A New Year's Serve

[tennis_chiro]

Thanks again, Bottle!

Yes, well, I'm fishing per usual for the kick serve I want. In both serves Sam Stosur "stays closed" to use baseball pitching lingo. The body looks identical. So the difference in swing path can't be there. Nor do I believe the arm is going out in a different direction relative to the body. Could be wrong, of course, but that's what I think right now.

But the amount of forward travel of her head (of her human head) does seem to vary. My evidence is that second serve finish brings left shoulder across the "S" of the word "Southern" to the beginning of the "o." And in the first serve finish the Sam shoulder covers the "o." I'm simply trying to account for the difference between the 45 degrees of first serve and 30 degrees of second serve in a way that I can understand well enough to then take out to the court and try.

As far as "scapular adduction" is concerned, it's just a term I picked up along with "scapular retraction" from Wikipedia. But I thought it an improvement on the tennis instructor's slippery term "adduction" without an adjective. Adduction of what, and in what direction?

Thanks, again. You inspired me to check that Wikipedia reference and the Google search led me to the AnatomyZone.com youtube videos in addition to the Wikipedia discussion on the shoulder movements. Just a reminder for your readers here, scapular retraction = scapular adduction. But if you want a fuller understanding, you really should check out some of the videos on youtube. Damn, I can't believe how great it would be to be studying anatomy for the first time with all these visual aids that let you see everything in 3D and do immediate virtual dissection peeling away all the layers of muscle, etc. It was just 25 years ago, but we had to look at books and go to the labs and study cadavers and models. I imagine you can find just about anything on youtube. I'm a little puzzled I find time to look at anything else. There is so much to learn and so much information available for free. Of course, figuring out which is good information may be another matter.

But back to the kick serve. I'm not at all sure all this deep thought about anatomy is really going to help that much in developing your kick serve; probably just tie you up in knots. You are much better off trying Jeff Salzenstein's "Dirty Daiper" and kneeling serve drill, much as I think the underlying premise about the follow through and reduced internal rotation is fallacious; it's still a good drill. However, I understand that you love the intellectual challenge of visualizing a new approach and trying to execute what you have come up with.

You are largely correct that the difference is not so much in the arm action. It is more in the angle of attack at the last moment which changes the ball toss moving it slightly to the left. Don't overdue that or you can easily strain your back. But the new phrase I want you to start to focus on is "ulnar deviation". Even as the arm is going through largely the same motion on the second serve as the first, the wrist is firing on all cylinders in ulnar deviation to get a little extra spin to the side for an effective kick serve.

suggested youtube videos:

scapular retraction/adduction exercises:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8FZt1_1rjA&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fCPCGVU5-U&feature=related

rotator cuff tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfUmN_V-28w&feature=related

shoulder girdle tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bneylG3w10&feature=related

don

[bottle]

Thanks. Right, ulnar deviation or ulnar ululation. Make the motion wail toward the ulna.

[bottle]

A Different Way of Modeling Karsten Popp Ground Strokes

In evaluating Popp's backhand slice, about which there is much information and video in the current issue of Tennis Player, one may come to the sticky question of the double racket trajectory in his backswing or preparation for the stroke.

First he takes the racket back fairly level and then he raises it sharply and then he loops-- finally he hits the ball.

This is a convention of backswing seen throughout tennis history both for slice and drive.

But if a player understands that a flying grip change all in one swoop can place the racket anywhere he wants and at initially estimated best pitch, why bother?

To get personal, which I advise every time, one now has two basic slices. One (I) can take bent arm preparation only back to where one can see an imaginary ring on one's middle finger. This produces a speedy shot if one teaches oneself abrupt change of direction so that clenching shoulder-blades passively straighten the already gliding arm.

Or, one gets the arm straight early and open and high like Karsten Popp and then feels like he's bonking the ball with the heel of his hand from a long smooth radius.

I'm not recommending getting the arm straight on the flying grip change although that remains a theoretical possibility but rather a loop that's horizontal and takes racket butt to the outside and is easily coordinated with forward rotation of the hips.

Similarly, on a flat forehand, one doesn't need a domed backswing if one is bending back wrist a little at a time. One can use the wrist rhythm best in a flat, straight back hand trajectory.

A kind of natural, lower register arm straightening loop then happens as hips ply forward, and one can then preserve one's looped Federfore as an entirely separate and individuated stroke, more sparingly used.

This philosophy says to hell with concealment, choosing instead to strike fear into the heart of one's opponent through the instigation of Federforian loop.

Occasionally, one will hit this shot with the penetration of Roger Federer. More often, however, one will produce "the academic ball."

The real thunder will lie in the flatter, more basic stroke, but let your opponent be the one to figure that out.

[bottle]

Don Brosseau...

Thanks for the little video course in anatomy (the four videos in post # 1396). From swinging an axe, a sledge-hammer and a splitting maul on a lonely mountain in Virginia, along with considerable car mechanics, I derived an overly personalized view of the rotator cuff that was much too closely associated with Timken bearings and black grease and the pop-pop of front wheel drive steering gone wrong.

The rotator cuff is much more nineteenth than twentieth century, I now believe, what with its long bands attached to asymmetrical points on the perimeter of the humerus.

And the whole scapular slingshot idea-- oh my gosh. What if best service idea is to push the rib case forward and out of the way (not upward) so a shoulder-blade can cock more fully downward? Would not the slingshot then aim more upward than forward?

I agree that thoughts of inner anatomy probably won't help one's stroke mechanics. On the other hand, they might, and thanks in either case.

[bottle]

A Sciaticat's Plan for Leftward Lean

Leftward lean, improperly done no doubt, led to my back problem, which is pretty severe according to one specialist, Dr. Shah from India, the sort of guy who gives spinal injections to lessen pain.

I don't plan to go back for more of these shots and have a book called TREAT YOUR BACK WITHOUT SURGERY that I like a lot although I need time and ambition to do its exercises more.

Still, I want mild leftward lean, want some suggestion of the non-pinched verticality of upper arm one sees in Sampras or Stosur.

To that end, re-consider this video of the young Don Budge.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/golden_legends/donbudge/donbudge_sa.html?DB1stSRear.mov

Is his upper arm vertical yet non-pinched? Pretty much so. What especially interests me is the pivot of his rear heel outward as his hips pivot outward while sliding along the baseline and all of this against a braced front leg.

These three "outwards" while shoulders wind backward and go inward toward opposite fence equal grounded leftward lean that won't hurt my back and might not hurt someone else's although you never know.

[bottle]

Upper Arm Angle in a Slice Serve

Is one's upper arm too parallel to court when one starts one's internal rotation of it in one's wide slice serve?

In the following clip one can see Dennis Ralston's upper arm start below parallel and go then above parallel and finally twist with all of this the function of an easy, natural throw.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/famouscoach/denn_ralston/developing_the_slice_serve/developing_the_slice_serve.html

If contact on ball's upper right quadrant is a goal, one may find that goal better enabled this way over others.

[tennis_chiro]

Elbow should go continuously up and forward

Is one's upper arm too parallel to court when one starts one's internal rotation of it in one's wide slice serve?

In the following clip one can see Dennis Ralston's upper arm start below parallel and go then above parallel and finally twist with all of this the function of an easy, natural throw.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/famouscoach/denn_ralston/developing_the_slice_serve/developing_the_slice_serve.html

If contact on ball's upper right quadrant is a goal, one may find that goal better enabled this way over others.

Bottle, through the service motion the elbow moves, ideally, continuously up and forward once it completes its rearward motion. Ralston is demonstrating a drill and a way to learn a true wide slice. If you saw Sampras's wide slice, it would appear that his arm was almost as much extended upward as on his regular serve although it would probably be just slightly lower and more in front as Ralston suggests. Once you get the feeling of what the wrist is doing in this lower version slice, the advanced player will have to learn to use that action in a more regular extended motion. But the low wide toss is a great way to get the feel of the wide slice. I have my student's learn to hit a "sidewinder". I show them how to serve from all the way out at the doubles alley sideline. I toss the ball at barely more than shoulder level and way to the right and hit a serve that skims very low but turns a great deal. Try it out!

Also, the motion Ralston is demonstrating is a good model for the club player who wants to add a slice serve to his repertoire.

don

[bottle]

Thanks.

I will, and thanks for the focused detail.

I'll bet old Dennis, who is exactly my age, could do Long Toss. What does one think? 175 feet instead of 350 just to be safe?

http://www.jaegersports.com/blog/category/videos/

[bottle]

From Three Dimensions to Two

The tennis coach Ralph Waldo Emerson, equally good as Fred Emerson and Roy, said, "Simplify, simplify, simplify!"

If you are in the tennis stroke invention business as I am, and as I believe the 47 per cent all should be, you may come to my conclusion that the best event possible is when you remove something from a stroke.

The thing removed could be too much sequence or a psychological something or purely a wrong idea.

In examining the service motion of John McEnroe-- an absolute no-no and worst imitation possible as I was soon informed by knowledgeable persons-- I noticed a double-bend of the hips.

By that I mean that John McEnroe's hips stuck out, simultaneously, in two different directions: 1) toward the net and 2) toward the side fence.

I subsequently noticed the same phenomenon in many other top players.

Athletically, this is possible for anyone though complex. Psychologically, if you can do something more spare, double-bending hips could be a disaster.

In the following serve, the hips, rotating, go out toward the side fence as shoulders, counter-rotating, go out slightly toward the opposite side fence.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/golden_legends/donbudge/donbudge_sa.html?DB1stSRear.mov

Is this not enough body bend, or stringing of a long bow, or winching back on the pulleys of a crossbow, or loading of a blunderbuss or whatever you want to call it?

The hips once started are going to keep going so that what was side bend is now going to be straight forward bend aimed at one's target.

At any time during this process one can send the shoulders forward from the hips as little or as much as one wants, adding weight to the shot.

More simple, this seems to me.

Note: One's front foot could also be flat as hips spinning against front side firmness glide out to one's right. At that point the hips change fulcrum from back foot to front foot and spin in a broader, more forward way, bringing the rear leg around, or perhaps letting it stay almost in place to rise a bit. These serves are oldies but goodies.

[bottle]

Coriolis Force

A hurricane in the northern hemisphere revolves counter-clockwise while following an often curved path. For the right-hander then, the hips spin to the outside in a small circle which then develops into a larger circle forward as jackknife muscles also come into the act. All this can be foundation for a powerful arm and hand throw.

[bottle]

Halloween in December

I am perfectly happy to report a new iteration that will blow away all previous iterations of my present serve, which as you already know, esteemed reader, grew out of a numbing of the right leg through my experiments in leftward lean.

Also, my left leg, weakened by meniscus tears and repairs six years previous, collapsed during a wide ball bouncing left beyond the tramlines when I knew that my doubles partner wouldn’t follow, and so I made the shot but then sprang unnaturally back to cover the hole left behind me.

Well, that’s what happens when you use your legs a lot as a young man. As a member of the Brown University Cinderella crews, I recently attended a fiftieth anniversary of our championships in which, out of thirty or so individuals, one exhibited two good knees that were his own-- the varsity coxswain. My theory is that oarsmen learn to push so hard with their legs that later in life they still know how to do so, and therefore injure themselves in activity other than when they row.

So even Roger Federer is going to have bad knees. As will all the modern tennis players who think they are Air Jordan in overcoming their full body weight every time they serve.

I’ll say one thing, reader, to prove that I like you. After your first meniscus repair, make sure during the subsequent rehabilitation that your quad is working properly since your specialist may not check.

Otherwise, like me, you may become a “gimpy-grumpy,” the actual user-name of a person here in this forum before he became too moribund to write.

Or, almost as bad, you’ll fly to the right for a distant ball which all three other persons know you’ll never get. But you will reach it and hit a winning shot. Absolutely incredible in view of your uneven gait!

But on the next point you’ll hear a snap in your calf muscle similar to a hammer blow and you will yell.

“Walk it off, John. Maybe you can still play.”

And then it’s over and your team has won. Same person: “I don’t know about that false injury. I actually was beginning to feel sorry for you.”

I, you, she, it or they will feel uplifted and next play tennis two more times before, while lugging around a bunch of heavy bronze sculptures of Cupid for silent auction in a church fair, your (my, their, our) right ankle and foot may begin to swell.

The same lady who approaches the irreligious me any time I enter that church was unaware of my edema and said, “So, John, have you succumbed to Jesus?”

It was off instead to my personal physician and then following her direction to the hospital for a Doppler test. The verdict: “You don’t have a blood clot but you do have a hematoma and an appointment with...”

So I’m sitting here with both feet up on a bed waiting for the appointment and writing with a pencil. The right ankle and foot are triple the size of the left.

A good time for a new iteration of the Don Budge serve.

There really is just one video that feeds this challenge, again and again.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/golden_legends/donbudge/donbudge_sa.html?DB1stSRear.mov

“Nissessity is da Mutha uv ennervashun” is my natural pre-verbal voice, which does require translation, I realize, to my adopted voice: NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF ENERVATION.

No, invention and not enervation.

Let’s start with J. Donald Budge’s initial stance which unlike all conventional stances past and present sees the two feet as parallel to one another.

That’s static foundation. Moving foundation, different, will be a sequence: sway, hips, shoulders, hips, legs, arm, i.e., 123456, which, although not planned serving rhythm (that is still to be evolved and likely to be 1234), is certainly a good learn rhythm reflecting what will happen.

We—you, listener, and I, talker—have extensively discussed the “threshing heels” at the bottom of the healthful Don Budge serve—a kind of foundation once again.

Differences this time are A) nature of second half of the thresh with a hips turn to begin only at the end of it, and B) the way arm coordinates with body and C) There is no further hips turn associated with leg coming through.

Although Don Budge and his coach after older brother Lloyd, Tom Stow, both have stressed that no weight shift occurs until tossed ball changes direction, I take this to mean that there is indeed forward linear travel that embraces the early toss.

First one sways, tall. Then front knee bends so that front heel comes up. Then front heel goes down (usually) as rear heel comes up. How far down, though? All the way to the court or not—your choice.

The sway and front knee bending constitute forward travel but without much weight. As front knee bends the hips turn backward.

As thresh completes with the two heels trading elevation, the racket has risen to where it is parallel to court, and the hips have stayed where they are while the shoulders wound back more.

Next, the hips rotate forward, pivoting the rear heel to prepare for a pigeon-toed take-off by one foot only. The arm meanwhile has risen to the trophy position everybody talks about, although in this particular serve there is no pause there whatsoever. The racket is always on the move.

But the hips rotation, unique, needs further elucidation. The front leg, holding firm, is not involved.

Now comes thrust of the legs with both of them pushing in the same direction upward. But how hefty is the rear leg’s role? Not very since its start was not from ball of foot but tippy-toes.

I’m prepared to say that the leftward lean started by rotating hips moving along the baseline is continued slightly by rear leg lightly pushing off of the court.

This is important since internally rotating arm and hand are throwing just then. One wants centrifugal and centripetal forces to balance at contact. The head may move a little therefore but not go wild.

It is racket only that brings the leg forward. That leg is a pirate’s “peg-leg,” the opposite of more active left leg in the more contemporary Air Jordan landing, which occurs on balance with rear leg thrust out.

So, will this whole scheme turn out to be the ultimate iteration beyond which there is no other? Will I have from this moment, unarguably, a great or even good serve?

I certainly believe so, and that is my method, with my passionate belief in present experiment or hypothesis the essential ingredient every time.

One iteration and then its reinforcement and then another and another until the last iteration unless there is still another in the works—the way that people learn.

[don_budge]

Sorry John...

Really sorry to hear that John...when you read this you know that I am sending my best wishes to you.

I have seen that injury several times recently and it is fairly common...particularly among aging weekend warriors. That popping noise is really disconcerting. The calf and achilles tendon seem to be weight bearing areas and as we are pushing and shoving off of them like we were 25 again...they take on a great deal of stress. Last year I had some inflammation in my achilles and fortunately it healed nicely. But ever since then I have been a bit more conscious of strengthening that area of my leg to prevent the worst case scenario. I am doing the work out regimen that Mark what's his name wrote up this past several months.

Please keep us posted and I know that I speak for every one in wishing you all of the strength that it will take to rehabilitate from your injury. Go with God.

[bottle]

Right. When you hear that hammer blow, you know it's the crack of doom.

[bottle]

Four weeks of no tennis. Stretching exercises. Heat and cold. Compression. Common sense. Will heal. If I'd been standing on my head the swelling (accumulations of blood) would have been at knee and above.

[bottle]

So someone other than me can try this last interpretation of mine of the Don Budge serve before I do.

My mistake, I think, was in assuming that the hips rotating on rear foot then continue to rotate on front foot, and that this all is, in essence, a single move.

No. The hips do rotate and pivot back foot as racket rises to a vertical, high position-- "high trophy" if you like but not stopping or slowing there.

Leg drive then works with arm load and pre-load as in more modern serves.
There's just less of it (leg drive), but there is, interesting to me at least, jack-knifing of the upper body and from a firm butt although it's always going to go back a bit.

As I opined before, motion at the top of the serve carries the peg-leg forward, I'm quite sure.