Report
Guess what: These backhands work, although they raise for me the somewhat uncomfortable thought that the top batting coaches in baseball explain ground strokes in tennis better than the top mechanics in tennis itself.
But how much am I supposed to care? Am I really out to reform tennis instruction like World's Best Coach? Am I that generous? No, I want a good backhand. And if everybody was smart whom would there be left for me to destroy as I feel very, very good about myself, as I did early Tuesday morning when I was the only person on the winner's court three times.
Not that I have found Eldorado or the Fountain of Youth or even my best backhand. I most certainly am on track however and that alone may provide the biggest high or "rush" as we romantics of the sixties were apt to say even if we were among the straighter members of that club.
Still to be determined: A) Should closed front foot stay flat in a single position (simple) or pivot a bit on heel (complex)? And B) Since feel of my backhand is now more like a baseball swing in which all elements of transition are built into the dynamic action of forwardness, should I save a bit of forward arm straightening for then, too?*
Finally, I reserve Wawrinkle rollover for the future, reveling for the time being in a flat hand single piece swing with racket trailing directly behind my hand until long after contact.
*Answer: No. Get arm straight (barred) while it is high, as you (I) stride out.
Guess what: These backhands work, although they raise for me the somewhat uncomfortable thought that the top batting coaches in baseball explain ground strokes in tennis better than the top mechanics in tennis itself.
But how much am I supposed to care? Am I really out to reform tennis instruction like World's Best Coach? Am I that generous? No, I want a good backhand. And if everybody was smart whom would there be left for me to destroy as I feel very, very good about myself, as I did early Tuesday morning when I was the only person on the winner's court three times.
Not that I have found Eldorado or the Fountain of Youth or even my best backhand. I most certainly am on track however and that alone may provide the biggest high or "rush" as we romantics of the sixties were apt to say even if we were among the straighter members of that club.
Still to be determined: A) Should closed front foot stay flat in a single position (simple) or pivot a bit on heel (complex)? And B) Since feel of my backhand is now more like a baseball swing in which all elements of transition are built into the dynamic action of forwardness, should I save a bit of forward arm straightening for then, too?*
Finally, I reserve Wawrinkle rollover for the future, reveling for the time being in a flat hand single piece swing with racket trailing directly behind my hand until long after contact.
*Answer: No. Get arm straight (barred) while it is high, as you (I) stride out.
Comment