A New Year's Serve

[bottle]

When if Ever Does a Synthetic Stroke Become "Natural?"

So today, in serving, it's down and up with the hitting arm-- way, way up.

Toss now will be combined with backward hips rotation which will cock the upraised hand AROUND.

Rotation back of shoulders will now change the racket from one side of bod to the other as the hitting arm bends and drops to shoulders line and winds keylike a bit too (perhaps).

The most beautiful serve I have ever seen belonged to NCAA singles champion Bea Bielik.

Its distinguishing characteristic was slow motion sideways racket travel that seemed to go forever.

We seek the natural, known to Bielik and a few others but not to us at this time.

Just When You Think You're Not Getting Anywhere...

These serves, not practiced before actual play, proved surprisingly effective including a clean short slice ace from the doubles deuce court. A new way of serving then? How excited should I be? Not too for sure. But should I call the new development a last night brainstorm? Probably. How about an example of "bending the stick the other way," a phrase used by John M. Barnaby in RACKET WORK: THE KEY TO TENNIS, Copyright 1969 by Allyn and Bacon Inc., 470 Atlantic Avenue, Boston.

[bottle]

A Writer Should Try to Say Something

Tennis has its rules but so does writing.

Could anyone say something sufficiently provocative on the day that Roger Federer captured his eighth Wimbledon singles championship?

People all over the world tried. Did anyone succeed?

One person wrote that Roger Federer shows better form than other players.

Maybe that was it. Maybe that was the most provocative statement. At the time I first read it, however, I thought, "This is a very weak entry in the global sweepstakes."

[bottle]

When if Ever Does a Synthetic Stroke Become "Natural?"

The Australian tennis writer Paul Metzler like the American tennis writer Ed Weiss is brilliant on the subject of natural strokes.

Most strokes, once they become over-thought, are thoroughly synthetic and are never going to be as good as a natural one.

This is essential knowledge that all tennis players beyond beginner should absorb.

Natural: The Don Budge backhand. The Andy Roddick serve. The Roger Federer serve and forehand. But how is a natural stroke discovered? Sometimes, if rarely, through a mad and frustrated attempt to hit as hard as one can (the Andy Roddick serve).

The word "hacker" isn't just a golfing term.

Metzler understands why we over-thinkers keep at it-- dissatisfaction with what we've got. To me that amounts to idealism not to be disparaged. When something doesn't work you try something new-- common sense.

And maybe something did work far in the past. Everybody has served an ace. My idea is to recapture and improve upon some moment or series of moments. I don't see another, better choice.

So today, in serving, it's down and up with the hitting arm-- way, way up.

Toss now will be combined with backward hips rotation which will cock the upraised hand AROUND.

Rotation back of shoulders will now change the racket from one side of bod to the other as the hitting arm bends and drops to shoulders line and winds keylike a bit too (perhaps).

The most beautiful serve I have ever seen belonged to NCAA singles champion Bea Bielik.

Its distinguishing characteristic was its slow motion sideways racket travel that seemed to go forever.

We seek the natural, known to Bielik and a few others but not to us at this time.

[bottle]

The National Abandoned Tennis Courts Reclamation Project

Well, it's an idea. But no one should have overly high expectations. You see a total of twelve courts, five of them without nets.

You meanwhile want only one court for self-feed.

So you set up your basket of balls on its stilts among the four-foot bushes on the court nearest to the parking lot, try a few serves, Beasley-bams and Federfores. (Hadn't discovered the Agi-scissor yet.)

Do this a few times. Then one day the bushes are down. "They finally mowed it," an old man informs you as he walks past.

For how long were the weeds permitted to grow up? Years? Decades? And yet the Rouge Park Detroit attendants left seven nets up, some of them in not too bad shape.

A couple of months have passed by now. There was a time in there where a court upgrade seemed in order.

So I tried serving on a bunch of different courts, brought a big half-inch drive socket wrench to lift one of the cables up to standard height.

That worked but was bad choice. There were other courts whose nets were already at proper height.

Tried serving here and there. In most of the courts 10 balls or more went under a fence.

But one court was untried and looked pretty good. In one direction however the balls went through a door out onto the grass bordering Plymouth Street.

So I worked on the door. It just needed some weeding and a big push. Problem solved.

This, in a relative world, is a great court, very smooth, fast and slick. It would almost play like the laykold we learned on at Crooked Run Racket Club in Front Royal Virginia before the managers dumbed (slowed) the courts down and after we left reduced the numbers of them to make room for more exercise machines.

You might trip on the Rouge Park whiskers protruding through the cracks but you could almost play on this one court three over in the row nearest to Plymouth Street.

And one can imagine 1928 Plymouths cruising slowly past.

Perfect for self-feed.

The balls don't go under any fence.

And yet the fence is loose enough so that you merely have to push on it when you're picking up your balls and it slides nicely out of the way.

A Most Amazing Thing Leading to Speculation that Detroit is Coming Back

When I showed up for self-feed this morning, there were 30 people carrying garden tools on the dozen Plymouth Street courts at Rouge River Park. They were very quiet while a leader spoke to them on many topics, all of them inspirational. And I know he referred to me self-feeding on another part of the courts at least once. Something about working at things and keeping at it.

Also, two courts down, were the first tennis players I have ever seen in three months of coming to the place (Rouge Park, down-the-river Detroit). It was a big strong male teacher and his student, a woman just starting out. And he was very patient so I knew he was good. And the net was the one I adjusted.

When I was done, I went over to them, which caused his student to stare at me and therefore miss the ball tossed at her. "Never mind me," I said, "just go ahead and hit the ball." And I said to the man, "This is great to see."

He agreed. The thirty persons meanwhile were digging the whiskers out of all the cracks.

"Does this mean they're going to re-surface?" I asked.

"No, I don't think so," he said.

"But you'll be able to practice your serve," I said. "Or do a lesson. It's perfect."

He agreed and wished me a good day.

This was hardly the throat slitting that my recent partner Hope has been expecting. We have a friend, you see, a widow whose husband was shaving one day in the Washington, D.C. area after she went to work. A man on drugs came into the house and into the bathroom and slit her husband's throat. We both know those details but never have learned whether the man with the knife was white or black.

[bottle]

A New See See

The Beasley-bam (long backswing) and Ellie-bam (short backswing) both ended with full coinciding of weight transfer and hips pivot.

Should we say that these two shots are built the same, i.e., have the same structure? Well, they reflect the same weight transfer. Slow arm movement with no weight goes first. Hips rotation with full weight comes second.

So now we keep same arm to bod sequence but with reversed assignment of weight transfer.

The weight stays where the racket is throughout an elbow sweep that can be short.

And no weight transfer whatsoever is assigned to the pivot of one's hips now to be accomplished on one leg.

When one tries this in one's living room the weight transfer feels very weird. Weight goes from rear foot to front foot with rear heel all the way down or just beginning its rise.

Is this the famous or should I say very obscure topspin angle of John M. Barnaby? Why not then? And isn't this shot the best possible see see, CC, Cee Cee or crosscourt short angle in tennis existence? And if not, then why not-- what is better? "Your natural forehand" is one possible answer that personally does not satisfy me although I never would criticize somebody, given the challenge, for using it-- just think they could do better.

The goal, as Barnaby indicates, is to hit with precision into a tight spot.

I would argue that The Topspin Angle, as shown here, is unique in that the topspin is bod-provided.

And bod is more reliable than arm.

[johnyandell]

If you have a problem write me. Block him and it's all irrelevant.

[bottle]

OK Bottle and DB,
The war is over. Stick to tennis or whatever topic and just stop talking to each other. Bottle as I know you know most of the comments of yours DB reposted here are over the line. I don't have the time or certainly the interest to follow this back. I suspect DB may have made a few comments in the past, but I really don't care. You don't like each other I get it. SO just stop. I suggest you guys take a cue from Phil and both block each other.
John Yandell

But he keeps changing his re-posts, adding, eliminating, so how can I evaluate whether some one of them crosses some mythical line? And you are quite wrong in saying that I don't like don_budge. It's just his retrograde views that I detest.

[bottle]

Two Birds with One Stone

First bird: A modification to one's Agi-scissor.

Second bird: A modification to one's notion of a Ron Waite six-inch backswing in a certain kind of forehand in which elbow straightens during forward part of the stroke.

Since life is short and art is long, I seek a single modification to cover both instances.

The modification will be a simultaneous bending and waving of both arms toward the net no matter how slight.

So let me explain.

Starting with the Agi-scissor first having adjusted it to one's own personality, one recognizes a huge classical element in Agnieszka's forehand in contrast to the innovation or departure that it also offers.

What's classical is the "breaststroke" to use Stotty's word common to many forehands e.g. Juan Del Potro. Left hand stays on the racket to assist the unit turn and rotate both hands way back. Then the two arms go out.

In earlier hand separation forehands (John McEnroe is notable) both arms similarly balance each other but do so earlier.

Clearly, in the Agi-scissor, the hitting arm, having straightened to create kinetic energy in the backswing next scissors in the foreswing also to create kinetic energy and put the contact way out front.

So, from early separation structure, what can the left arm do? It can sort of float and practically do nothing. It can "smooth the waters" (Tom Okker's expression). It can bend a small amount. All this is still to be worked out, including with the exercise where you put left hand in left pocket just to see what you most want left hand to do-- Paul Metzler's idea. Regardless, that left and right arms will parallel one another seems likely.

Imagine that happening, and then visualize Agi's right knee whirling down at the same time.

In the elbow straightening variation of Waite's six-incher, I see the knee whirl as happening a moment later.

In this stroke, the two elbows can bend both hands forcelessly toward the net to prefigure or actually start the weight transfer that will happen during the delayed but now ready to go power pivot.

Hitting arm will extend from elbow at same time. Left arm will stay bent. Haven't tried this yet.

Note: My notion of Waite's six-inch backswing is pretty radical. Sorry about that. There may be thousands of players who hit the same way whom I just don't know about, but I see differences from the way the word "backswing" is commonly interpreted. I see independent arm motion occurring during the body turn (six inches worth). Now six inches of arm travel (let's say "elbow travel") happens the other way before the pivot chimes in. With arm straightening only during the pivot.

The Grips: Strong eastern for Agi-scissor. Composite (halfway between eastern and continental) for the elbow-straightening number. (This second shot will only get a name if it is very good.)

[bottle]

The National Abandoned Tennis Courts Reclamation Project

Well, it's an idea. But no one should have overly high expectations. You see a total of twelve courts, five of them without nets.

You meanwhile want only one court for self-feed.

So you set up your basket of balls on its stilts among the four-foot bushes on the court nearest to the parking lot, try a few serves, Beasley-bams and Federfores. (Hadn't discovered the Agi-scissor yet.)

Do this a few times. Then one day the bushes are down. "They finally mowed it," an old man informs you as he walks past.

For how long were the weeds permitted to grow up? Years? Decades? And yet the Rouge Park Detroit attendants left seven nets up, some of them in not too bad shape.

A couple of months have passed by now. There was a time in there where a court upgrade seemed in order.

So I tried serving on a bunch of different courts, brought a big half-inch drive socket wrench to lift one of the cables up to standard height.

That worked but was bad choice. There were other courts whose nets were already at proper height.

Tried serving here and there. In most of the courts 10 balls or more went under a fence.

But one court was untried and looked pretty good. In one direction however the balls went through a door out onto the grass bordering Plymouth Street.

So I worked on the door. It just needed some weeding and a big push. Problem solved.

This, in a relative world, is a great court, very smooth, fast and slick. It would almost play like the laykold we learned on at Crooked Run Racket Club in Front Royal Virginia before the managers dumbed (slowed) the courts down and after we left reduced the numbers of them to make room for more exercise machines.

You might trip on the Rouge Park whiskers protruding through the cracks but you could almost play on this one court three over in the row nearest to Plymouth Street.

And one can imagine 1928 Plymouths cruising slowly past.

Perfect for self-feed.

The balls don't go under any fence.

And yet the fence is loose enough so that you merely have to push on it when you're picking up your balls and it slides nicely out of the way.

[bottle]

A New Program for Rotorded Serving

With serves that separate toss from rest of the service action, I have no problem moving head backward at a time when one is supposed to glide it forward.

This is the way-- the only way-- to generate upward spin given substantial restriction in the shoulder.

So now I want to incorporate this bloodily acquired knowledge in mediocre serves that I have refined for years and years.

Whatever else these serves are, the toss and wind-back is integrated.

Hips and knees rotate back, the ball is in the air, then shoulders rotate back to shift racket from one side of the bod to the other.

Such an easy serve. Tried it in geezer dubs. One of the opponents, a very good player, muffed his return. Same thing happened to his partner.

"An overwhelming serve," the good player said.

"That's what I was thinking," I said. I have never served more easily and forcelessly in my life.

When the good player and his partner heard me they of course lifted their game and won the next two points to make it 30-30 .

But I'm on to a new program. Serve your easiest serves possible and make them clobberable on purpose.

Then do something-- anything-- to keep them just as easy but non-clobberable now.

For me it seems a bit of attacking acceleration at upper end of external shoulder rotation (ESR) combined with arm straightening just before seamless reversal to internal shoulder rotation (ISR).

[johnyandell]

OK Bottle and DB,
The war is over. Stick to tennis or whatever topic and just stop talking to each other. Bottle as I know you know most of the comments of yours DB reposted here are over the line. I don't have the time or certainly the interest to follow this back. I suspect DB may have made a few comments in the past, but I really don't care. You don't like each other I get it. SO just stop. I suggest you guys take a cue from Phil and both block each other.
John Yandell

[bottle]

Two Topspin Forehands that One can Alternate

1) Agi-scissor. Agi Rad gets racket tip a-moving by straightening arm at the elbow and then bending it at the same place. And then she wipes with her strings coming off of the ball. She makes contact way out front. Way out front means in one of the dimensions close in to the bod.

2) Federfore. This shot is hit farther to the side and with straight-armed rather than bent-armed wipe. Is there a pause when racket tip has wound up? Yes, the semblance of one. One would not want to start dog knockout maneuver either before or after that point. The total action of this shot is quicker than one commonly imagines.

I see both of these shots as stay-down with head as still as a parked hubcap. From being an oarsman and a crew coach I know that when you push with your legs you move your head. So don't do that, especially if you have any knee replacements.

A benefit added to possible personal survival is that you will see the ball well.

[bottle]

The Geico Salamander Speaks

"I have too many forehands. What should I do?"

Answer: Don't worry. Pick forehands that are working today. Hana Mandlikova had the same problem yet still had a good career.

[bottle]

What does it mean to gradually extend arm from the elbow throughout a forehand?

I don't know and you reader probably don't know either. It's just not on the acceptable list of best tennis topics for discussion, with the inevitable result that we're likely to remain forever ignorant about it along with other unaddressed scores.

Like scissoring the arm like Agi Radwanska. Or leaving the arm at one length throughout a forehand, or using one length only variable depending on how far you camped out from the ball.

Most players don't want to think about this stuff but I sure do.

Reading HOW TO PLAY TENNIS 1937 revised edition by Mercer Beasley set me off on a merry quest of self-feed sessions alternated with regular doubles at the senior senior level.

What I can tell you, as of today, is that a Beasley-bammed forehand is not as bankable as I first thought.

In first flush of discovering it I hit it all the time and seemed to win most of those points.

But then, like many new strokes it went slightly sour.

I think the shot is infected by my other experiments in which I have fiddled with length and placement of backswing.

If you have decided to hit the ball with gradual elbow extension throughout, the very nature of every shot will change according to different lengths of backswing, no?

That realization may come to you, also that a Beasley-bam is a really extreme form of forehand.

In that the elbow extension we have been talking about happens from full compression to fully straight arm.

Whether one can break off a smaller part of the broad arc thus produced has piqued my interest, and I don't yet have an answer.

To restore one's Beasley-bam to full splendor, however, one must not forget to start the at-the-elbow extension during the backswing before it continues during the foreswing.

And if splendiferous restoration has then occurred, why not then proceed to new experiment? A Federfore gets arm straight before it wipes, no? So what will happen if gradually straightening arm gets fully straight before contact? A sharp flat crosscourt? What will happen if the big range of extension still starts during backswing replacement of the elbow but goes quite slow at that beginning part so that more of it is delayed until the pivot?

Thinking opens new possibilities for which we may pay a price or be rewarded. Would we want it any other way?

[bottle]

Ron Waite: Six-inch Forehand Backswing

So how do we interpret this? Or does it not need interpretation? I say it does, that any idea, no matter how simple, always leads to further thought to convert it into action.

I see two beginning choices, at least for me: 1) The racket, disengaged from other arm, sets where you want it as part of unit turn. It then goes back six inches and then forward the same six inches to find the ball.

2) (very different): The racket, disengaged from other arm, takes the extra six inches immediately as part of the unit turn. All Zen (concentration) can now go into slowness of forward six inches to find the ball.

Don't see this as either/or but rather what one wants to do on a given shot.

Nope, it's either/or for me. I know players who can do 1), and when they do, sometimes it's spectacular. But 2) worked better for me today in doubles and was the only choice that seemed viable.