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First, there was the Myth of the Wrist Snap by Vic Braden, then The Myth of the Toss by John Yandell (among his others), along with myths of The Takeback and of Footwork by Oscar Wegner -- after most of us had been taught the opposite, even paid plenty for it. Frustrating and exasperating is what it is.
Now this! The other day, I'm watching Gilles Simon play and I think I'm seeing the Myth of the Backscratch (now Buttscratch, for kicks). Then I'm watching David Fererr in another match, and he doesn't appear to be backscratching, either, not even close. Then I'm watching Stan Wawrinka and James Blake in Davis Cup, and they're not doing it -- just it seems, a flick back by Blake before going up to strike. Then there was Marcos Chiudenelli in his match against Andy Roddick in Davis Cup, and he's not scratching. And they're all serving big. Not as well as Sampras and Federer, but very well, mostly. Roddick was getting his racquet head way down, though, and serving huge.
So, what goes? What really are the basics anymore? An instructor actually told me, last week, that the only proper forehand followthrough these days is down across the body. He got irritated when I said two basic followthroughs still are across the body, past the shoulder, and the reverse.
Maybe Bungalow Bill's remark in his "Waves on the Shore" article applies to me watching TV: "The human eye cannot pick up the subtle movements of the body during a fast motion, and is only capable of picking up where and how the motion started and how it finished." But I was watching very closely, over and over again, and I'm convinced I wasn't seeing any backscratches, except for Roddick's.
Now this! The other day, I'm watching Gilles Simon play and I think I'm seeing the Myth of the Backscratch (now Buttscratch, for kicks). Then I'm watching David Fererr in another match, and he doesn't appear to be backscratching, either, not even close. Then I'm watching Stan Wawrinka and James Blake in Davis Cup, and they're not doing it -- just it seems, a flick back by Blake before going up to strike. Then there was Marcos Chiudenelli in his match against Andy Roddick in Davis Cup, and he's not scratching. And they're all serving big. Not as well as Sampras and Federer, but very well, mostly. Roddick was getting his racquet head way down, though, and serving huge.
So, what goes? What really are the basics anymore? An instructor actually told me, last week, that the only proper forehand followthrough these days is down across the body. He got irritated when I said two basic followthroughs still are across the body, past the shoulder, and the reverse.
Maybe Bungalow Bill's remark in his "Waves on the Shore" article applies to me watching TV: "The human eye cannot pick up the subtle movements of the body during a fast motion, and is only capable of picking up where and how the motion started and how it finished." But I was watching very closely, over and over again, and I'm convinced I wasn't seeing any backscratches, except for Roddick's.
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