A New Year's Serve

[bottle]

Or Even More Pertinent, Pointing Which Way?

Ah, my old friend the late William the verbal but war-mongering Safire:
"I got you, ha-ha, I got a rise out of you-- knew I could, you nattering nabob of negativity!"

I'd say if the sword is in the scabbard, why then everything is pointing in
one of two different directions and nowhere else. But if the sword won't come out of the scabbard, it might as well be set in rock, and if it still won't come out, you can't be the king of England.

I'm thinking in a one-hander the butt-cap on the sword handle could point at
the left fence post across the net of a lonely, single, mountaintop tennis court in Virginia built by Senator Paul Laxalt, former 15-year-old champion of Nevada and the best tennis player in Congress.

That would direct the scabbard point at the right fence post behind you if you were right-handed. If you were John McEnroe, the scabbard, sword and racket would all be quite level and parallel to the court surface at that point, which would probably be enough to make you fail a theatrical sword-fighting course.

Who cares what happens to the scabbard once the sword has left it! Does the racket go around perfectly level before it rises up or does it slant up or down a little? I don't know-- probably depends on which way the elbow
is pointing. When I look at the TennisPlayer filmstrips of McEnroe I see an
approximation of level swing before the racket goes up.

I may be unduly influenced though. With me everything is experiential, i.e., I have to have the experience myself. And I was in Budapest, Hungary because of this crazy lady, and I was in a big inflated bubble over red clay. I was watching a bunch of under-employed tennis pros who were holdovers from goulasch Communism all working with a couple of promising juniors. I couldn't understand a single word but did follow some of the body language, and what they were showing to the one-handers was to swing level before the racket goes up. There's nothing like a non-verbal tennis lesson to make an indelible impression.

Thanks for the input. None of those juniors made it to the top.

[julian]

From W.Safire

A linguistic question for you-
in your quote "preparing to pull sword from its scabbard, which nobody ever said should point in a certain direction." is "which" referring to :
1.a sword
or
2.a scabbard ?

[bottle]

In Which this One Hander Rejects a Hard Roll and Digests a Soft Roll

A person can end with a slow, widening affair in which forearm ease-swings horizontally around before whole arm continues this ease-swing at which point he delivers the upward glancing rabbit punch via some opening of wrist. Schematically, this is interesting what with the constant lengthening of effective lever, but does it work? Yes if you don't rush anything.

If roll has a part in this, it's mild. One escapes the ever so stinging criticism leveled by a prominent tennis wag at Boris Becker: "He rolls his arm too much when he hits the ball (gasp)." Uh, three Wimbledons discounting doubles.

John McEnroe, on the other hand, does most of his rolling behind his back before he starts to swing. And guidance hand is close to body in the old swash-buckling pose of knight preparing to pull sword from its scabbard, which nobody ever said should point in a certain direction.

Going with a previous idea to keep roll of forearm, straightening of wrist and roll of upper arm all simultaneously in tandem, you can do this behind you as
hips go out, upper body straightens backward. This certainly resembles what
McEnroe does, in fact HAS to do, given his slice grip-- how else could he get his strings square and often beveled other than by turning his elbow down and humping his wrist like an inchworm? Well, with heel of hand on 7.5, you want similarly to turn elbow down and take wrist from concave to straight. McEnroe, he takes wrist from straight to convex. But it's all the same. You can ask your strings. They're very honest and will tell you. And you can do it behind your backward-straightening back.

Ever so slowly, I am concluding that the fact of roll rather than the when of roll is the big factor in getting strings to outside of ball in a position far enough back that you're strong. ("If you hit the ball TOO far in front you get weak"-- Ivan Lendl.) But there is nothing inherently wonderful in roll. To reduce it, you can tone down dive-bombing on the take-back, i.e., do lead with racket tip but not so much. And if you keep elbow pointed down a bit even in take-back you can flex or pronate forearm to get that loading action out of the way.

If any of this seems strange, it could be because very few teaching professionals since Lloyd Budge have trusted their students enough to speak in terms of mid-stroke alteration to wrist. But major alteration of wrist is what
McEnroe and many other playing pros do and for good reason.

[bottle]

Very Bad

Good. I've always wanted to be a sinner. And now I'll do something I didn't plan-- report an experiment before I've even tried it. That must be the worst
behavior possible on this earth.

Wanted: More authority in guaranteeing that strings in a one hander make contact on outside of ball. The question posed in # 212 is whether gravity-assisted momentum can go around corners like a plumber's snake. Well, if you reduce sharpness of the corners the task becomes easier.

So, why lower racket behind you-- from arm extending and forearm pronating.
Let body start the fall-- that's behind you-- but then slant the extension to the outside and proceed as usual.

The End

[uspta146749877]

Stealing is a cardinal sin

Please read

http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/showthread.php?t=1446

post #7

[bottle]

Body, Arm and Soul

BODY is a backward-spinning vertical wheel. One could think of a Ferris wheel or a water wheel.

Front shoulder is down for the step-out, which of course means that rear shoulder is raised. Backward wind of the hips under the shoulders causes this. In other backhand designs the shoulders may wind around more. Here, we let ourselves be satisfied with a modest internal shoulders turn so as to achieve some downward slope. This results in a feeling that the entire body is cocked and ready to go downhill, along with a healthy, power-producing wish to delay the step-out until the last possible instant.

This preparation, which comes from the charming and provocative old VCR "Virginia Wade's Class" combines nicely with the ideas that step-out will complete the job of getting arm parallel to sideline and that racket should stay below rear shoulder. A very good question: How low CAN the racket be? Virginia Wade demonstrates her topspin backhand in the short VCR but demonstrates and EXPLAINS her flatter version, in which shoulder stays down so that arm, almost squeezed through a tunnel, can "really rip the ball." I wish I had extensive stop-frame film of Virginia Wade's topspun version. She might or might not do the same thing as John McEnroe.

Of great importance, I think, is total relaxation of the shoulders immediately after the step-out so that their quick leveling becomes part of the natural racket fall. I've searched for a cue that might help with this including "angulation" of the hips forward (from skiing) or maybe concentration on relaxing or not concentrating at all.

What body things happen next? 1) front leg extends, then 2) rabbit punch takes body off of the ground after contact, for a balanced landing on either foot frequently more toward the net.

ARM meanwhile is doing incredible things. I've listed them in this thread before but maybe want to do so one time more in hopes through alternate phrasing of making clear something difficult or previously misunderstood maybe even by myself. Even though Petrarch said, "He who knows how he burns, burns little," we'll defy that, take that chance, go for the Faustian bargain.

Let's return to Virginia Wade, this time to her description in the same VCR of how, in a serve, a proper pendulum action can take one's racket effortlessly down and up all the way toward the back fence. That's simple compared to what we want here, to put strings on outside of oncoming ball without relinquishing any of the subsequent strength and leverage we will unleash with our rabbit punch.

The shoulders, leveling, start the racket fall which continues with arm straightening as forearm pronates-- a lot of fall and gravity-assisted momentum a person would be a fool not to use. But the temptation to let the racket fall near body is resisted since you would never get strings on outside of ball that way along with loss of force. Arm swing is instead along a plane around body and out from it.

Is the gravity-assisted momentum still in effect then? Can it go around corners like a plumber's snake?

It can if you roll wrist straight (from forearm) and roll elbow down (from shoulder) and swing arm a little (from shoulder) with these simultaneous actions also in tandem, i.e., they begin together and they end together.

Most often front knee also extends during this mix.

[bottle]

Revision

Four counts to get slightly bent arm parallel to the sideline, with fourth count, the stepping out, completing the job. The racket tip spirals slightly ahead of hand upward to a final position one could check in any clip of John McEnroe's backhand. The racket is really not very high. The tip is more around than the hand.

I find the mechanics of what then happens in count five, the hitting count,
complicated enough to require school work, i.e., study. After that, as everything blends together through practice, count five can become a simple drop and hit.

Next step, after that, might be to eliminate counts or beats altogether, after which somebody could simply describe this one hander as a gradual take-back followed by a drop and hit.

I think one reason nobody-- or should I say I myself-- ever thought to use McEnroe as a model for this shot before is his unusual grip: big knuckle on
1.5 . I've decided not even to worry about where my big knuckle is, and I'm putting heel of hand on 7.5 . And I just played a match, 6-1, 6-1, and I'm a little hyper sometimes but I'm nevertheless telling you: No backhand I ever tried comes close to beating this one.

[bottle]

Re-affirmation-- One Hander

You almost touch the ball with your hand but hit it with your racket.

And you can be dropping racket head and anti-twisting it and swinging it and rolling it and twisting it all over the place so long as you're not moving your hand too much.

When you lead back-swing with racket tip you're not using hand as much as you would if you didn't do that.

When body drops the racket you're not moving hand (don't be a lawyer about this). When you pronate racket tip down as you straighten arm you're not moving hand very much.

And when you straighten wrist while rolling arm from two different places all of these things add up and reduce the amount of hand swing you need to get strings on outside of the ball.

The time may soon come when you should use three counts to get arm parallel to sideline, one count to step out, and a fifth count to drop racket and hit the ball.

[bottle]

Ted William's Book

I own it and have always thought it a great book. Without
digging it out, I'll invoke the key phrase, "hips rotate marginally
ahead of shoulders." Although I've done that in a lot of different
experiments (some lasting five years or more), I don't think I'm
doing it right now with the Federfore since I'm on a kick where I think
energy runs out the arm to right while the body, smooth as could be
and not really accelerating applies desired weight to ball. On the other
hand Williams talks a lot about extending from arms/arm as you hit the ball. That certainly ought to apply.

[ochi]

Bottle, regarding the last 'graph of your last post: Have you read Ted Williams' "The Art of Hitting"? It seems to me that some, or a lot, of it pertains to the forehand. Of course, he was talking closed stance. Still...

[bottle]

Going for Sims

"Sims" is abbreviation for simultaneities. Since analysis tends to break down tennis strokes into too many parts, but we think the parts we've discovered through long work have to exist, let's put the emphasis on synthesis or getting those parts to work together.

Not everyone will agree, but feeling for the ball and only putting on power from the ball onward is a great and extremely useful basic in tennis ground-strokes. Proceeding from that conviction, how would we prefer to feel for the ball? Slow spear? Slow roll? Slow swing? These are real possibilities that no one should take lightly (unless they insist); but, admit please, dear reader, they are very different from one another.

Today I'd like to bring to my one hander quest a combination of slow roll and slow level swing with a still more specific triple purpose of A) putting strings on outside of ball, B) whittling maximum exertion part of stroke down to only a rabbit punch for good contact and succinct follow-through and C) hitting the ball farther out front.

Does it work? Yes. The hand, which is what you use to find the ball, moves a minimal amount back and forth. As it goes forward the strings swish all
around it-- some might say percolate-- from twist of shoulder rotors, twist of forearm, straightening of wrist, easy horizontal swing with all simultaneous.

You could perhaps think of a cowboy (though we should all hate cowboys by now-- just think what they did to the space program alone) spinning his lariat up to contact. And rabbit punch, as we've already suggested, comes after this small but intricate swing. So what comes immediately before? Spearing in the form of arm straightening in place (rename it racket butt "siting?") and forearm simultaneously coiling (pronation familiar from serving?) with this one motion a flowing continuation of upper body raising/tilting back started immediately before with or without leg extension.

This becomes an exciting stroke for its instant promise more than instant effectiveness: some balls started hopping in a way I haven't seen for a while and I got a very nice compliment from an advanced seniors player working out his two varsity-looking sons on the adjacent court, somebody I hadn't met before who wanted to know if I-- me-- had played on a college team.

If there's validity here and a drop and hit common to some great baseball swings, the learning wheels count might go: one and two back three step out four drop and half-swing to ball, five full-out rabbit punch.

[bottle]

Choice

One of the print magazines asked recently why anyone aspiring to a good one hander would use anybody other than Roger Federer as their model.

Because my John McEnroe modeled one hander generates better spin for me and is slightly quicker to get off.

I don't get as much pace (but all I want and need), and I have hit far less of them in my total tennis experience. But I was using it the day I beat my regular partner, a good player, 6-0, 6-0, an-only-once-every-two-year occurrence. Then, disappointed with my winning performance against the same opponent the next time out, I began to fiddle with my one hander once again.

I like the rhythm of the longer Federer modeled shot very much, but for some reason which I don't need to figure out, that one isn't as promising and accurate for me.

[bottle]

Don't Fail to Understand What You've Got

The experts (ha-ha, as if there are any) sometimes will tell you to swing to the outside, but unless they use the word "myelinization" in the same breath their prescription may prove useless.

You set up a series of micro-actions, it seems to me. No, pull that-- sounds too much like Microsoft. You set up a macro. Changing any step will slow the process but you'll end up with something better.

When you've got all your tiny steps lined up in a row (think of Zorba's scaffolds running up a stony mountain to the monks' forest at top in Crete) you practice the whole action as a single shebang. You practice and practice but don't drill-- save drills for other aspects of tennis, e.g., slap the net with your racket, go back for the overhead, run forward and slap the net, back for another overhead.

No, this stroke development thing is more fragile and peculiar. Before the first sign of boredom you may want to exchange steps four and five, or 13 and 11, to keep it of interest. DON'T RUN IT INTO THE GROUND.

Since we're discussing one hander here, and we may share the experience of
pursuit of the elusive Federfore, shouldn't we try to build on that experience?

Everything to the outside then and don't be stingy. Send EVERYTHING to the outside: loading, spearing, arm stoppage and twist, simultaneous rabbit punch and bonking sideways with the pinky knuckle.

All this to the outside. Sounds improbable. That's good!

What happens is that the simultaneous rabbit punch and bonk back to right, if used to send strings around the ball to the left also send strings through the ball reminiscent of body whirl in the Federfore.

Rabbit punch and body whirl are totally different concepts; both nevertheless are core body movement.

With practice, all the little steps blend together into a single action you can fire at will. People used to call this "muscle memory." Myelinization is MUCH SEXIER.

Because sticky goop actually wraps itself around the neuronal pathway, insulating it, so that the synaptic transfers get faster and faster.

The faster the total transfer gets-- one message really-- the more you can compress your files on one side of your body.

Hope this isn't too fancy. It's been fun.

[ochi]

You can get a copy through www.RacquetTech.com, the site of the U.S. Racquet Stringers Association. They offer numerous other interesting sounding books, too.

[bottle]

Unwanted Shear in One Hander

I'll find that book. Thanks very much.

Very few tennis pros, in print articles or electronic commentary, have addressed unwanted sidespin in the one hander. Among those who have, the ones with macho tendencies have attributed this fault to imagined physical weakness in all tennis students resulting in "shear."

However, it happened to Bea Bielik, the national women's college champion some years ago in a U.S. Open third round match against Justine Henin. And it happened to me in a match I won yesterday, although my topspin was much more straight up when I dropped and hit baskets of balls the day before that.

It happens with "a racket face that has not squared up" combined "with a slight crossing swing." (I took that from "Talk Tennis.") My attempted solution today was, building on the immediately preceding posts here and subtracting nothing, to add a second BONK, this one with the pinky knuckle rather than heel of the hand and during the rabbit punch for added sidewardness, a greater rather than "slight crossing swing" that slings the racket head around outside of the ball.

To me, the big question right now is how far out to hit the ball-- that comes from experiments within the experiment toward end of the practice today. I'm almost ready to send ALL energy sideways toward left fence with only a little
bit of follow-through coming back toward right fence.

I realize I live in alternate reality, but truly, when someone says to hit regular ground strokes farther in front, I almost always think that the better truth is more out to the side.

After the next regular match tomorrow (it usually confirms or dispels the latest theory), I want to get my student back from Switzerland so we can play more short court, i.e., mini-tennis, which will be the proof that my correction of
unwanted sidespin is due to timing and technique rather than increased expenditure of physical strength accompanied by loud grunts.