A New Year's Serve

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Elbow Suddenly Out

Great players know how to deaden any oncoming ball. Even a not great player can develop the knowledge to do it.

In the case of a see see however the challenge is very tough.

We are wedded to the farm gate idea, but the gate can be opened slightly farther than previously imagined.

Closing of the gate then will still be purposefully late but quickly merge into something else: sudden pushing of elbow out in equally purposeful temporization as one does ulnar deviation and radial deviation both and arm extension and arm contraction both with perhaps a bit of forearm roll in both directions thrown in, all with light fingers and hand.

This seems an awful amount to do at once. I'm tending toward some farm gate closing followed then by the rest, but if the load is too great items will have to be subtracted or placed earlier in the stroke.

[bottle]

Si Si

For purposes of argument let's say we've got some good footwork going-- a left-right-left skip into a right cross.

Time then to move on to the infinity of ways to combine best topspin with the direction we want.

Reader, you heard me correctly. The ways are "infinite."

I've obviously worked on the see see challenge for a long time-- long enough so that I can slightly miss the shot and still win the point.

The reason for this is that the constant error-- not enough angle-- aims the shot more into the court.

But we should have higher aspiration than that.

Which will it be and with what grip-- late farm gate combined with maximum radial deviation combined with a scintilla of forearm roll and a bit of biceptic scissoring?

Arrogantly, I think I've covered the waterfront. But an extremely articulate physical therapist just got up from his tennis mixer chair to demonstrate how he hits his huge topspin nothing like that.

Grip: semiwestern to western. Load on right (outside) foot. He's all Alexander ragtime after that striking almost straight upward but like my favorite fox snake who strikes in a slightly more outward direction. As the force of extension rises through his body his entire chest puffs out. That's all he showed. Having just played tennis against him I either know or don't know the rest.

Heavy topspin coming from scapular adduction-- could that be it? There was no discussion of body or arm rotations whatsoever. Things that come later?

Well, I'll fool with this but am not diverging from my established see see path and shall be careful to step on the top of each fallen tree since copperheads, timber rattlesnakes, cobras and mambas lurk on the far side.

Radial deviation in this or that degree and here or there or never?

"This is very much a brush up and don't hit shot."

Does that sage advice from John M. Barnaby apply to body? Yes. To arm? Yes. To late farm gate? No.

How about some late farm gate followed by purposeful temporizing by suddenly pushing the elbow out from body which not only keeps contact point more to right but creates dwell spot for one to perform one's chosen other stuff?

Hardly Stotty's sage advice to keep to a minimum of moving parts.

Somebody however should explore all possibilities. Why not I if I'm the one who most wants this shot?

[bottle]

Cochleate rather than Chocolate See See

Take time to hit the shot. You skip forward but let the ball come to you a little. When skipping, you can travel or not. Bip bip bip and step across. Oh, now I face the target.

The first bip got left foot in front of right. This has to be. If you start with left foot in front of right already you will get burnt on the backhand side, I guarantee it. Happened.

Through all three bips however the racket cocks slightly around staying pretty square on level forearm with elbow tucked in since that is most fun.

Remember though I am an early separation guy. If you cling to racket with your left hand you are on your own-- nothing wrong with that. You just have to be inventive on your own while we go our separate ways.

Now comes the pivot step. As adjustment foot turns your whole body you do a little ulnar deviation from your wrist (you drop your hand) and call it "lowering the racket tip a little" if you want.

Now the snail-like spiral begun by the hips continues. Forearm stays level and bats around as arm stays right-angled. The levelness gets the racket tip far enough around to where both strings and upper body face the target.

Obviously things are happening fast and the thinking behind it all has to have been very correct and precise. A blend of radial deviation and scissoring of the arm I'd say today.

But what about this radial deviation? Did I do it before exactly this way? Never. The radial deviation will re-align the racket with the forearm.

If one starts with racket and forearm in alignment and deviates from there one may turn the racket closed too much which could broaden the angle of the outgoing shot rather than sharpen it.

We had the target in our sites already and don't want to screw up good aim through unwanted broadening. Notably, the spiral we started has become ever more tight.

[bottle]

Like it and will try it. Your name is lob&dropshot after all.

[lobndropshot]

When I am hitting my one handed backhand for a topspin lob it feels as if I am peeling a tomato. I start a the bottom and I peel to the center back making sure I don't bruise the flesh underneath. The ball doesn't make a sound only and the only thing you should hear is the is the strings sliding back into place.

[bottle]

Easily Produced BH Lob with Mild Topspin

Wouldn't you like to hit a series of these shots today, reader? Me too. Our level of play: Middling to good geezer dubs.

I figure that when the other geezers see all my see sees from the deuce court they will start serving to my backhand.

First choice then will be an easy lob deep in right alley. Can hardly wait through the next 20 minutes before I arrive at Eastside (Detroit).

But how is this marvelous shot-- if marvelous it will be-- supposed to have evolved?

Through a spell of time trying to imitate John McEnroe's composite grip topspin backhand without the hump in his wrist.

I never got the TSBH I wanted that way but now have the lob I'm talking about in hand (I'm quite sure) but will let you know. Time to get in my car.

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Oops, forgot a belt. The shorts I chose wanted to fall down. But how I did is less interesting-- as I tried to suggest-- than evolution of the shot, and the shorts didn't fall down and I did okay.

Reader, I must admit the lobs I won points with all were sliced or sidespun or both, and the one time I tried the new lob it got smashed, but that won't stop me. The shot is there. It just needs reps.

It evolved this way. First I put into development a middle low backswung flying grip changed thumb supported topspun backhand in which consciously strengthened arm that fights toward net even while racket continues back is a main feature. This arm resistance starts immediately after the flying grip change and slows head down as in a good top of the backswing in golf. The strings loop in toward the body and then work out as part of the overall swing.

It's a good shot, very consistent, can easily go deep with control but crosses the net a bit high. Perfect for transformation into a lob. Just change to composite grip and you (I) got it.

The challenge then will be to develop a higher backswing looped one-hander like the cage figure at the beginning of this TP issue. Because of the arm resistance or strengthening of arm to decrease motion of racket going up, there is no reason to pause and then start up again the way the wire figure does. When I used this high but edited backswing today the net people weren't able to pick anything off.

[bottle]

Staying on Task

Why interrupt your amorous slavering to find a bathroom?

This is what the cialis and viagra ads tell us. And the same advice applies to develop one's see see.

[bottle]

Cochleate or Snail-like Spiral Getting Smaller and Smaller

If you can hit the deception version of see see, you don't need the non-deception channel, the only value of which then is to show you that hips don't do much more than re-position the entire body.

But there is a nice conceptual pattern in these shots of hips and shoulders making a circle that shrinks into level forearm making a circle and then the forearm circle getting even tighter thanks to the scissoring at the elbow.

[bottle]

See This See See

Barnaby's wisdom that this is very much a "brush up and don't hit shot" is absolutely essential.

Technically however if one has gone the farm gate route there is a hit, a little hit that has nothing to do with turn of the hips which was for position only.

The little hit is solely from upper arm yet lends racket head speed to one's brush.

Of what then does the brush consist? Optional radial deviation combined with 1) forearm roll, 2) poptop, 3) scissoring of the arm.

If one can't learn or remember more than two of these tricks today, one could learn the other two tomorrow and combine all three or four the day after that.

Note: John McPhee in LEVELS OF THE GAME has at certain times Arthur Ashe and probably Clark Graebner too pulling off the ball rather than hitting through it almost as if making some little shot were about to burn or bite like a poisonous snake. Isn't this skill something that all tennis aspirants should learn along with how to hit hard?

[bottle]

Today's Moralistic Lesson

Don't rely too much on superstition or inspiration if you can figure something out.

[bottle]

Applying Educated Wrist to Two Kinds of See See

Is "educating the wrist" largely about educating the body parts around it? Recent experiments would suggest so.

Where are we? We educated the hand to use a grip-finding system for all of our ground strokes and volleys that always puts the bent thumb on one of four pointy ridges.

We educated the wrist to stay straight for the see see.

We educated the arm to bend itself into a right angle as preferred method for hitting the two see sees (not disguised and disguised).

We educated the elbow to stay against the body for a long time.

Right angled arm combined with elbow kept close stabilizes the arm so that upper arm rotation can now occur without destroying necessary discipline.

In fact, upper arm rotation now can be delayed to become a quick movement that adds to racket head speed.

The explanation of topspin that best works here says that spin is determined by which edge comes off of the ball first.

"Poptop" as explained by the Gullickson twins was a flat or only slightly rising power swing that generated topspin in that top of frame led lower frame both coming into the ball and leaving it.

I'm not advocating the pure form of this but retain a bit of it combined with a bit of forearm roll. So far, in my effort to build my see see, I've employed a third simultaneous element as well, radial deviation.

Today's self-feed will try administration of spin with and without radial deviation.

Quality of spin and upper body turn to face target are the hallmarks of this Barnaby influenced shot.

[bottle]

Easiest See See Yet Encountered

Though not the most deceptive, it's the easiest to hit. Right left right-- am speaking about a right-hander's feet. Right foot starts turning the body. A short almost dragged step by left foot seems to keep the turn going. A slantwise step by right foot subtracts weight from the shot and turns the body even more while finding sensible contact point which never wants to be too far to the left.

The second see see I tried today was with elbow in, the arm bent at right angle until the very end. Body rotation started first and farm gate closing came next. This shot is good for deception since it can be hit off of a linear left right left inchworm, to speak of footwork. In fact for some shots the three steps can be close together in a very quick skip-- just a single vibrating jitterbug micro-step really-- before the final slantwise step to right by the adjustment foot.

See # 2724 for more on this.

[bottle]

Second Person in Tennis Instruction

A wonderful poet named Eilean Ni Chuilleanain did not object when I talked some tennis during an Irish poetry reading contest in which I finished second at Wake Forest University.

She liked the poem I chose to read out loud, which was about sea birds in cliffs and was by George Moore.

She was one of the two judges, and she didn't object to my tennis talk-- not at all-- but did object to my use of second person, i.e., "you." She found too much use of "you" thoroughly irritating, and so do I, especially when some pop psychologist tells me how to live my life.

Of course, as E.B. White pointed out, when one says you one most frequently means "I."

But what is one to do? Characteristically, tennis instruction is along the lines of the instruction sheet that comes with an optionally hand held Delta shower head that has five different settings for spray.

The task of putting this thing up was very important to me since all of my tennis ideas come while I am in the shower. The instructions were unusually minimalist and clear. Still, in practical matters I'm challenged, and it was only my experience in interpreting tennis instruction that led to successful installation.

Tennis instructors don't often think much about grammar and language but should since their job is to communicate and be clear.

Listen to a great tennis teacher who is talking while trading shots with his or her student. It isn't so much what she says as when.

But it's command style, most likely-- has to be. And each command carries an implied "you." Do this, do that. You do this. You do that. This is great for a while but then begins to wear on one and even convinces people that they don't exist.

The answer, I guess, is to vary form-- create freshness through discussing a third person (he, she), or use first person collective (we) or resort to the good old pronoun "one."

And get the student to pick up some of the burden of talking, too.

[bottle]

Three Species of Farm Gate Forehand

The elbow is in, the arm bent at a right angle.

1) Level forearm brings racket head slowly around for a big body shove.

2) Body rotations and gate closing are blended together.

3) Body rotations start first and gate closing comes next. Don't know much more than that since have never tried this shot but hope to explore it in self-feed later today.

Perhaps the energy from whole body can never transfer properly to the twist of closing gate. Perhaps the combination of late gate and radial deviation with a touch of forearm roll thrown in will whet one's interest. Perhaps the shot will be flippy and arm only and lead to awkward misshits.

One never knows.

[bottle]

Lartigue Photos from Early Twentieth Century

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS519US519&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=lartigue+tennis+photos

Lartigue on Deauville, France:

"1916-- Deauville. That is some place! Some place where you can feel like another man! No shyness now. I take pleasure in the friends I meet, and I meet them everywhere.

"Deauville stretches along the sea-- a long, sandy beach dressed in worldliness. No vagrant thoughts of waves, shells or sand; but realities of tennis courts, of the promenade-- the boardwalk where people amble in the sun well before lunch simply to meet and bow to each other, as in Paris on the Avenue des Acacias. The ladies' dresses are less sophisticated, paler too, made for the sun. All the gentlemen wear straw hats.

"Every afternoon there is something going on: horse races or a tennis tournament. The queen of the tennis court is neither Suzanne Lenglen nor the English players. They are not here this year because of the War. The queen this season is Daisy Speranza with her warm, charming face-- the coloring of a ripe peach-- that has freckles and a small sharp nose. She is one of the best players (but never the best) in France. She has her own elegant style, knows she is pretty and that is enough for her. I am often her morning coach, giving her long shots that keep her to the back of the court. Since I am a player, I can sit near the court during the matches. I know she will surely win the Deauville Cup this year."

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS519US519&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=Daisy+Speranza+photos