A New Year's Serve

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High Left Ready Position Makes You Want to Tracycake the Opponent

Let's interview Maxim Gorkovich, a hayfield foreman of Count Leo Tolstoy.

"Maxim, is there anyone in your crew who doesn't use the down and up backswing?"

"Oh sure. Osip Oblomov. He reasons that his followthrough has already attained any height that he might want, so he simply circles his body with his scythe."

A whispering sickle is a single handed scythe, one reasons with a sigh. I know I denied something to this effect in earlier exchange with lobndropshot but really he was right, I wrong. His Finnish forebears' sickle-- the one that gave him his tennis forehand-- could be useful again if one were only willing to turn one's arm and one's shoulders perhaps at two different speeds.

Sequence though-- ridiculous! A retarded elementary school shop teacher came up with that harebrained notion and the whole tennis world-- naturally-- followed him down the primrose path including Roger Federer.

This is the corroded paradigm. Turn your shoulders first by keeping opposite hand on the throat. Then separate the hands. Oh sure. Why take one step when you can use two? Why do anything simple when you can anguish endlessly about just where or when to separate the hands?

In a single move, then, one can 1) smoothly point across with opposite hand, 2) smoothly swing the slightly bent arm around with racket head still higher than hand so that four scoops of barber pole striped maple taffy ice cream wouldn't fall out of a cone, 3) smoothly rotate the shoulders.

Time to shift to baseball.

Here's Steve's sidearm pitch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlOttZS9zsc

Dunno. This Duck clearly uses down-and-up. You must admit, reader, he doesn't use an overhand loop like Federer or Lendl but does keep his mitts together for a time.

But he is a pitcher following his own time, not the time of an oncoming ball.

If instead of down-and-up one does go Tracycake, one can still get the sidearm whip. Coming from ground up core rotation. Just don't start the forward core stuff overly soon.

Get the foot down first.

Face it, this is a forehand fast beyond belief. And if you can control it, you are Ellsworth Vines, i.e., good enough.

But the next question is how to add topspin. Or as Steve asks, "What elements of the ATP 3 forehand do you detect?...Footwork? Body Rotation? Motion of the arm? Follow through?..."

My footwork isn't very good today but I've already discussed body rotation. As for motion of the arm, Ducky is cutting a long and broad swatch of hay. Followthrough? Out to side exactly like Chris Evert.

As for this Duck's wrist and forearm action, however, my eyes may not be good enough to see what he has done.

(Escher looks again. He sees flip/mondo. All I would say is remember to rotate frame the full 90 degrees before the followthrough is much underway. And don't do this when hitting the Ellsworth or Chrissie or Jimmie or Tracy or Buffy or Muffy.)

I see real signficance here. It all starts however with taking opposite hand off the racket much sooner than Roger Federer does.

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Re-Assertion of Upper Register Shots

A byproduct of the introduction of Tracycaked flat forehands is that upper register shots have re-asserted themselves.

"Tracycaked" as everyone knows means that arm circles around level keeping racket head higher than hand so that five scoops of tangerine flavored ice cream would not fall out of a no-wheat cone.

From rearward position, as if to reinforce the frozen milk/juice motif, one delivers a slapshot, most difficult for those who never became sufficiently proficient at ice-hockey.

The racket flies slightly downward on no more or less than a 45-degree angle making imaginary contact with a levelness of ice which in this case got frozen at ball height.

Upon contact with the ice, the hockey stick gets all bent out of shape.

Next, as it springs back into shape, it makes contact with the hockey puck followed by a mighty followthrough in direction of the cage.

Obviously, in tennis, one can't do things exactly this way. A flat stroke hit with bent thumb on top left bevel can nevertheless produce a devastating shot.

Essential to this effort, particularly in the beginning, is 1) no fiddle with wrist or forearm-- leave them where they are, and 2) get behind the ball, not under it, even with the feel of hitting level slightly above the ball although that must not actually happen.

For a Federfore one does bests with a return to old habit, i.e., morph from level, high backswing rather soon, i.e., sooner in the backswing than rear point for the Tracycake.

Morph into a confident dog pat.

Of great import is the basic contrast between the two shots-- Slapshot form (forward) for the Tracycake; Dog pat form (backward) for the Federfore along with subsequent flip, pull and oarsman's roll though supercharged rather than finessed.

Although the McEnrueful may be hit off of same preparation, I would recommend a down-and-up as demonstrated by John McEnroe. Why this configuration should prove slightly superior I do not know. Perhaps because of association with John McEnroe or with one's own previous practice.

So there we are, with the same three shots enabled in either upper or lower register. I suggest sticking with the register that works better on a given day.

I prescribed however lower register only as condition for McEnruefuls. Similarly, I vote for upper register only for Federfores.

Why? Because, in constant development, we attempted to combine a slapshot with the Federfore/ATP3.

Probably worked but what happened to dog pat?

Dog pat as everyone knows reduces the pressure of one's blood.

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As the Training Wheels Come Off, Chrissie's and Roger's Backswings Fall by Wayside

Forgive me for forgetting the forearm friend who fingered all tennis fabrication in the following format:

Tennis instructors teach the basics to terrible beginners and awful intermediates.

Advanced players then develop or fail to develop tennis individuality by themselves.

When they fail (the most frequent phenomenon), they become "advanced" in name only while remaining in actuality screwed up intermediates.

(You can tell, reader, by my choice of "screwed up" over the similar but more common expression that I am making a half-hearted attempt here to get away from "f's" and "ph's" that sound like "f's." But that said, alliteration is always irritation or fun cf the vice-presidential crook Spiro Agnew's speechwriter William Safire's "nattering nabobs of negativism.")

The training wheel to which I refer is the keeping of opposite hand on racket throat to aid in unit turn.

But once you've learned it, why keep it? Does not a hearty point across accomplish the same task?

So point across like John, Jimmy, Chrissie and Trace.

Otherwise you'll keep the training wheel embedded in your forehand like Roger or Raf only with lesser result.

But I suggested that Chrissie's forehand backswing, besides Roger's, needed to fall by the rumpside, and though I hate to be apologetic on a Friday, here is Chrissie's great instructional video once again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9WOcEIjGJQ

You will see that she takes her racket around level before raising it. The question: what was her waiting position? Moderately low.

If WP is high with racket by shoulder for a stripped down one hand backhand, one is better off either with the down-and-up of John and Jimmy, or the high level bring-around of Tracycakes.

To this I would add a bit of up-and-down for one's Federfore/ATP3 .

Remember, both arms do the same thing: Down-and-up for Jimmy's sidespin or any McEnrueful, round level and high for the Tracycakes, up-and-down with early dog pat to reduce blood pressure through one's Federfore.

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Federfore Improvedissimus

Referring to # 2283: A great up together truly relaxes one, lowers one's blood pressure, improves one's sex life and income, involves the whole body, increases upward component of the sidespin-topspin mix.

Caveat: Up together but no down together for this shot. ("Keep opposite hand high as it points across for the Federfore.") Down together and up together for some others in particular a "lolly." Does anyone, reader, remember the "lolly" that Peter Burwash wrote about in his first book? The lolly was a different way of dealing with a short high ball. You'd come down to it from high and then swing level. More reliable than a buggy whip with all of its improbables? In any case, the tic-toc backswing is good for finding proper level to begin that forward put-a-way.

Measuring board for today's statements: First tennis social of the season at which I discovered that one of my best friends had become dead. I'm very sad but at least "becoming dead" is superior to "passing away."

Also, though rehabilitated right ankle was equal to the social task, arthritic left leg was worse than ever. Persevered nevertheless and did well. Everything was mixed doubles for me with that decision being made by somebody else.

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Tennis Invention vs. Physical Deterioration

Can the one keep up with the other? Guess which is going to win. In the meantime, I tell myself, keep experimenting with the left (my opposite arm) now that it has twice as much time to point across.

Should it go slightly down and up, straight over or slightly up?

Should it do the same thing for all three basic forehands (Federfore, slap-shot and McEnrueful)? Did I overestimate the worth of having the two arms imitate each other?

Crisp choice of the day: Immediate separation of the arms with left arm going slightly up. Whether straight or slightly bent I won't care so long as comfortable.

That brings us (me) to the right arm. Down and up backward for some slap-shots (flat forehands with a hitting drop). Level around backward for others. Slightly up backward for others: Here the two arms start to mimic each other once again.

I made a choice here concerning left arm. Should I make another concerning right arm for these classically gripped eastern but not Federerian gripped eastern shots? Possibly but if so not yet.

In all the excitement of return to interesting competition and the sprain of un-physical-therapied opposite leg in the first 80 seconds of warmup with the hardest hitters, and the sadness of learning about the death of a good friend, I completely forgot my current adjustment to McEnruefuls, reverted to uninhibited roll continuing after contact.

No, I want to wham roll flush into ball with only enough roll after that to keep the racket frame square-- just to see what will happen.

Note: In this formula all flat shots whether hit hard or soft come to the ball from above. All Federfores come to the ball from below-- hand about level with ball, racket head below the ball:

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/high_speed_archive/phantom/Roger_Federer_Court_Level_HD_HS/index.html?dir=Forehand/RF_FH_Wide&stroke=FH%20Wide%20OpenStance%20CourtLevelFront1%20500fps.mp4

All McEnruefuls come to the ball from below-- both hand and racket head below the ball or hand close to level with the ball:

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/modern_legends/johnmcenroe/mac_forehand/mac_forehand.html?MacFHCenterFront.mov

None of this total scheme can possibly work, reader, unless you have thoroughly learned all three grips and how most easily and economically to change from one to the other. Hint: Memorize some thumb positions.

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In Reply to a Private Message Questioning Early Removal of Opposite Hand

The message disagreed with my contention that hand on throat is mere learning device.

Its author pointed out that opposite hand lends stability to the backswing.

This makes me think that some cocktail waitresses are better than others at balancing a tray full of glasses, and that if Tracy Austin had not been a tennis pro she could have been a perfect cocktail waitress.

If too much solo produces the shakes, I concluded, one would do better to choose the down and up pattern of Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe among famous options of increased one-handedness.

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Resolved

Whereas, if successful servers of today start with an opened out racket, and successful tennis instructors of the past wanted one to start with a vertical racket with hitting side facing the left fence, and whereas such successful instructors as Faulkner and Weymuller then advised opening the racket during a down together up together motion ending with hitting side facing right fence, and whereas John M. Barnaby believed that one should open the racket as it passed the right ankle, be it resolved that all of these ideas, logically speaking, are more similar than not, and one may conclude with impunity that one should accomplish the common goal any way one wants but with a special eye toward the illogical, the mystical and the kinesthetically good.

Me, I think I'll try a quickly smooth yet not snapped feather from rowing as the two hands separate going down. Will this be significantly different from anything tried in the past?

Indeed.

After that I shall enjoy the unencumbered rise of the hands to best throwing position.

Whether to exaggerate or minimize any pause there seems clear irrational choice which I shall make at least during the period when I consciously think about this serve point.

Regardless, the brainwave that starts internal arm rotation particularly upper arm division must happen right then-- in order to achieve the fanciful bedrock of Brian Gordon's great animation of differently colored circular arrows imposed on upper arm and facing one another in direct conflict.

Racket is to twist down on upper arm while striving to twist up-- until the balance between the forces alters creating a catapult.

If this all seems a bad idea, my reader, try something else. Every tennis player should strive for the perfect serve. See you on the court.

P.S. I wish to relegate "conflict of the arrows" to a moment when delayed elbow, compressing, flies forward. There could be a second conflict of the arrows-- in animation-- depicting compression vs. extension for that one as well. That the two conflicts (arm trying to twist this way while twisting the other way) and (arm trying to scissor closed while trying to straighten) should be simultaneous with adduction (independent throw of the elbow) is a working principle of mine just at the moment.

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Upper Register McEnrueful, Slap-Shot and Federfore

Learn or practice slap-shot, which isn't really a slap-shot, first. One cannot distort the racket through contact with high and nonexistent ice, but the term "slap-shot" does convey the notion of a 45-degree hitting drop before level section of the swing begins.

To prepare, raise both hands combined with "natural turn of the shoulders," Chrissie's words.

Second, learn or practice the McEnrueful, for which, if you ever hit it, you may have tried down and up backswing.

From racket's new high position one can roll the strings square during the hitting drop-- that early.

Alternate the two grips with same backswing and contact point. What is the difference in how and where the ball goes?

Third, learn or practice the Federfore. Although both hands start up together the hitting arm travels only half as far as in the other two shots. Dog pat starting so soon puts emphasis where it belongs-- on flip and pull and roll.

Beware: Thoroughly know the three grips required and how most easily to adjust to the desired one.

Personal note: Original crossing move of opposite hand is now the same for all of these shots whether upper or lower register.

General note: Suppose you don't like this or any other equally bizarre scheme in the game? Strive mightily then to imitate everybody else. Next, if you get jaded, become a tennis commentato.

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Fabulous Furniture as Seen through the Eyes of an Artist

Scientists and artists are not as far apart as is commonly supposed.

The artist wishes to be more subjective, doesn’t consider his insertion of opinion to be tragic, necessarily.

His subjectivity, if nothing else, offers some focus though focus of a different sort.

In the following article by Brian Gordon, note the spinning barrel. It used to be brown. Now it is red.

To identify it, let’s use the old publisher’s term from a time when publishers had credibility. The publishers would refer to “furniture,” which would mean photographs, charts, drawings, objects or anything else inserted into a text.

The furniture here is # 12 if one counts down from the top. It is called “Tilting the Torso Increase Rotation.”

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/biomechanics/brian_gordon/upward_swing_part_1/upward_swing_part_1.html

In another article here, also by Brian Gordon, please note furniture # 3, where two arrow points keep coming together.

Note also where in the serve this happens. Adduction (independent throw of elbow) just occurred.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/biomechanics/brian_gordon/upward_swing_part_1/upward_swing_part_1.html

In this next Brian Gordon article, please note furniture # 11, an animation which is alternately called “Muscle Pull Direction: External Rotation” and “Muscle Pull Direction: Internal Rotation.” In fact, the yellow word “external” is replaced by the red word “internal" even as one watches, with the change of color corresponding to the change of arrow direction occurring at the same time.

If this isn’t going to help somebody’s serve, I don’t know what will.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/biomechanics/brian_gordon/serve_back_swing_upper_body/serve_back_swing_upper_body.html

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Me, I think I'll try a quickly smooth yet not snapped feather from rowing as the two hands separate going down. Will this be significantly different from anything tried in the past?

Indeed.

After that I shall enjoy the unencumbered rise of the hands to best throwing position.

Opening racket in this manner leads one to immediately want to raise the racket on a wider and more roundabout path than that formed by the gravity which took it down. I went with this "feel" and was not displeased.

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Cue Talk in Billiards, Theater and Tennis Serve

In theater, join a group. In billiards, go to this website:

https://www.youtube.com/user/DrDaveBilliards

In serving, decide whether one's motion will include a conscious hitting pause, the suspicion of such a conscious pause, or no pause at all.

Here generality ends as we (I) become personal.

Building on two "feels" discovered in the recent posts just before this one, I opt for even more continuity of motion to generate a third such "feel."

Feel 1) uses feather from rowing as the two hands separate in their gravity-determined fall. If your rowboat had pins through the oarlocks so that you never could learn how to row properly, roll the racket open now from halfway down to bottom of its first fall.

Feel 2) uses newfound energy from this transformation for a mountain-climber's traverse.

Operative image is still a gorge, but your racket no longer follows the fall line on its way up.

It does fall down the fall line (first side of the gorge) but traverses around the opposite wall to take itself to the top, i.e., to that point where elbow, shoulder and elbow line up.

But in so doing, in no way does it hesitate. That change of direction, if you want to call it a bit of a pause, is so fast that nobody can see it. I draw on my experience in rowing again, namely at the catch. (And I did race a couple weeks ago at the 175th Anniversary of the Detroit Boat Club, America's oldest.)

With no hesitation one's racket head enters and leaves the forest of the conflict of arrows.

Already the arm has begun its transformation from straight to fully pressed together as it prematurely tries to transform from fully pressed together to fully straight.

Already the arm has begun its conflict between external and internal rotations.

To this we now add a third conflicted feel: Arm trying to fly forward against momentum generated from the circular mountain-climber's traverse. Elbow tries here to fly forward in the horrid because sterile Latinate term known as "adduction."

We combine three arrows simultaneously changing direction and color: external-internal twist, compression-extension, elbow draw back-elbow fly forward.

These three builds combine as one into a powerful release.

The paradox of all this: No pause and yet there is a pause. The three motions slowed and changed direction-- did they not?

Very nice will be if rising ground force adds to this pressure.

Moral: Few people-- three or four-- could explain best serves in the world to the general tennis playing public with clarity enough that anyone could use this precious knowledge.

While Tennis Player including its forearm has immeasurably added to this knowledge (I try to draw on that here), the most successful teachers come down to Goran Ivanisevic and his student-protegee Ivan Ljubicic accounting between them for Marin Cilic and Milos Raonic. Whoever helped John Isner develop his serve should be equally well known.

Such brains behind the scene-- perhaps wisely-- don't share.

Ivanisevic is a big concealer when he says, "Throw the ball up and hit it."

The ordinary tennis player, if sufficiently passionate, is therefore left to work things out on his own.

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Rory McIlroy's Backswing

We may like Caroline Wozniacki. I certainly do except for some of her dresses and the way she grimaces as she looks up with open mouth at her tossed ball as if she is a baby bird hoping to be fed.

But we shouldn't dismiss her former fiance Rory McIlroy, particularly his forehand backswing. (Oh, sorry for confusing two different sports.)

The golfer Ricky Fowler advised keeping hips still to activate the rubber bands in the gut.

The golfer Rory McIlroy rejects that notion asserting that shoulders won't rotate backward far enough.

So he advises holding hips in place first but then letting them go to complete the full shoulders turn.

I tried this with my new forehands and was not displeased.

I conclude that the concept of unit turn in tennis where it applies to hips and shoulders moving together is a crock of ka-ka.

Note: You can tell here that I went to the dentist yesterday before going to the court. Dr. Sweeney's wife came up to the dental chair and announced that he was a bit hung up pulling teeth in another room. "Would you like a magazine?" she asked. "Yes." "What kind of magazine?" "Golf magazines." She brought two.

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Playing the Numbers

We combine three arrows simultaneously changing direction and color: external-internal twist, compression-extension, elbow draw back-elbow fly forward.

These three builds combine as one into a powerful release.

I may be right, I may be wrong, But I've got the right to sing this song.-- Pete Seeger

The subject here is not exacerbation of hatred for Americans but rather the classic conundrum of all courtdom whether in tennis or law: Is this physical action or sentence to be served concurrently or in sequence?

We may have identified some key contributors to racket head speed but are we sure they should fire at once?

We are not. We hope, rather optimistically, that some may overpower others to create the greatest possible result.

We turn now to charts one, two and three in an article by Brian Gordon: "contributors to racket head speed at low point"..."at halfway point"..."before contact:"

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/biomechanics/brian_gordon/serve_tennis_science%20_brian_gordon/serve_tennis_science%20_brian_gordon.html

Can we work backwards to take these numbers into imperative act? Can we even do that?

Remember, reader, I'm just following some quirky progression per usual-- roll-up in crew applied to another sport.

A loose throw despite the conflicting forces within it is what we want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XryKA3z_uWk

To try: Simultaneity of conflicted arm folding and conflicted elbow's change of direction-- two different pressure builds.

Delayed: Backward twist of arm, at least for a rotorded server. This can happen now with actual throw of elbow.

Worst case: Won't work.

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Revision

In the Brian Gordon article linked to post # 2293, Brian says, "You can't train a motion dependent torque in the same way you can train a muscle driven joint torque."

Non-muscular torques: elbow and wrist extension. Muscular torques: Elbow throw (adduction), trunk rotation, legs.

In the light of this intelligence, I feel I should revise the order of contribution suggested in # 2293 .

Also, I'm pretty sure I don't want anything muscular going on in the arm compression-extension complex but should just let the bending and extending be relaxed and loose, i.e., "spaghetti arm."

That leaves as central reverse of shoulder traverse (muscular).

Everything else in the present experiment should stay the same.

Nerve locking agent rendering triceps (elbow extensor) useless showed little negative effect on a serve, according to Brian.

So stop the elbow, say I. That plus totally relaxed arm is how arm extends FAST.

Trial

As usual, nothing expected came true. But a few good serves happened. Throughout most of the self-feed session they lurked somewhere in the dark waiting to come out.

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How Slow Can You Go?

Up together down together but halfway down the hands separate and continue down. During this continuation the racket can roll open somewhat or a lot. The server should experiment with different amounts, e.g., 10 degrees, 12 degrees, 31 degrees, etc.

Now the racket starts a fast traverse around opposite wall of a steep gorge.

Why fast?

To make time at top of the gorge to see how slow one can go.

I speak of bending the arm very slowly but with no further use of muscle. A bit of muscle does get used immediately after the racket has opened down low.

And then the arm will start to bend. How much or little and when and for what duration? And can one coordinate slowness of one's breath with motion dependent torque?

Why shouldn't one oxygenate at address?

One could match each bob up of the on-edge racket with a short intake of breath.

And each bob downward with a quick exhalation.

Followed by a longer intake for the final bob up.

And a very long exhalation until the racket arm begins to relax bent, coordinated with intake as long as the previous outtake.

I used to mess with breathing in connection with the parts of any serve. Later I decided that breathing should remain unconscious.

The grunters and shriekers of the game are pretty conscious about breath, but being loud is certainly no necessity for someone like Federer.

Try some coordination and forget it and then try it again. Feel around always in a sport like tennis or golf.