A New Year's Serve

[bottle]

Only a Thing-Woman can Save your Backhand

Her name is Katie Kata, and she is neither flesh and warm soul or sex object.

To understand her, read this 50-page thesis (http://www.moirian.com/BAlkmelocco.htm), a bizarre recommendation not at all typical of myself, I believe. For how often does a tennis player (you, my reader), read an academic paper? This could be the right time to start.

In my novel THE PURSE MAKER'S CLASP the person most resembling Katie wins a Maine state art contest and then drowns in a collapsing fish factory.

In actuality, she is alive and wrote this brilliant thesis, which is about mythology, science fiction, fairy tales, video games and quest.

Every kata (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/kata) is part of a quest. One breaks something down into discrete parts small enough for one to master. Only later does one put them together whether learning a foreign language or one hand backhand.

Well, the search or quest for a one hand backhand clearly is lifelong even if one has used the one one already has to defeat a hundred other players. And even if one's name is Tommy Haas, Bea Bielik, Justine Henin, Carla Suarez-Navarro, Amelie Mauresmo, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, Arthur Ashe, Domenic Thiem, Nicholas Almagro, Stanislas Wawrinka or Richard Gasquet.

The kata that may best work for this particular lifelong quest is worthy of a personalized name. She is not an old bearded man or a gnarled dwarf with huge fists and biceps that one meets out in the woods only when thoroughly lost.

She is quite simply a beaufiful woman who helps.

The kata, "Katie Kata": Bend down with your arms crossed to hold your sides. Straighten whole bod so that arms stretch out in a high Vee.

Part of this exultant stretch is a clenching together of the scapulae or shoulder blades. This final action could (but don't let it) shoot the racket around. Instead, shoot the racket up.

Churl (https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...l%20definition).

You're going too far. I think you're just a little combative at times.

[bottle]

Churl (https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...l%20definition).

I'll whack you, simpleton. The logic will be that you deserve it.

I'll bet you're incredible at whack a mole..maybe you should start another riveting thread on that.

[bottle]

Report

Once play started, I quickly discarded the new shot and therefore was able to do well. Before that the new shot worked in a brief self-feed but turned out to be too deliberative for competition, at least for now. Would it, with persistence, become good? Possibly, but would it be better than what I already had (very symmetrical, rounded, waterwheel-like basic shots) although one really needs to know, if interested in truths, that the waterwheels themselves are wild departure that is only a couple months old?

The simpletons who don't like these posts think they are too much about me. To me, they are about invention-- of anything.

[bottle]

I'll whack you, simpleton. The logic will be that you deserve it.

Ford Hospital, West Bloomfield, Michigan

Am on a couch here as my partner Hope starts her therapy for a knee replacement. I think she came through the operation well although neither of us slept very soundly. Not much I can do until we get home. A perfect time for me to think up a totally new forehand.

I'm telling you, both readers and malevolent reader, the simplicity meme that drives 98 per cent of tennis players is not a good idea.

"You'll win." Just hit the same old boring shot, Vic Braden said. But if you constantly change your strokes, striving always for something better, you will win too. And with more pleasure.

In rejecting simplicity, I don't mean simplicity of design, which is essential. I mean that if you never try to change or improve your strokes you are a simpleton.

Never mind. I understand that simpletons have fragile egos along with a tendency toward formula. They go only with what makes them win rather than with what would make them win better. One needs more than natural ambition to constantly invent.

Of course there is a price, too, one worth paying, I have always argued.

First one learns the basics but after that can identify if one is curious enough many different ways of hitting the ball.

To build on what has come before (yes, I dare to think my experiments matter or MIGHT matter), I propose today a leading with right hand rather than with opposite hand on racket to initiate one's turn.

Rotating hips next raise the left hand and lower the right all as continued motion.

In terms of cue, the rotating hips put strings on lower inside edge of ball. The arm then rolls to back of ball. The arm then rolls strings to upper outside of ball.

In actuality, I believe none of this happens on the ball but rather before the ball so that strings do get to the outside of the ball.

The shoulders rotation and pulling of the power cord put heft on the ball. And I think it important to note that this is a shot I have not yet hit, a shot I will put to trial soon. But right now (in pantomime without a racket) I like the way the small loop or quick waterwheel melds into hips rotation and then aeronautical banking of the shoulders.

The arm rotates on the ball while pushing out.

Did hitting wrist stay straight? Of course not. If one has mondoed for a long time one will mondo now.

But I ask, since I know there are differences in degree of hand yield at the contact point of different forehands: Is one still mondoeing at contact, i.e., in spite of all the force going forward are strings going backward a little to try to catch the ball before you fling it?

What did you do, whack her in the knee cap cause she said something logical?

[bottle]

Ford Hospital, West Bloomfield, Michigan

Am on a couch here as my partner Hope starts her therapy for a knee replacement. I think she came through the operation well although neither of us slept very soundly. Not much I can do until we get home. A perfect time for me to think up a totally new forehand.

I'm telling you, both readers and malevolent reader, the simplicity meme that drives 98 per cent of tennis players is not a good idea.

"You'll win." Just hit the same old boring shot, Vic Braden said. But if you constantly change your strokes, striving always for something better, you will win too. And with more pleasure.

In rejecting simplicity, I don't mean simplicity of design, which is essential. I mean that if you never try to change or improve your strokes you are a simpleton.

Never mind. I understand that simpletons have fragile egos along with a tendency toward formula. They go only with what makes them win rather than with what would make them win better. One needs more than natural ambition to constantly invent.

Of course there is a price, too, one worth paying, I have always argued.

First one learns the basics but after that can identify if one is curious enough many different ways of hitting the ball.

To build on what has come before (yes, I dare to think my experiments matter or MIGHT matter), I propose today a leading with right hand rather than with opposite hand on racket to initiate one's turn.

Rotating hips next raise the left hand and lower the right all as continued motion.

In terms of cue, the rotating hips put strings on lower inside edge of ball. The arm then rolls to back of ball. The arm then rolls strings to upper outside of ball.

In actuality, I believe none of this happens on the ball but rather before the ball so that strings do get to the outside of the ball.

The shoulders rotation and pulling of the power cord put heft on the ball. And I think it important to note that this is a shot I have not yet hit, a shot I will put to trial soon. But right now (in pantomime without a racket) I like the way the small loop or quick waterwheel melds into hips rotation and then aeronautical banking of the shoulders.

The arm rotates on the ball while pushing out.

Did hitting wrist stay straight? Of course not. If one has mondoed for a long time one will mondo now.

But I ask, since I know there are differences in degree of hand yield at the contact point of different forehands: Is one still mondoeing at contact, i.e., in spite of all the force going forward are strings going backward a little to try to catch the ball before you fling it?

[bottle]

The Term "Fast Catch" Immediately Raises all Tennis Instruction to a Higher Level

That statement ought to infuriate somebody. I hope so. Not to endorse the self-indulgent and mawkish wish for personal attack and reprisal so characteristic of Donald Trump. I never would do that. A number of people however do sleepwalk their way through life exactly like Donald Trump. They are balloons more than people, balloons that need to be popped.

But forget, reader, all personal animus stuff. Forget too for a brief moment our immediate collective future and what our country is about to be. Just consider what the polymath tennis champion and tennis teacher Doug King has said about the sport of competitive rowing, i.e., crew.

An oarsman creeps slowly up a slide on lubricated wheels. As his hands cross his knees (bad crews), he slowly feathers his blade 90 degrees to square. To do this too fast, to "snap-feather," would be a great disgrace. But as his hands cross his shins (good crews) he smoothly feathers his blade 90 degrees to square.

What happens next? Something quicker than the human eye. He lifts the square blade straight up from his shoulder sockets to just bury the blade in the water-- no more and no less.

The water, in Doug King's words, instantly "turns to concrete." Concrete that the oarsman then pries against with all the force in legs, back and arms.

Could we do something similar in tennis? If we were a great tennis player we could.

King offers "katas" () to teach one to use inside, back and outside of the ball in this interactive process.

As an Annapolis-certified NAAO (National Association of Amateur Oarsmen) rowing coach, I would say, "Get the blade or racket squared up before the fast-catching contact where water or air turns to concrete." And think that King would agree due to statements he has made on one hand backhand.

Is there mystery rather than formula in this? Absolutely. And the chance for a bunch of new questions. Could mondo still be happening at forehand contact?

[bottle]

Not a Spectacular Result but a Solid One, I Think

I refer to the whittling down referred to in post # 3431:

Forehand:
Am working on a pretty small default-sized waterwheel that allows body segmentation to provide all necessary waterwheel distortion and lowering of the racket.

Why should anyone do otherwise if ball sits waist high? And one can achieve that perfect height almost any time with great footwork (ahem).

For higher and lower bounce, sure, I'll lift or lower arm an extra amount, but medium bounce affords the chance to steal from one's flat stroke a solidity that makes gravity and core involvement one and the same.

And why wouldn't this work? Early separation of the hands gives one's hitting hand a freedom it would not ordinarily have. Keeping hand for longer on the racket may carry teacherly reasons for doing so, but freedom and flow of hand is what one should most want. Consider a painter or illustrator trying to do sensitive work with two rather than one hands.

One can keep hands stacked but close together. Like a dancer then, fool around with altering the relation of the two hands to correspond with the bod segmentation happening just then.

One's waterwheel distorts. The body brings hand both downward and inward then puts strings on bottom inside of the ball.

A deft roll of the hand then puts strings on back and then outside of the ball, providing speed and finesse both at the same time.

"Catch then fling the ball" becomes the new mantra and not just for forehands.

The hand provides speed and finesse. The body adds heft.

P.S. Perhaps a great athlete compared to a so-so athlete could understand the concept of fast catch if he or she liked to read posts such as this one. Most such great athletes don't and won't. The exceptions, I guess, are my target. But from studying the interaction of coach and athlete in both competitive rowing and dance, I know there is an essential place for language in any sport with plenty of room for improvement.

[bottle]

Why Don't Teaching Pros Other than Jimmy Arias Speak More about John McEnroe's Forehand Backswing?

Because it's different from what they do and they therefore don't like it.

[bottle]

LAST DAY OF THE YEAR

Time to make the keyboard zing on forehand, backhand and rotorded serve. Gotta get everything perfect by midnight.

Forehand:
Am working on a pretty small default-sized waterwheel that allows body segmentation to provide all necessary waterwheel distortion and lowering of the racket.

Why should anyone do otherwise if ball sits waist high? And one can achieve that perfect height almost any time with great footwork (ahem).

For higher and lower bounce, sure, I'll lift or lower arm an extra amount, but medium bounce affords the chance to steal from one's flat stroke a solidity that makes gravity and core involvement one and the same.

Backhand:
Have been getting a bit fancy (# 3427). Better to think of design evolution here as a beachhead in World War II even though World War III will be nothing like that. Capturing the beachhead in my case involved successful imitation of the small loop racket head acceleration used by both Ken Rosewall and Trey Waltke as they deliver great backhand slice again and again. Many people have tried to link the forward hips rotation happening just about then with straightening of the arm. Nope. The hips rotation best links with the small loop at the back of slice backswing.

Well, if my assertion is true (but remember that don_budge has said I use a lot of words without saying anything so you may choose if you wish to stop reading right now), why not apply the same compressed loop only in a different direction as in a topspin backhand by Tommy Haas? (https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...LevelRear1.mov). You see the little loop at top of the backswing? Racket goes up in a skunk's tail. It's vertical. Then it topples over. We could speak of "the small loop at the back of slice backswing" and still be accurate. For topspin, however, better to say "the small loop at the top of Tommy's topspin backhand upswing." Same loop though, and Bottle (I mean I) got it working on slice so why not now on topspin?

Rotorded Serve:
The image of myself driving into a junkyard where there is a car compressor just won't go away. The idea is that if you stay in your junker while it gets squashed, the adhesions in your rotor cuff will get loosened up too. Exactly like voting for or supporting Donald Trump since you want unknown change. But you wouldn't have to do that. You could go to a specialist. He or she would take care of those adhesions. Or you could lure a dominatrix into a steam bath. She could beat you with witch hazel sticks while you pulled on a series of knots you tied in a long wet towel with the whole arrangement tugging the shoulder down from behind. Or you could find the perfect weight hand barbell to see how far you could stretch it down behind your back. One of the factors in shoulder inflexibility is not just ski race accidents but the simple advance of old age. So if you are going to pursue any of these measures make sure you do so before 2017 .

Alternately, you may reject long runway theory unless your envisioned runway is curved instead of straight. But remember, don_budge has said I never say anything, so again, stop reading right now. I WANT you to have a lousy serve since we may play against each other some day. But don_budge is not the only person not to listen to in a world full of villains. There are those many other teaching pros (I never would try to put words in don_budge's empty head) who say the fullest possible serving motion is the way for the rotorded server to go, never explaining this very much. And of course if you use the word "rotorded," they think you are retarded and from then on can't follow you very well.

The way to go, in utter defiance of this herd of tennis teachers all going BAH, BA-A-A-A-H-H, is severe abbreviation. So, if you have been down together up together you may want to retain what you've been doing but with the hitting arm only. As transition while you learn.

Eventually, though, you'll be able to strip your contraption down to its essential parts. Tossing hand will start high. Hitting hand will start high. The hips will start turning back as elbow led hitting hand pulls slightly ahead but on the same level path. But not so fast, let's back up. What was the angle of hitting hand to racket tip when you started? Well, how rotorded are you? When Andy Roddick takes racket down behind his back the tip is perfectly vertical. And a big loop then occurs on his way up the ball, a loop which is beyond your downward reach, reader, I'm quite sure.

But you can at least replicate the existence of a big loop, just in a different place, if you point racket tip down toward the net at the address.

Let's keep going since every serve is a narrative. Andy tosses with the aid of body straightening then winds down. He's had a good tennis career so should we let him have all the fun of invention too? No, let's improve on him. Let's make toss and wind down (and back) a single motion. The word that best describes this change is EDITING.

We proceed to catch and fling, using three different sides of the ball.

[bottle]

Thanks for the response. I guess you know I hate Sylvester Stallone. Ever since a friend and I were working in a yard in Sharon, Massachusetts. The people next door played the theme from ROCKY at full blast 24 hours a day for over a week.

[10splayer]

[QUOTE=bottle;n62009]Neuro-Linguistic Programming vs. Neanderthal Tennis Camp of the Ozarks

The year is coming to an end. Got to have my game together by midnight tomorrow. Think I'll start with forehands following the horse calming paradigm introduced on backhand yesterday.

So, in my already handsy game I'll use my hands more even calling them my brain if I have to.

Early separation sets elbow twisted high and left hand down by waist turning it.

But back in the old days when my forehand more closely resembled everybody else with left hand held religiously on the racket throat, the left arm next would straighten toward side fence.

So why can't I do that still? The difference will be left hand in a lower place. Left hand, which helped turn bod by staying in can now continue the bod turn by extending out. And lifting up at the same time to help bring hitting shoulder down into a power pocket.

Hips will tell hand what to do. Hand will tell hips what to do-- a perfect marriage.

neuro-linguistic programming (http://www.bing.com/search?q=neuro-l...R&pc=EUPP_DCTE)

Neanderthal (http://www.bing.com/search?q=Neander...R&pc=EUPP_DCTE)[/QUOTE





Oh that's right, tonight is round robin with the crackers. Here's a little inspiration.

https://youtu.be/CwEmzppSCg0

And please, try not to hit yourself in the fucking head with your racquet this week.

[bottle]

Neuro-Linguistic Programming vs. Neanderthal Tennis Camp of the Ozarks

The year is coming to an end. Got to have my game together by midnight tomorrow. Think I'll start with forehands following the horse calming paradigm introduced on backhand yesterday.

So, in my already handsy game I'll use my hands more even calling them my brain if I have to.

Early separation sets elbow twisted high and left hand down by waist turning it.

But back in the old days when my forehand more closely resembled everybody else with left hand held religiously on the racket throat, the left arm next would straighten toward side fence.

So why can't I do that still? The difference will be left hand in a lower place. Left hand, which helped turn bod by staying in can now continue the bod turn by extending out. And lifting up at the same time to help bring hitting shoulder down into a power pocket.

Hips will tell hand what to do. Hand will tell hips what to do-- a perfect marriage.

neuro-linguistic programming (http://www.bing.com/search?q=neuro-l...R&pc=EUPP_DCTE)

Neanderthal (http://www.bing.com/search?q=Neander...R&pc=EUPP_DCTE)