic at the Grosse Pointe (Michigan) Yacht Club.

The following video appears to support that point of view. It is perfect for players who hate words and don't speak Japanese.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv1uhaYLbZc