A New Year's Serve

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One Way to Deal with Short Runway Syndrome in Serving

Raise rear shoulder during the toss.

This surely will be a case of "bending the stick the other way."

For many servers are looking to reinforce their toss with a raise of the front shoulder at the same time.

But that lessens inherent power in the racket momentum going down.

"Arching the back," if done too soon, leaves arm alone to take the racket down.

And as we all know, racket head speed derives from the conflict between racket going down and muscular forces already surging in the opposite direction, namely up.

Anything that diminishes this clash is bad. Anything that maximizes it is good.

An extremely flexible server uses a long runway to take the racket down before it springs up.

Length of runway allows the descending racket to gradually build momentum.

Suppose however that the server like many or even most servers is inflexible compared to those guys with the longest runway.

The racket can't go down very far and therefore can't build much force.

I've often wondered: Could one somehow start the conflict earlier, before the racket even started to go down?

Different trophy positions along with lesser or no trophy were explored. As were all kinds of different start points for the racket power to increase.

A partial solution may be simpler than all that.

Early rise of rear shoulder will get elbow high early, giving it good high position from which to create structure. This height will also create a weird feeling toss as if from inside a developing cave.

The rising shoulder and simultaneous toss will create an opposition where before there could have been mutual support.

So one deliberately messes with one's toss to add beef to pre-descent and descent of the racket.

One maybe should evaluate the posture that a singer adopts to draw air from deep in the diaphragm.

A music teacher I witnessed recently told his class to pull an imaginary fishline straight up behind the hips and back of the head-- to straighten the spine.

Then to pull a second imaginary fishline or plumbline or cord straight upward also-- with this one attached in front of the bod to the sternum.

The two imaginary cords taken together create a kind of body arch that all by itself is a powerful thing.

If it happens starting with pre-descent of the racket and continues through descent of the racket one will have added both body bend and range to one's total racket drop.

And as with other tennis strokes, less reliance on arm or arm and some part of the bod with more reliance on arm and the whole bod will be a good thing.

We all know the bod involvement we need as racket goes up, but do we often think about how increased bod involvement-- and range-- could increase the muscular contest we want in racket descent phase of every serve?

Example: Charles Pasarell was an extraordinarily flexible tour player but also started his serve with a raised rear shoulder. This pose can be seen in the old book MASTERING YOUR TENNIS STROKES.

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Reprise of Post # 4100: Keeping a Cast Net Forehand in Tune


A cast net is an exotic, poetic thing. That is enough to dismiss it in the eyes of a usual clunkhead, anti-intellectual and anti-poetic tennis player, an "I'm just a tough guy from Detroit" sort of person.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6swnJXwEws)

In a forehand that opens out like a cast net, I recommend doing away with the interim that appears in most forehands, even in a Jimmy Arias forehand, the moment in the tract when the arms move while the shoulders stay still.

I propose instead that body turn in one direction meld seamlessly into body turn in the other.

A key to developing feel does come from Jimmy Arias however, just needs application to the new, simplified base.

Jimmy feels that he pulls the entire mechanism of his forehand into shape and up to high speed, makes the intricacy of the total thing come together from the huge body turn that now characterizes all modern forehands.

So, how does one develop the arm work essential to this endeavor in the proposed design?

On some days one may not even have to ask. For a bad day however I make this suggestion:

First half of backward body turn is accomplished with opposite hand on racket, second half with opposite hand pointing across.

Through this first half (of the first half) the racket tip can rise slowly to establish aim with tip pointed slightly toward net. Then with opposite hand pointing across maintain the aim but let the arms separate a small but variable amount. My idea for steadiness at this crucial point is to hold the racket lightly between thumb and middle knuckle of the index finger.

About then is when reversal of the shoulders direction should take place.

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Rising Racket Tip in a Stock Forehand

This is a difficult subject, reader, in that my stock forehand no doubt is different from your stock forehand.

In mine there is no breaststroke or interim between backswing and foreswing in which the shoulders stay still.

The backswing is accomplished one half by left hand on racket, the second half by left hand pointing across at side fence.

During the entire backswing the racket tip raises very slightly and slowly while always pointing toward net.

This keeps elbow out from the bod and thus lays claim to superiority over any forehand that uses a loop.

A contrarian could argue that there still is some kind of loop present in the subsequent arm straightening and mondo while body drives this simultaneous action as if one is throwing a cast net but to me this would be niggled technicality.

Although no wiper is present, plenty of topspin and pace is; in fact the pace to topspin ratio is such that the ball stays low and gives traditional wipered forehands on the other side of the net trouble, i.e., produces awkwardness in them.

I would like to say that this forehand, since it is my stock forehand, is always "on," but sadly and happily both, it is a work in progress.

My concentration today is on absolute confidence during all raising of the racket tip.

Left hand on racket enables the lightest hitting grip possible in first half.

The problem area could be in second half where left hand leaves racket to point across.

That leaves hitting arm still raising the tip but doing it solo.

No shake confidence combined with lightest possible grip can be abetted by a grip system in which thumb and forefinger's middle knuckle perch opposite one another.

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Wasn't I Just Talking about Paul Wulf?

https://webtennisgear.com/blogs/wtrs...ce=Actionetics

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Reader, My See See is not Your See See

But you can try to imitate mine if you want. Just as I will imitate yours if mine should choose not to work.

My see see changes a lot. So to catch a best version of it we shall need some luck.

Today's iteration is a Vic Braden sit-and-hit, the only time I shall ever choose that genre of forehand.

It has a useful component of self-balance built into it.

And takes its rhythm from another specialty shot of mine, my McEnrueful, which uses a bowler's type of down and up backswing.

Not that the twist I put on the sit-and-hit will be down and up. More precisely, it will be a down and split in which the racket once lowered goes backward level a tiny bit more.

As left hand, still high, goes out. As left foot, combining with forward hips turn, goes out. When you combine all three actions you produce a very low center of gravity characterized positing of a tripod.

Thinking that this shot should be divided into three distinct parts (wind and lower, split, hit) would be easy. Don't do it. The down and split is a single count just as the down and up is in a McEnrueful or even John McEnroe forehand.

We try for Graham Wheatley's 1-2 rhythm on all shots or at least I do.

But I am inspired by Brent Abel's interpretation of senior national champion Paul Wulf's tennis, the idea that Wulf started late and has weird strokes and certainly doesn't hit the ball hard all the time but has managed to figure out how to play the game.

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Model for Backhand Drive

I have a functional one hand backhand that all in all I'm proud of. Having started "real tennis" very late (had dabbled before), I understand better than anyone that my one-hander will never be a natural shot and will always carry something of the synthetic about it.

Even more important then not to enlist the further help of "experts," videos, magazine articles, backhand chapters in books, etc., etc., and go instead with a few carefully chosen models.

Of course these are apt to appear in the form of video again but a different kind of video.

Here is my favorite one-hand backhand video of all time. Others watching it have concentrated on the boy on the other side of the net, on Petr Korda's forehand, on anything to distract from the true subject of Korda's backhand.

That is the focus I request right now for anyone watching this video which they probably have seen before.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqpARpkF8WA)

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Still Another Change or is this one a Bridge too Far?

When TENNIS FOR THE FUTURE first came out, the sit and hit ground strokes seemed brilliant to millions who knew nothing about the game. Is "millions" too big a number to ascribe to this category? Perhaps. But it was a lot of people. Professor Annie Dillard, the Pulitzer Prize winning Author of PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK was one of them. She and her husband would climb the mound behind her house up to the Wesleyan University tennis courts in Middletown, Connecticut and there they would try their sit-and-hits.

She almost tore my head off, in a letter one time, for my not addressing her as "Professor." So I won't make that mistake this time.

And I, in another part of the country, Virginia I think, was trying my own sit-and-hits, even got some of them to work.

Then a USPTA pro got ahold of me. "You'll get over it," he said. Sit-and-hit, I think he meant, not Annie. But I always thought she was interesting, especially when we started a correspondence in which I described the artist colony at Ossabaw Island ten miles from Savannah.

Next thing I knew I was long gone from Ossabaw but she was on the board of directors. And I did see her at a Hollins College graduate school reunion once or twice.

The subject is sit-and-hit. I'd still like to give it a go (a brief try with up or down verdict) in connection with a see see. One could hit the see see as I've recently described here but while combining forward hips rotation and step-out.

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And Simpler Yet

Why retain any bend in arm as racket spirals almost straight down? You (I) have waited to straighten arm an extra bit as hitting shoulder drives down from forward rotation of the hips. Why? Conceptualitis. Or blind habit.

You don't have that added complication on a McEnrueful so why should you impose it on a see see?

Just fully straighten arm as racket goes down. Gravity can do it all.

Now the mechanics are closer to a McEnrueful. Arm is already straight when shoulder drives down, that's true, but the only difference from the yesterday's see see, which was working pretty well, is that there is less to do just before the actual stroke-- a good thing.

One more item for someone who wants to understand this specialty shot which is going to be very good.

The design changes now have it being hit from strong eastern wait grip.

Fine, but a specific racket pitch goes along with this.

The pitch will be exactly the same as for the McEnrueful wait position held in a composite grip.

Strong eastern now but with same slightly open racket pitch.

Self-feed exercise: Five McEnruefuls interspersed with five see sees.

If any of the see sees goes too high or too low, change the grip for the next one at wait position.

That beats changing the stroke pattern in any way.

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See See Gets Simpler Yet

Snow melted enough on Saturday for me to get in a little self-feed. Conclusion: Don't disguise see see. Abbreviate it. Straight down and bowl, but take racket out a little in a tiny spiral. Want a narrow frame for this shot. In some of the earlier iterations this player (I) mentioned some level tract. No level tract.

The racket goes simply down. Then it's ready to bowl up on outer edge of the ball. Give ball a glancing blow to create some topspin but also a break toward side fence.

Shot worked better from strong eastern grip wait position, the one am apt to use for my most staple deep forehands. I suppose I'm announcing it too soon by taking racket straight down, then extending the arm some more in tandem with forward hips.

On the other hand will hit other shots from same wait, including one that puts racket low relatively early for a passing shot that looks similar through the early check points.

For the abbreviated see sees then hips next shoulders next hips again as rear foot walks through.

The walk through is on same inside out path that sends racket and weight all on one direction past the ball, not through it.

This is an "all brush and no weight" shot.

I said before the duration of the see see was greater than that of other shots.

That no longer is true.

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Intense Session with Younger Players

Great night in the warmup with Marella Diakonov, USPTA pro and one of the active 5.5 players in this area.

She doesn't fool around, keeps things moving, is firm with her students.

But I didn't hit one of my newly designed see sees, not one.

Did hit one see see service return as a normal forehand. "What an angle!" somebody said.

It's a cardio drill, and my changing partner and I won more than our share of the points and games (which wasn't true a week ago).

To me as oldest guy by far, this felt good.

Was the first time in these drills, which somebody else decided to pay for, I was really "on." It happens to the worst of us, don't you know. And maybe when somebody else pays for you, you try harder. It's sort of like when somebody bets on you in pool which has happened to me just once in my life.

So I didn't try the new see see. Things were going too well. I didn't want to make myself self-conscious. That would have happened if I tried and made the first bowled strong eastern ever. (Part of the challenge is that I am really lousy at bowling.)

But those shots will come. Next week perhaps.

All other attempts at boldness were rewarded. I'll need to stay calm when I finally try the new see see and make it.

Was so glad I had a nap just before the session-- made a big difference.

Was almost surly. Played a little as if I had something to prove.

Marella, though positive, didn't say much. But she knew. We need to be able to say to ourselves that we are playing well, right? So maybe it's what I think, not Marella.

But Bill Grant, friend and nuclear engineer, let me know that I did play well.

And then the tennis social began. (I like the word "social" better than "mixer.")

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Reflection on Cardio Drills

If I am the guy who figures out stuff too much, then cardio drills are perfect for me.

The trouble however is that most players don't figure out stuff enough.

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Service Progression

Have taken a lot of sequence out so put some back in; specifically, on toss start upward trip of ball from arm only, then chime in around the time of release with body bend to give the toss a bit more oomph.

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Undisguised (Abbreviated) See See

1) Start with composite grip as if to hit a McEnrueful.

2) Turn but keep left hand holding racket for longer time than in a McEnrueful.

3) Turn palm under handle during this period.

4) The rhythm of the turning under becomes part of the rhythm of the short lowering of the racket.

5) The racket lowering continues from forward hips rotation and extra straightening of arm.

6) Proceed as in any disguised version of the same shot.

7) For reverse see see hit shot the same way but with laid back wrist.

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Serve

Spaghetti arm.
Spaghettier arm.
Spaghettiest arm.

Loose grip.
Looser grip.
Loosest grip.

High toss.
Higher toss.
Highest toss (for me).

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Joseph Campbell Didn't Say, "Follow Your Dream Unless It's Tennis."

He said, "Follow your dream."