A New Year's Serve

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By Making Backswing into Something that is Mechanically Consistent (racket twist internal, racket twist external then wrist opening to propel one's "float"), one won't have to Think so much during that part of the Stroke other than Finding Level of the Ball.

One can put one's mojo then entirely into easy sweep forward and dancer's smoothness of pivot through ball (Elly-bam); or. purity of fast propeller twirl combined with similar shoulder press or extension although arm will already be straight on one's topspin forehand, which also will be hit with stronger grip.

On paper these backswing mechanics, same for both shots, seem complex, lugubrious and slow. In actuality this is a single deft move that takes no longer than the simple down and up in a John McEnroe forehand. Although there is more to do, the timing which includes the versatile "float" is just the same.

Aspirationally, at least for an old guy, the topspin option now becomes quite weird. First the propelled "float" goes up rather than any other direction. Second, at top of this rise you already are trying to crank the racket the other way. Only one's elbow straightening just then prevents the twirl from twirling early.

Remember, one twisted racket one way then the other just before floating it. Now one starts twirling in original direction-- at top of the backswing-- although there won't yet be actual twist movement in that direction.

Self-feed Exercise: Hit some topspin forehands with wrist held fully laid back even in wait position. Start with wrist laid back, in other words, and only straighten it after the ball is gone. Just hope this exercise doesn't work too well since that may lead to an editing of one's backswing all over again.

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Flipping Racket out of Opposite Hand to Start one's Forehand can Work

The opposite hand can start its down and up point at side fence at same time.

The hitting arm can next start its down and up with twist-in happening on the down and twist-out on the up and a second twist-in trying to happen from the top yet prevented from doing so by arm straightening at the elbow.

That straightening of the arm (dogpat) retards the twist-in for only so long. Baton twirl, stubbing, continues and with sudden acceleration.

Note to Reader: I hope you have enjoyed this latest spate of tennis introspection running through several posts. And find the conclusion as disturbing as I do since it involves new vistas and new work. Flipping wrist open to start definitely gives the stroke a whole new shape which could be bad or good.

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Backswing for Elly-bam Now Becomes Simpler

Save the dipsey-doodle of racket twisting one way then the other on down and up backswing for topspin shots.

For topspin OR flat, the flip start now seems best (and I hope I won't have to recant and return to earlier line of thought).

On Elly-bam backswing the racket needn't do any twisting as it then, after the flip, bowls backward to find level of the ball.

End the forward stroke by pointing racket tip at the target with the hips!

That is the ideal. But if I have tried to hit too hard the arm continues off toward side fence. Maybe that's what Bud Collins meant by a windmill.

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Tearing up One's Old Stroke: The only Reason I can See for not Doing what I do (I invent a lot of stuff, something new every day)

And it's worse than that. Often one will tear up a design that only came into being three hours before.

Face it. The Elly-bam needs elegance on the backswing to become repeatable. And backswing is not a subject that Mercer Beasley even addresses in the only real source of technical information we have on the Ellsworth Vines forehand (HOW TO PLAY TENNIS by Mercer Beasley and Milton Holmes, 1936).

So now I ask where, player, is your racket in neutral/wait position: low left, middle centered, high centered? That matters to what happens next. I have to proceed from what I personally use, middling but offset a bit to left.

And I have been flirting with flip wrist layback followed by a down and up motion of the arm.

That is three steps where there should be two.

First step: racket backswing like a backhand in composite grip. Racket backswings down and around and up. That sounds like three steps but is only two-- down and up. The wrist can gradually open during this whole scimitar. But one will only achieve the perfect feel of that through a great willpower of delicacy.

The most economical thing will be if one finds level of ball with end of the racket rise.

But that cannot always happen. One will frequently then replace the racket down, up, to the side, maybe back a bit thus providing transition before the free-wristed onset of the level, forward swing from beginning to end.

Can there be transition on some shots and not on others? I don't see why not.

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Continued

As the most obnoxious person don_budge has ever met, I have a high standard of behavior to maintain.

I am sure that writing about Mercer Beasley and Ellsworth Vines annoys some potential readers, especially players who hit all topspin and never ever will try a flat shot in a thousand years.

You can't entirely blame them. Topspin keeps the ball in the court. Topspin wins matches.

But Ryan Harrison needs to flatten out some of his forehands. In fact, lots of players at every level would benefit from more variety and greater assortment of options.

And if one is going to hit flat shots why shouldn't one consider for model what clearly was one of the greatest flat shots ever?

More important than annoying the annoyable, than "making widows wince" in the words of the poet Wallace Stevens, is paying sufficient homage to Mercer Beasley, the coach who took Ellsworth Vines to the top through teaching him The Game of Errors, a tennis exercise that only recognizes one's errors and not one's aces and makes any player who participates more consistent.

And just as Vines is underrated in the history of the game, so is his great coach.

And I am sorry I said Beasley produces no instruction on forehand backswing in his book-- totally untrue, I just hadn't read carefully and noticed enough.

The forehand backswing advocated is amazingly succinct, a deft lift of racket to turning shoulder.

On some level this must have registered. But I shunned that option because of the breaststroke that immediately follows to move both arms away from core for balance and leverage.

But one need never do slavish imitation while performing re-enactment. In fact, a re-enactment's differences from the original should be of great interest. One can move both arms out from core, just do it a little not a lot. And from a starting position that bears closer resemblance to what one does in other strokes. Not with both hands on shoulder, just one, and opposite hand almost pointing across.

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Slowing Down the Arm so as to Smoosh the Ball with Hips Transfer

A photo caption in Beasley's HOW TO PLAY TENNIS proudly claims, "Due to perfect pivot, speed of racket has made it disappear." So there was (and still can be) advantage to slower shutter speed. But in all other text having to do with the hips, the co-authors use terms like "smoothness," "smooth," "pivot," and "dance-like pivot."

"Dance-like consolidation of weight and balance on front foot through forward hips turn" is my language, not that of Beasley and Holmes, but every one of these expressions refers to the same thing.

The hips turn, in any words, is a smooth though powerful pivot and anything but an uninhibited "crank"-- the way some players will always try to play.

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To slow down the arm, I opt for Paul Metzler's free-wristed route. (His book with introduction by John Newcombe is ADVANCED TENNIS.)

The addition of one extra moving joint means that all the other joints can simultaneously move a little more slowly.

To employ Metzler's prescribed pattern, the slowly closing wrist must still be relaxed after having straightened.

"You turn your hips with the stroke. This is the pivot," say Beasley and Holmes. "It is not the force with which you make the stroke, but the weight of your body coming into the stroke that creates the force."

And

"You coordinate the weight of your body to the swing of the arm."

And they point out that for that to happen the hand and wrist, though firm, must not press, must stay relaxed.

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In the age of unremittingly fast racket head speed, one can spot a player hitting flat shots with old fashioned weight transfer and racket swim a mile away. The next thing I've noticed is that such a player usually cleans up.

But a savvy player can hit the ball both ways, can he not? Can she not?

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Arm to Left after the Hit?

Ivan Lendl does that. So does John McEnroe though to the right (https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...LevelRear1.mov). Valerie Ziegenfuss Cooper, Peaches Barkowicz's Olympics doubles partner, does it too. Still, all these examples don't mean it is or isn't a good idea.

The young man hitting forehands in HOW TO PLAY TENNIS (what a name for a tennis book!) seems NOT to do it but rather point with his racket tip straight at the target exactly as Mercer Beasley wants.

We must assume that Ellsworth Vines did that too. But on the day Bud Collins saw him if in fact Collins ever did see him, Vines suffered from an excess of energy that made his racket fly 360 degrees like a windmill.

I believe that Mercer Beasley knew what he was talking about, and that although Ellsworth Vines had fine brains, Beasley was the brains behind the Vines forehand.

Thinking that, I try now to eliminate all sideways tail from my Elly-bam.

What will do it? Here are five guesses. 1) Less speed of forward arm, 2) Slightly longer backswing to put more arm to right of bod as one swings and pushes through, 3) Discipline in keeping strings above wrist, 4) After whirling racket a bit farther than inner edge of the slot, dropping it or otherwise moving it passively in any direction to provide a timed transition for control, 5) Abandoning the notion of forward free-wristedness attractive though it is. This keeps racket tip back for more right side swing and push.

If one does 5), thus relegating gradual free-wristedness to backswing only (unless one insists on a mondo as one goes forward), one will put more push than swing on to the ball.

The whole idea is to coordinate one's arm with one's hips.

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Excess Racket Work Eliminated

The lucky guess was number 3 item in the previous post, discipline in keeping strings above wrist, an old-fashioned idea if one keeps wrist laid back, too.

That is the modification that gives one's Elly-bam a whole new cast.

The shot now is much more compact.

One should have inferred this new succinctness much earlier just from the young forehander's "look" in the photographic plates in Beasley's HOW TO PLAY TENNIS, the way the young guy starts his forward swing from racket rest on his shoulder.

Though clunky, that pose will work for anyone if the person then remembers to keep racket above the wrist as it glides around-- like Tracy Austin, Chris Evert or Jimmy Connors.

But I prefer for myself what I call a "scimitar" backswing. The racket, slightly offset to left, goes down and around right side-- out a little-- and spirals up just a bit out of slot to one's left with arm quite bent. The wrist gradually opening through every micro-second of this makes it feel quick and good. And the result in how well the ball crosses the net and bounces (or doesn't bounce much) is roughly the same.

With this latter backswing one puts more of the forward arm swing on the right side of the bod. But in trying it in self-feed amongst the clumps of poison ivy at Rouge Park I found one needs a timing drop (anything from an inch to two feet) before the level forward swing which evolves into big push from late hips pivot and arm extension. What kind of arm extension? Arm extension from both external elbow (shoulder) and internal elbow (straightening of arm from shoulder on down) but no longer including a gradual straightening of the wrist.

No, the wrist now stays back to end of the follow through where racket points precisely at one's target. The energy is spent right there, so that the racket dribbles down into next wait position with no effort from you.

This method keeps gradual opening of wrist on the backswing but abandons gradual closing of wrist in beginning of the foreswing. Now one gets a better push on the ball. But if one put in time developing a gradual wrist closing in beginning of the foreswing, one now will be glad. One won't hit the ball quite as well doing that but may discover surprising angles.

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Comparing the Timing Unit in Two Basic Ways of Hitting an Elly-bam

The timing unit, as only is befitting, takes the same amount of time in both strokes.

In the first, as Mercer Beasley shows us in his 1936 book HOW TO PLAY TENNIS, the player bends his racket up to his shoulder almost to rest it there.

The timing unit then consists of a slight pushing out of both arms away from the bod, a horizontal movement.

In the related version I have been striving to invent the arm also bends at the elbow but backswings in a scimitar-shaped pattern down and up and bit farther around-- it's all one swoosh. Now the arm doesn't have to push out for leverage since it already is in leverage position.

The timing unit now is a short drop similar to that used by many baseball hitters and can vary in depth according to how low or high the ball is going to be-- a vertical motion that always goes down.

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Something New Every Day

That's my motto. And today I want to reverse order of spinal fulcrum and shoulder ball fulcrum in a one hand backhand once again.

A complicated thought, right? With the words "one" and "once" trying happily to co-exist in the same sentence.

But a one hander is similarly complex. Most people don't even recognize that the two different halves of the forward section of a one hand stroke might occur from different fulcra.

The seminal video in this decision to reverse order is this depiction of Grigor Dimitrov hitting a backhand return of serve (https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...sue/2017/june/).

Grigor here like Roger Federer but not Stan Wawrinka or Domenic Thiem, clearly is straightening his arm as it swings with smooth gusto toward the ball.

Those other guys bar the arm first. Which is another way of saying they first make the arm into a long bar or long stick.

The gradual extenders are another story that is equally valid.

One can lever from the spine if one can imagine the hitting side scapula as a tectonic plate. The scapula is capable of producing force in a multitude of directions. But does it "centrifugate" the arm straight? I don't think so. That would make for an overly loose joker card arm. To me, the arm should contribute to its own straightening thus creating a smooth blend of motion.

But which should come first-- shoulder ball or spinal fulcrum (the order Grigor uses here)? Me, I have been doing the opposite, which also works. And now want to compare both ways.

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Multiple Choice (Pick the Better Answer)

A. Tennis is a game that lends itself to invention.

B. Tennis is best played by hitting the same old boring shot.

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Carousel

Played one whole day (two hours) with long backswing for my Elly-bam, but who wants a long backswing when he can have a short one that produces the same results?

I went the longer route because I wanted a set of three forehands all with upside down backswing.

But think, Bottle, think. Which is more important, great orchestration of three shots (they'll all look a bit the same as one takes the racket back), or the ability to set the racket in effective position twice as fast one way than another?

Besides, good orchestration will remain for the other two shots (McEnrueful, basically flat, and topspin replete with early dogpat of a tall dog).

I just think the Elly-bam has the potential to be such a great shot that one can announce it without bad consequence.

To make this choice, however, I'll have to center wait position, which could affect all backhands since they are used to slightly offset WP.

I'll risk that on Monday, the next day of our geezers' carousel, a great running opportunity for innovation and fooling around if ever there was.

Four games only, with different partner and opponents every game, and lots of people feeding all this variety. I truly prefer the weird format over whole sets. A circus, that's wot.

Well, that is aside, but I am coming to the conclusion that there is no possible way to outsmart the late Mercer Beasley.

Bud Collins could call the Ellsworth Vines forehand a "windmill," but I would bet you anything, reader, that Mercer Beasley wouldn't, and as for myself, I call what I understand of it an extremely compact and powerful shot.

Will assess all this speculation against the reality of the Monday carousel. Will center racket in WP (wait position) for first time in a decade. Will hit every Elly-bam from racket on shoulder with horizontally timed leverage press next.

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No Fuss Change in WP (Wait Position)

Right upper arm perpendicular to court. Racket medium high, largely due to body hunch, with tip up just a bit perpendicular to net.

One will learn to start all ground strokes on both sides from this position. The nature of it, however, of the position itself comes from one's desire to hit Elly-bams first and foremost.

The new WP could add some starch to one's game. New discipline will continue as one lifts racket up to shoulder from both elbows, as one then moves elbows slightly out in such a way that the racket continues to move AROUND ONE'S NECK.

One's modern strokes (in my case my McEnrueful and my forehand topspin) keep their backswings in the slot. But this is not a modern shot, it is throwback to 1936 Ellsworth Vines.

1) Racket goes up (vertical motion) while rotating shoulders take the whole rising apparatus around.

2) Racket continues around still neck (horizontal motion).

The racket going out a bit is still close to bod. The entire stroke is structured on the goal of racket pointing at target at the very end. Spent racket then dribbles down to next WP.

Lengthening distance the racket tightly encircles the neck provides enough scope to put the forward stroke entirely on right side of bod thus enabling delayed bod pivot to finish it with racket tip precisely on target.

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Implementation

The initial tries at this first new backswing for an Elly-bam should be done with eyes closed, I believe.

That at least is what I am doing in my living room preparatory to going to Rouge Park for self-feed.

Because racket is now set in front of right shoulder, it can go directly up to that shoulder vertically with little or no round-about to it as both shoulders rotate backward and stop.

The arms then keep going while pressing out a little. This is transition to the forward stroke.

Are little things important in tennis? Just asking.

Questions about a low ball

Which is going to work best?

A. Lowering the racket to ball level and stroking level.

B. Swinging down to ball then stroking level.

C. Lowering and swinging down to ball both, in sequence or simultaneity.

As I say, I am about to go to self-feed.

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The Elly-bam: One shouldn't think that the pivot ends the shot.

No, there's a little more arm to go including straightening of the wrist to finish off and point at the target.

If this iteration is accurate, each shot is a sandwich. There's bread (arm) on either side of the substance in the middle, i.e., the pivot.

But pivot does determine direction of the shot, i.e., which way the straightened arm now points.

Contrasting this shot with The McEnrueful helps me understand both.

Hips turn or pivot happens earlier in The McEnrueful. Hips turn or pivot happens later in The Elly-bam. But just a little later, not a lot later.

The form of the shot consists of racket to shoulder, loop to ball, pivot and follow through.

McEnrueful: Hips, shoulders, arm points to side.

Elly-bam: Arm, hips, arm with balance concluded on front foot and racket pointing at the target.