A New Year's Serve

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Getting the Amounts Right

Some think that, after you've found a good design, you should stick with it forever and ever, and for the much bigger part of tennis, listen to the daily conversation at Gold Ball Hunting.

Not me. I think that, once you have identified the proper elements in your service motion, you should work on getting the relative amounts of them right.

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Idea

Women can do something that men can't. And that one thing makes women stronger than men.

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Report

On a day when I was not playing well, I mostly held serve with the unique motion described in #4743 .

How and why is it unique? It's so unique to me personally, that, I never hit anything like it before in my entire life.

Furthermore, I had no chance to try it out before taking it into competition. That any serve could succeed or partially succeed in that circumstance against tough competition may indicate, aside from novelty, a strength of basic design.

But I don't have to toot its perceived excellence since I have a lot of doubles matches scheduled in the upcoming days-- the truth will be revealed.

For now I want to address three not previously broached issues.

1) The toss is delivered over the head on a mild slant toward the net from ice cream cone hand configuration with ta kept bent. The slow two-handed to one-hand transition creates other momentum but toss momentum too in that the toss is all in a single plane.

2) The Tennis Player subscriber lovati4 has raised concern about integrating the significant time required for the total package of leg compression and extension into one's service motion. Well, my argument is, strip the motion down then even if that means an abbreviated wind-up, something one normally does not like.

3) lovati4 has also discussed the physical musculature needed to decelerate the racket near its wind-up apogee. That sounds to me like a pendulum motion in which the racket falls at 32 feet per second per second and then accelerates upward at a faster clip. Again, that is a pattern I choose to circumvent through a stripping down of the whole motion.

The new serve at #4743 appears right now to provide more ease in achieving one's timing goals.

It is not a probation serve but rather a continuous serve simply because that works better for me.

The third of three successive though linked racket rises-- bent arm keying racket tip up to vertical-- may be set at 45 rather than 20 degrees for maximum coordination with compression of the legs.

When our snow melts, I shall film.

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This is Social Commentary, not Politics

Someone on Quora asked "Why do many British people not like Donald Trump?"

Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote this magnificent response:

A few things spring to mind.

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour, and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.

So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief. Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness. There is never any under-layer of irony, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.

Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege. And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a bully's sniveling sidekick instead.

There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down. So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think 'Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

1. Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
2. You don't need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump. And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: 'My God… what… have… I… created?’

If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

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Haven't yet been to court. There still is time to revise any foolishness out of the design.

The word "sling" is questionable although the racket path implied may not be.

Both hands may slowly take the racket up. Tilden's great principle of serving is that the arm (the arms in this case) goes around the bod. The bod itself turns as well. But is not extending, not yet.

How far do the two hands travel up their 45-degree slope? Can't be long in view of the pending toss.

The separation of the hands is the toss. And the rise of ha-elbow up a cliff. And the first extension (gentle) of the legs.

Now happens the first of the two gentle ESR's accompanied by compression of the knees to thrust out front hip and load rear foot.

The racket head winding up to vertical carries a modicum of inertia.

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Mountain-climbing

The filming of # 4741 led to low-elbowed disappointment to which I shall subject no one but myself.

But I shall return to the imperatives of # 4740 and film that experiment.

If then, in watching the film, I see progress, I'll share that new film with anyone who cares to see it.

Not that higher more leftward toss and higher hitting elbow would in themselves constitute the drama required in great film.

There is, however, a bloody story here going on.

Yesterday's level travel of the elbow, replaced today by pendulum, shall if all goes well be replaced tomorrow by a 45-degree upward slope succeeded by a 90-degree cliff succeeded by 30 degrees of ESR.

But I just want to do, out on the court, with all design having been completed right here in this room right now.

The linked hands are to draw slightly down to left side, next sling up to the right before separating into their two upward functions.

The legs and body shall extend, settle, and extend again.

If this design doesn't put more of my serve behind my body nothing else ever will.

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Got to have Maybes

Can't be a scientist or an artist or even have a good serve without maybes (curiosity).

Maybe my toss in a pendulum serve became high and not too bad but trouble persisted with ha.

Try the pendulum down-together up-together again. Keep ha bent throughout.

But add the last two-thirds of the motion I demonstrate here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sci-u6KtsLo). That would be more rise of elbow and a bit of ESR to raise the racket tip as body furls.

To reach one's self-made films put this hieroglyphic in your url box: www.youtube.com/user .

Replaced now: level travel of the elbow in favor of a pendulum.

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Embarrassment is what I feel when I see this cramped little action out to right in this serve thanks to a bad toss.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud7ynR44H-I&t=136s)

I nevertheless think I am on the right track. Next thought is to slow down the takeback and replace the pathway from level to 45 degrees up while keeping hands connected for longer.

Toss can include a downstroke from somewhere up the slope.

The "takeup," changed from "takeback," will remain first step in the three-part sequence (45-degree elbow rise, 90-degree elbow rise, pre-arm fold ESR).

I've been trying to break the look of the wimpy serve in this video for a long time. Stotty has suggested that I recruit somebody to physically hold my elbow up where I want it.

A sound idea for sure, but perversely I want to make the change by myself and through design, so that after I have filmed tomorrow, I will play the video and see more serve behind my back.

Yes, tomorrow if there isn't a blizzard I want to see that long-awaited improvement. Tomorrow. An improvement long past due and more difficult than I ever could imagine.

Stotty's view: No one knows what they do, and it is always different from what they have in their head,

But I'm ready to bet everything on willpower and the tweaked design.

Verbal mistake in the video here: One "ESR" instead of an "ISR" referring to right after the arm has passively snapped straight.

Self-instruction for if get to court tomorrow: Be completely open-minded about when in the upward travels of the ha-elbow one should start the down and up motion of ta. The starting place of the toss will affect both its shape and height. Above all make it twice as high. You did not do that today.

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Exp. # 3 Ought to be the Best. Will That Happen?

Just as Brian Gordon gives his students their choice, I give myself the choice as to how I will reach my chosen position of brandishment.

None of it matters so long as the position is good and I get there.

I accept this Brian dictum along with something else he said-- that the structure of one's wind-up doesn't help one but can hinder one.

The process starts with probation serves. I must confess that mine were not as good as I would have liked. That means a Manafort sentence of probation for the rest of my life, right?

On the other hand I am 79 years old, have fiddled incessantly with my serve for 37 years and have a congenital trick shoulder and from being a crew coach bring across a fixed idea that the rowing stroke or any complete athletic motion is a cycle in which any one item affects all the others.

Affect thirty other items with positivity or just negativity-- what is the difference?

The rowing cycle must be mastered.

The service cycle must be mastered.

To that end I have recently tried straightening ha while taking it around level then re-bending it in coordination with rising ta.

But why should I want to straighten and bend ha when I can just keep it bent through this part of the cycle?

So I tried to serve like Todd Martin. First experiment: 50 per cent hold rate. Second experiment (with Todd as model): 50 per cent hold rate.

Not good enough.

In the third experiment I shall return to something closer to the first-- no downstroke for the toss, and a gliding backward of ha while keeping it level and bent.

Then I do a classic up-together. ta straightens and forms desired leftward arc while the elbow of ha (and nothing else!) lifts racket to brandishment.

I must talk here about my trick shoulder. Its housing lifts.

Next the humerus will twist/key racket to vertical to furl body onto rear foot.

Notes: 1) Think how far one has lifted ha in the past. I now allow myself to do only part of that. 2) Because of the lifting straight up of shoulder housing and elbow, one can glide ha backward at a slightly lower level. 3) Just think how much more doable Exp. # 3 is compared to the wriggle in my adaptation of the Todd Martin model. 4) Seano's question and Brian's answer regarding when ESR should occur is essential information for a rotorded server who needs to save his ESR for racket sweep outward.

To be very technical, some ESR happens to twist racket up to vertical. No ESR happens as legs drive up, not in the case of a severely rotorded server. The arm folds down to the max instead. The speed or rather slowness of the folding could be crucial. More ESR then happens as motion-dependent racket tip sweeps to the right.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sci-u6KtsLo)

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Straight Arm Twists Mightily but Doesn't Fly to Right of Ball

It flies through the ball.

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Ripple Effect

If you don't have a roller coaster built in you go to a Gulag in Siberia.

That's one way of looking at this service backswing thing.

As alternative I propose the addition of some ripple effect to the abbreviated backswing of Todd Martin (http://www.hi-techtennis.com/serve/martin_serve.php).

Racket tip can start up with elbow continuing up to follow.

Most often in a strict probation serve one flops the racket to where one wants it, chills and then starts the down of a down and up toss. Pretty mechanical if you ask me which you don't have to do.

The proposed serve here coordinates ta's downswing with elbow gouging an imaginary person behind one.

A bit of rhythm replaces the starkness of a crude flop.

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Which Flourish to Add to an Edberg-Becker Backhand-- a Debate

A supposedly wise person might say don't add any flourish; in fact, eliminate all flourishes from one's game.

Me, I don't want to be that wise but will allow two needless variations instead of three.

Both Edberg and Becker from all the video one can find like to bowl backward for their backswing much like John McEnroe on his forehand.

Right now I don't do that since I want the preparation for backhand slice-- my best shot in tennis-- to be as close as possible to that for drive topspin.

This philosophy has worked well. I am sure I shall retreat to it when under severe pressure.

Right now however I had to pay for a new crown (the kind in your teeth) and so am looking for extra fun.

I'll take on pendulum backswings in the hope that such infusion of balance will lead to great shots and movement on both sides. If nothing else, this decision will bring my McEnrueful out of hibernation as an adjunct shot.

But I should eliminate something too. That shall be the early arm straightening and bellying out of racket behind one that one sees in one hand backhands from Don Budge to Cageman as one opens the Tennis Player website.

No, I am wedded to the Becker-Edberg method of hitting this shot. The choice shall be between a high direct backswing and bowling the racket up to the same place.

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Backhand Aha Moment

We were playing with and against an Oriental gentleman who had exquisite control of all touch shots last Friday night.

Just watching and winning with him set up some osmosis whereby I started hitting more effective touch shots myself-- sure to be fun while it lasted.

Then, playing against the gentleman, it was my turn to receive his partner's serve in the ad court.

One of the many things I enjoy about the Gold Ball Hunting conversations of Abel and Jacklin (https://www.youtube.com/goldballhunt...=EmailCampaign) is the distinction they make between aha moments and tennis tips, asserting that a certain kind of person has no idea of what to do with a peak moment other than ignore it and hence lose its benefit forever.

I had no desire to hit my return anywhere near the gentleman, who was at net, but casting a sidelong glance at him tried to absorb his clear power of concentration for my own use.

The serve came down the middle and was conveniently short.

I had decided to hit one of my full Edberg-Becker modeled backhands, but rather than continue from forward roll with upward rise of racket ends at identical speed, I would continue to roll from contact.

The ball zinged off the court before the service line for a clean winner.

Now I check the Tennis Player archive for Boris Becker backhands.

On most of them he continues his roll.

Think I'll try more of that too and not just on short angles.

(https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...tanceFront.mov)

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In Search of a Cue or Two

My shoulder is built differently from that of Todd Martin. And so, to try and perfect a good serve from the example of this video (http://www.hi-techtennis.com/serve/martin_serve.php), my initial arm movement shall be a sequence of both ends of the racket traveling at identical speed followed by an imaginary elbowing of somebody standing directly behind me.

The toss next shall start from collarbone level and descend about two feet toward the inner edge of the left thigh. Whether the upswing of it with ice cream cone structure of hand and ball will put the ball exactly where I want it I can't predict but don't see why not.

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Amazing....just love Fred...he floats.

Fred Astaire's life has never been portrayed on film. He left a clause in his will requesting his life never be portrayed in film stating, "It is there because I have no particular desire to have my life misinterpreted, which it would be."

So interesting. I didn't know this. Katharine Hepburn, meanwhile, misinterpreted Ginger Rogers.