A New Year's Serve

[bottle]

Language to Increase Power and Balance

Life will be better for you, reader, if you get spine of scapula and humerus cocked elastic style and lined up with one another so they can form a single long bopping lever (including forearm) just at the right time.

This cocking and uncocking could be described as arching and unarching, if arching is primarily horizontal in the way that Chris Lewit, say, defines it. Sternum comes up. Shoulders go back. Helps lower racket tip, too.

When to do it is a good question. I'm arching as arm bends to zero gravity position, then am holding the arch till late (rather than arching late in the first place, although that's an option I did explore this morning).

On ground strokes, I'm also finding the phrases "half-sitting" or "semi-sitting" to be quite magical just at the moment.

These words, like a good ear doctor, can improve balance, which greatly improves everything.

[bottle]

Don't mess with your best bony lever, maybe longer than you thought.

[bottle]

Okay, "spine of scapula," I've seen drawings (Google: "What does the spine of the scapula look like?") It's all coming into focus.

[bottle]

Don, I really like the part about adduction, a term that maybe I'm beginning to comprehend better (with comprehension in this case meaning "being able to take it and use it").

Am involved in a big project but will get back to you on the other today.

[bottle]

I can do it. I can even hit an occasional ace against very good players. But my serves won't have the high quality upward spin which I still feel I can achieve in other (non-hurtful!) ways, especially for second serves. I believe in the power of individual experiment, trust my own experience more than ANYBODY else's, am sure this is the way to go for anyone in tennis, later at least if not at the outset.

[tennis_chiro]

Two things to remember on the high elbow

More awareness is required than people will tell you. And if you are among the rotorded servers-- most people in the world-- then you need three times as much.

The question that has now arisen-- and I hope my readers won't find this too boring-- is, if, as you first take elbow up higher than a textbook serve dictates, should you still form a right angle in your arm in tandem with the body bend-- on the uptake?

Or, should you take the unique opportunity of such highness of elbow as an excuse to keep arm straight for very long ("barred" as geoffwilliams would say) in order to then form a thin Yosemite-type waterfall with a huge drop?

Me, I'll go with whichever works best after this Michigan rain.

And I know the body bend and controlled weight shift forward works with either option having done both a million times.

Less well known is how hand moving racket tip sideways (See Don's helpful comment on hand in Post # 720) can work best with either choice.

I see three movements of the hand combined in one, sort of like the mondo in a forehand.

They are: 1) straight hinging, 2) cockeyed hinging toward radius bone in forearm, 3) twist from forearm to take racket tip more to the outside.

1) and 3) are the same as for mondo but 2) is reversed. On a forehand the cockeyed hinging is toward the ulna bone.

So, should hand motion be kept distinct from arm motions during the drop, be sequenced in other words? Or will everything blend in unconscious delight? Or is this more true of one option than the other?

1) The humerus is best/strongest in adduction when it does not rise above the line made by the spine of the scapula. In simpler terms, you should see a straight line from left clavicle to right clavicle to right elbow (or the opposite for a lefty like you, Bottle). As the angle between the humerus and the top of the shoulder blade (spine of scapula) reduces, the effectiveness of the gleno-humeral joint is compromised. As well as being weaker, the joint is more vulverable to injury.

See: http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...as1stServe.mov

2) In the simplest terms, once the elbow starts to move upwards, you would like the elbow to go continuously up and forward as it drags the racket behind it into a position where it snaps at the ball. Imagine pulling a rubber band or a slingshot back for power; you would not want to release the pull on the slingshot - it would be wasted energy to repull it.

If you take the elbow too high (relative to the spine of the scapula) in the initial backswing, you are unlikely to recapture the potential energy you have spent getting that elbow up. You may get some assistance (that you shouldn't have needed) to bend the lower arm at the elbow, but you will have lost the power available to you from the adduction of the humerus across the body (in the clip, imagine how Sampras would look if his humerus were above the line of his shoulder blade). That may not be the largest contributor to the overall speed of the action (check Brian's work for that), but it is significant. Remember that when Sampras has the line of his upper arm almost vertical (about 70 degrees), it is still right in line with the line of his clavicles and the spine of his right scapula. In fact, in looking at the full motion, I don't see his humerus ever getting above this line I am referring to.

don

[bottle]

Aware Serves

More awareness is required than people will tell you. And if you are among the rotorded servers-- most people in the world-- then you need three times as much.

The question that has now arisen-- and I hope my readers won't find this too boring-- is, if, as you first take elbow up higher than a textbook serve dictates, should you still form a right angle in your arm in tandem with the body bend-- on the uptake?

Or, should you take the unique opportunity of such highness of elbow as an excuse to keep arm straight for very long ("barred" as geoffwilliams would say) in order to then form a thin Yosemite-type waterfall with a huge drop?

Me, I'll go with whichever works best after this Michigan rain.

And I know the body bend and controlled weight shift forward works with either option having done both a million times.

Less well known is how hand moving racket tip sideways (See Don's helpful comment on hand in Post # 720) can work best with either choice.

I see three movements of the hand combined in one, sort of like the mondo in a forehand.

They are: 1) straight hinging, 2) cockeyed hinging toward radius bone in forearm, 3) twist from forearm to take racket tip more to the outside.

1) and 3) are the same as for mondo but 2) is reversed. On a forehand the cockeyed hinging is toward the ulna bone, with everything turning toward the inside.

So, should hand motion be kept distinct from arm motions during the drop, be sequenced in other words? Or will everything blend in unconscious delight? Or is this more true of one option than the other?

[tennis_chiro]

Blew the audio!

Certain tennis pros, such as Jeffrey Counts, place great emphasis not only on getting racket tip low while serving but on getting it out to the right (Braden: "Scratch the back of the person next to you").

Me, I've always wondered exactly how one ought to obtain that cool knifey look-- so apparent in stop-frame video-- and since I've conducted a thread which certain persons read-- I had the chance to ask, "What's the best move-- from arm, from body, from both, from what?"

Well, I may have a readership but nobody has ever ventured an answer. But I don't care any more. Because I'm a rotorded server, and that dictates hitting arm way up in the air-- the only way to get racket tip low enough, through letting arm completely bend.

Actually, the arm, I've figured out, ought to be pointed on a 45 degree angle up at the sky, and ought to get to that position quite early.

So, in my gravity dominant serve, that means the arm folds completely, then as hips spiral upward, the upper arm cocks (twists back), and this takes racket tip downward and sideward 50-50 if arm is at 45 degrees.

Here's the film of Don.

http://www.youtube.com/v/Zr_CRdVLnp4&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1

Is he rotorded? I don't think so. But the question is academic by now since I
AM rotorded, and I have a clear way to achieve the workable, effective, knifey look I crave.

The voice over that is not heard in that clip is the following:

"See, if you just put the racket in the "backscratch" and turn your body forward, the racket won't get over enough to the right. The key is to start up with your hand and more especially your body and hip turn just before the racket gets to the bottom. In other words, it never makes it to the "backscratch" position and its' downward momentum as you turn the body will swing the racket over to the right onto the ideal track to the ball and then on to the target."

don

[bottle]

A Rotorded Server Watches Don Brosseau

Certain tennis pros, such as Jeffrey Counts, place great emphasis not only on getting racket tip low while serving but on getting it out to the right (Braden: "Scratch the back of the person next to you").

Me, I've always wondered exactly how one ought to obtain that cool knifey look-- so apparent in stop-frame video-- and since I've conducted a thread which certain persons read-- I had the chance to ask, "What's the best move-- from arm, from body, from both, from what?"

Well, I may have a readership but nobody has ever ventured an answer. But I don't care any more. Because I'm a rotorded server, and that dictates hitting arm way up in the air-- the only way to get racket tip low enough, through letting arm completely bend.

Actually, the arm, I've figured out, ought to be pointed on a 45 degree angle up at the sky, and ought to get to that position quite early.

So, in my gravity dominant serve, that means the arm folds completely, then as hips spiral upward, the upper arm cocks (twists back), and this takes racket tip downward and sideward 50-50 if arm is at 45 degrees.

Here's the film of Don.

http://www.youtube.com/v/Zr_CRdVLnp4&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1

Is he rotorded? I don't think so. But the question is academic by now since I
AM rotorded, and I have a clear way to achieve the workable, effective, knifey look I crave.

[bottle]

~

Thanks! Great. Am gonna do it, following each direction with precision. In the meantime...

[tennis_chiro]

Get the rhythm

Figure eights, gravity dominant serve, turn slowly backward as racket drops down and lifts up (first fall), start forward for the toss, don't figure out exactly when backward rotation ought to stop, but do know exactly when forward rotation ought to begin (at bottom of the second, easy fall). Figure eight is to answer the questions. Get a good figure eight going before you toss balls into it.

A good drill is to integrate the practice toss-and-catch with the figure 8. Establish the rhythm with the toss-and-catch, then continuously, work in the figure 8 so that you go
"Toss(1) - and(2) -Catch(3) -Pause(4)

You catch the ball as your left hand is just beginning to descend. As you complete the retracing of the motion to the beginning the force of gravity drops to zero and that is your "Pause".

For the Figure 8 the rhythm is
Let the racket swing back to the trophy position with just a little help to gravity(1)
Let the racket drop down to the "pro drop" position(2)
Then without actually stopping the racket at the bottom of the "pro drop", swing up to the contact point for (3)
And then follow through around to the opposite side making a full circular motion back to your starting point(4)

1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4; become a metronome. You must synchronize your weight transfer as well. You can see it on my youtube videos at GlobalTennisDC.

Finally, when you can do toss-and-catch-pause-figure 8 (1-2-3-4), then do toss-and-catch- figure 8 (1-2-3-4), then toss-and-catch-pause again (1-2-3-4), then do a second consecutive toss-and-catch, but instead of pausing and catching the ball, go ahead and hit it! In rhythm. If you've got control of the rhythm, you'll be able to followthrough in the figure 8 fashion to the beginning and do the whole thing again for a second ball, all the time maintaining your 1-2-3-4 metronomal rhythm.

DO NOT just try to throw the ball into the "fan blades" of a churning figure 8!

It must be Toss it - See what you toss - Hit what you see!... but in rhythm


Good luck.
don

[bottle]

Don't Like Either Today

Figure eights, gravity dominant serve, turn slowly backward as racket drops down and lifts up (first fall), start forward for the toss, don't figure out exactly when backward rotation ought to stop, but do know exactly when forward rotation ought to begin (at bottom of the second, easy fall). Figure eight is to answer the questions. Get a good figure eight going before you toss balls into it.

[bottle]

Contrast and Compare

More weight into the eight. Fooling with the heels:

Variation I

A) Front heel back low with weight on the inside of both feet. The knees actually work forward a bit to counter backward body movement during first fall in a gravity-dominant serve.

B) Forward and toss. No horizontal body rotation in either direction during the toss.

C) The knees and hips now revolve back as part of the coil under the ball.


Variation II

Body rotation is a function only of stance, splayed feet, compression and extension of the knees.

A. The knees start to bend as racket drops.

B. They don't bend much as body starts forward

C. They bend more to wind body under the ball.

[bottle]

Another Suggestion: I'd like to hear WHY NOT to do this

The Detroit engineer who designed the old pentagram hood ornament for Chryslers told me not to spray the strings but spray a microfibre cloth with the WD-40 instead and apply the cloth to the strings on both sides.

[bottle]

Lubricated String

MMMMM. Buy WD-40 by the case?