Loading Question

[uspta2801398569]

John

When a player is hitting a open stance forehand
How much loading/ground reactive force is there with the (left foot) for a right handed player? In your opinion how much does the left leg play a part in the loading?

[johnyandell]

First, guys, please post these in the section with questions for me in the future ok? I don't read everything in the Forum and miss posts that people are trying to direct toward me.

As to the question:

The way I look at it is a little different than the assumptions in the question. When you try to assess "loading" and contributions to "loading" and "ground reaction forces," you are using biomechanical terms.
You would need to actually measure loading in muscles to then separate out the role of the legs. That a quantitative question. Maybe someone like Brian Gordon has the answer but many people throw that term around quite loosely.

What you can say from looking at the video is that normally when the players have time to set up on the outside foot in a semi open stance particularly, they are bending the knees substantially, maybe at the max they are capable of and this is true especially on high balls. But the amount of knee bend and the duration changes when they are on the move.

If you ask me, the way to approach is not to say "oh the legs are critical in loading and provide X percent" or whatever. This is what the stroke archive is for--to provide visual models of certain situations--and there are hundreds--that allow players and coaches to study what great players do and then figure out how (and how much) to apply that.

[uspta2801398569]

Hey John

I worked with a Biomechanic and we had talked about the role of the left leg and the right leg in hitting forehands. He had mentioned possible using sensors When I mentioned (Loading) and showed what I meant by demonstrating a forehand, he called that GRF Ground Reaction Force
Just wanted to know if you have spent anytime studying or looking at this in the past.

[johnyandell]

Well, ground reaction forces definitely exist. And like I said, no, quantitative bio-mechanics is not my area. It's an interesting topic, but without the ability to measure it, I'll stick with the positions theory I outlined above.