A New Year's Serve

[bottle]

More on Concealing a Lob

Few players of style have ever communicated exactly how they hit a lob outside of speaking with their racket.

Harold Solomon is one, writing in the old book MASTERING YOUR TENNIS STROKES. If I could easily find it I would extrapolate from it here, but my general recollection is of full body contribution blended with elaborate racket work and everything to travel together upward.

Of course Solomon is a very small man. Small persons have the advantage in fully controlling bod through any complex athletic or balletic move.

Other bigger persons on the current tour may be so fast that, arriving at the ball, they have almost unlimited time to do whatever they want.

We slower recreational players can mentally put ourselves in their shoes, but would we really want to hit a lob off of a big overhand loop?

Me, I've been more likely to simply place the racket down low to begin the lob.

But I rebel now, looking for compromise.

The lob, hit off of Katoui forehand preparation, has bought for itself a bunch of extra time.

So will there be leg extension? How about body straightening? And banking up of the hitting shoulder? Should an old man fly up in the air?

I would prefer a maximum number of options here, including the choice of adding just at contact some radial wrist rotation to the whole arm rotation-- because I've probably just run a long way and not too fast either. Keeping head and body as still as possible might be the way to go.

[bottle]

Brave and Braver Forehand Lobs

The two best senior senior lobbers in the Grosse Pointe, Michigan tennis establishment make no attempt to disguise this shot.

And the height of their lobs is conditioned by the height of the roof under which they customarily play during the winter months.

Every player should wish to improve, however, and improve specifically within their peer group no matter anybody's age.

In most of these peer groups an unbelievably high lob-- outside-- is a great asset nearly every time.

To conceal a forehand lob off of a Katoui forehand one need only continue roll-back of the forearm while plying it forward (and while keeping elbow back and mondoing wrist same as usual too).

To increase height then one can blend forward arm roll with forward/upward elbow travel having delayed both until then. Some added body extension is apt to occur too.

Does this all take a little longer than a normal Katoui forehand? Yes it does. So both shots should be practiced together.

[bottle]

Armament within the Katoui Plot

1) Katoui forehand (no loop)

2) lob (small loop)

3) moonball (even smaller loop but nevertheless a loop)

Note: In a staple Katoui forehand a jibe substitutes for a loop, i.e., the palm of one's hand becomes a sail which pops open with air to push one's wrist back (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jibe).

[bottle]

Lob, Katoui, Lob, Katoui

Was in neighborhood of tennis court yesterday checking on health of Aunt Frieda, 102, and therefore decided on ten minutes of self-feed.

This was first self-feed since injury to right leg. Another first was Katoui self-feed since that never had been done. Happily, the Katoui from doubles last Saturday was still there, and right leg despite the possible foolishness of anything to do with tennis today is still there also (first medical appointment is on Monday).

Today: lob, Katoui, lob, Katoui. For technical reasons already explained these two shots are a natural pair. I do not anticipate this practice lasting more than ten minutes.

[bottle]

PetraKordian

Such vivid description and evidence of life outside of tennis (http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/t...#calculator=90 degrees in the streets of Amsterdam). I almost hate to get back to my PetraKordian. But bottle's tennis game must march on.

The crucial part of the PetraKordian, it seems to me, occurs right after the backswing when bent arm is fully back and up, and front foot has either stepped out or is about to.

We know what the arm does or at least have stated essential motions for it, viz., a straightening and roll of it to the outside.

We know too what the hips are supposed to do in tandem with this motion of the arm. And we know that the hips contribution becomes greater if we use the splay splay formula, i.e., splay one foot back and the other forward. There may be additional steps in between or not.

Lay on hips-- that's all I want to say. That will better activate the accordion part of the PetraKordian-- the rising of already rotated body from the leg.

The rest of the stroke, a short stretch of arm work, is almost an afterthought.

[stotty]

Walker Percy, the late novelist, wrote about a similar incident where somebody fell through a skylight. His theory was that the people in the museum then looked at the paintings with better attention and understanding. Was that true for you and your family?

Tough to say as we were just about to exit the museum when it all kicked off. Amsterdam has a mad, chaotic side to it which no one told me about. Just about anything can happen. The people are friendly yet robust. People fall off bikes but just get up and hop back on as if nothing had happened...the women too. I love the way beautiful women race around on bikes in long flowing summer dresses. It's sight to behold on a hot summers day. The temperature here is 32c.

Stotty

[bottle]

Good advice. Don't have any movements in there that serve no purpose. Simplicity is key. Yet why is it that trying to be simple is never simple?

Amazing day today. Went to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam where I am presently vacationing. A fight broke out between a Dutchman and a Brit. The Dutchman was upset because the Brit called the Dutchman's wife a bitch over some incident that happened in the lift. Both men were whirring around the museum amidst priceless paintings and at one time just six feet away from Sunflowers. The Dutchman (a strong man) overwhelmed the Brit who then started yelling for security. Security cam and pulled the Dutchman off the Brit. Both were then escorted off the premises. The incident certainly woke the browsing intellectuals up....and my family. My son though it was the highlight of the day.

What a great man Van Gogh was. He only started to paint aged 27 and became a master in no time. Aged 37 he was dead. Ten years of painting, virtually non-stop. He could have been a writer. His letters to Theo and to other painters were detailed and wonderfully written.

Walker Percy, the late novelist, wrote about a similar incident where somebody fell through a skylight. His theory was that the people in the museum then looked at the paintings with better attention and understanding. Was that true for you and your family?

[stotty]

Stotty's Advice for Hitting a See See

"Use as few moving parts as possible."

Good advice. Don't have any movements in there that serve no purpose. Simplicity is key. Yet why is it that trying to be simple is never simple?

Amazing day today. Went to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam where I am presently vacationing. A fight broke out between a Dutchman and a Brit. The Dutchman was upset because the Brit called the Dutchman's wife a bitch over some incident that happened in the lift. Both men were whirring around the museum amidst priceless paintings and at one time just six feet away from Sunflowers. The Dutchman (a strong man) overwhelmed the Brit who then started yelling for security. Security cam and pulled the Dutchman off the Brit. Both were then escorted off the premises. The incident certainly woke the browsing intellectuals up....and my family. My son though it was the highlight of the day.

What a great man Van Gogh was. He only started to paint aged 27 and became a master in no time. Aged 37 he was dead. Ten years of painting, virtually non-stop. He could have been a writer. His letters to Theo and to other painters were detailed and wonderfully written.

[bottle]

Loop Lob

By cutting in half the major components of a normal mondo-- 1) rolling down forearm and 2) laying back wrist-- the Katoui (katooey) Forehand attempts a small loop.

This happens since forearm without turning elbow already rolled back. Hence laying back the wrist would take racket head down. The only thing is, if you want the sensation of palm filling like a sail, the forearm will roll forward at the same time. Instead of summing, the famous two elements will cancel each other out but still create the sail. Or diaphragm. Or something with a rubbery feel square to the net and essential to the shot.

To lob from this construct one simply does not roll forearm forward. This forms the loop that tried to form before.

Elbow stays back the same to get rod of arm forward for a big push straight up in this case.

[bottle]

Stotty's Advice for Hitting a See See

"Use as few moving parts as possible."

In my case that would be the solid body shot I call my McEnrueful, a stroke that is sad it isn't a John McEnroe forehand.

Terminology in play here: "see see" or topspin angle. Preferred version: short crosscourt although short reverse crosscourt could be good too.

On Saturday I hit one of these see sees for a clean winner. "Bet he can't do that again," one of my opponents said to the other people on the court.

But using few moving parts should give me a good chance.

My McEnrueful employs early separation of the hands along with bowl-back in which the arm goes down and up before making solid connection with the bod.

With step-out already having occurred, the hitting shoulder banks down in tandem with hips rotating forward against flat front foot.

The ball then is hit from shoulder rotating around while banking up-- with solid bod in other words.

The counter-argument is success in achieving the angle in other ways.

But I have decided now to always try for a solid shot with bent thumb on 7.5 pointy ridge.

One thing though. Shots using more independent arm may have more room for last instant adjustment along with their greater propensity for mistake.

Position of feet is more crucial-- with the solid body version of see see-- than perhaps with any other tennis shot.

[bottle]

How Much is the New Stroke Private or Potentially Public?

Nothing wrong with private strokes. The tour is full of them. But if the stroke is very simple, why not give it away? I'd love to teach my Katoui to a tabula rasa, somebody with a sawed off racket-- a person who never heard of Katharine Hepburn.

This infant's first stroke wouldn't be better than a Federerian or Nadalian forehand but still would prove far superior to the majority of forehands currently being taught.

Or do I delude myself? Should I learn from a painful experience I had in Winston-Salem North Carolina at a time when I thought I had Roger Federer's forehand figured out?

When I met a good looking Eurochick at a party I told her I could teach her Roger Federer's forehand and she agreed to a couple of lessons.

The result was a disaster. She over-thought every move and added her complications to my own, in fact creaked like a rusty gate and had to sit down gasping against the back fence despite being well put together.

And yet she was very smart and clearly educable, a libertarian professor of economics at Salem College who subsequently was flown across the pond to explain her private enterprise laden national health care plan before the Swiss Parliament.

So what went wrong? I'm still trying to figure that out. We drove from one court to another after which she observed that I didn't drive fast enough.

Even worse, my Federfore or imitation Federer forehand began to fail me too in all of my own singles matches.

So I don't know if the Katoui is readily transferrable to my hypothetical infant or anyone else. Perhaps one needs to have developed a modified grip system in which the tip of one's thumb always touches a pointy ridge. And a wait position with racket cheated low to backhand side. And early separation of the two hands like McEnroe, Austin, Connors and Evert.

It's so simple. The forearm of three-quarter length arm simply rolls in time with all other backswing elements while wrist stays straight. The forearm next rolls forward while the palm lays back like a filling sail. The whole arm rolls more slowly as the elbow finally goes out. The departing penetrating ball carries heavy topspin with sharp veer to one's inside. What a shot and what more does one want? This shot is good enough.

[bottle]

The Katoui

If my new forehand is as important as I think I ought to give it a name.

I considered "The Katharine Hepburn Destiny Forehand" then "The Kate Fate" but am going with "Katoui."

Our little doubles match-- Katharine Hepburn and I beating my brother and her brother-- had to have a payoff.

Her brother had seen my Aguecheek in the University of Rhode Island Theater-- another factor-- but the biggie was beating that good player, Dick, and the other good player, Derek.

And so I got a call from Dick. I would be the skinny fool in COCO since the old one just quit, and had 24 hours in which to learn 140 lines. I would stay in Kate's brownstone for the duration of the run.

I am not so stupid as not to realize this was a remarkable and generous offer. And I remember telling the story decades later to actors at the North Carolina School of the Arts and hearing them thoroughly condemn me as a complete idiot.

I just felt that I already had enough madness in my life. And didn't think I could learn 140 lines on the train ride to New York. And wasn't sure what life in the brownstone would be.

Years later when I'd read every biography of Kate, I wondered if any of the authors had an identity of his or her own.

In the book written by A. Scott Berg the most important detail came from Berg's initial interview of Hepburn in the aforementioned brownstone (the interior of which I saw twice).

The big question, with allusion to Kate's urologist father, was how often Kate thought Berg should pee.

I'll put my identity in the forehand that she praised a lot and that helped us beat her brother and my brother. Its name: "The Katoui."

[bottle]

A Loop That Isn't A Loop

I tend to become hyper, giddy, carbonated when a new stroke truly works out.

The situation is compounded by my getting injured at the same time.

My sober re-assessments are impossible. I can't get out on a court, play doubles, encounter the talented people who will expose my new discovery as a sham.

Usually, that is what happens. Okay, the new thing worked against A and B but how about against C and D?

This healthy progression is precluded this time. In fact I can hardly stand up. Hope had tickets to the Tigers-Red Sox game and I didn't want to miss that, so I limped miles through the rain with the aid of my western Mexican rattlesnake cane. A physician from Hope's church saw me limp-climbing down the nosebleed bleachers of Comerica Park and just laughed at my foolish decision not to stay home.

The injury has fixed in time my discovery of the stroke and all the new illusions that come with it.

It is a loop without being a loop. It is only a loop if one thinks solely about what the forearm does. Instead of forearm and wrist pulling together they now pull against one another which puts initial foreswing on a level plane with more chance than usual for repeatable success.

And when you use a modified grip system as I do that always places thumb on a pointy ridge you can lightly hold your stick from top and bottom which helps you from laying back your wrist too soon.

The extra opening of racket face creates excess forward forearm roll. This actually helps the subsequent whole arm roll as the elbow finally goes out-- something that's only been a dream. One puts a big push on the ball like Big Papi hitting a home run to defeat the Tigers 3 to 2 but one gets big spin, too. Wrist lays back as forearm rolls forward. Altogether an extremely satisfactory shot. And the Tigers organization shouldn't have made such a big deal of honoring the retiring Big Papi (David Ortiz) with gifts, testimonials and photographs before the game started last night. He took it as encouragement.

[bottle]

Reflect More

Here comes a thought that seems obvious but is not.

It seems likely that forearm roll backward and forward were accomplished from the forearm.

And that the roll as elbow finally went out was accomplished from the whole arm.

The palm of the hand laying back as forearm rolled forward could have been squashing a mosquito on one's stuck cellar door just before one pushed through.

[bottle]

Further Reflection

It's probably the same forehand I used when I was about 30 and got to play one match with Katharine Hepburn, who was considerably older, against her brother and my brother. I kept hitting that same line even though I was playing the ad side.

Back then, I hit that line because my partner was Katharine Hepburn. Now, 46 years later, I hit it because I finally figured the stupid shot out.