Aug. issue - Forehand contact point

[drolfe]

Great article John. Really liked your insights on cause and effect regarding the double bend structure and distance from the ball. I have been hitting the ball too close with a lot of attendant problems (pulling off the ball; hitting late; loss of power, etc.) I followed the advice in the article to set the hitting arm structure and let everything else hinge off that contact point and the results have been very positive. I probably learned the same thing from Chuck Boyle growing up in Tulsa, but forgot after all these years.

[johnyandell]

Woah, blast from the past! Chuck was my first coach at Southern Hills...but I'm pretty sure he hadn't studied high speed video of hitting arm structures...

[drolfe]

Nobody else is going to have a clue what we're talking about, but Chuck was a great coach and way ahead of his time. He started talking about nutrition and fitness well before anyone ever heard of those concepts in relation to tennis. He moved to California and I heard he helped develop the Williams sisters at a very early stage of their development. He now lives in Arkansas. Tennisplayer.net is great; keep up the good work. Especially like some of the work you do with Jeff Counts of Hi-techtennis. Again, the article on contact point was excellent and just goes to show that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks.

[johnyandell]

Now that's one I hadn't heard--Chuck and Williams sisters. He inspired me, sold me my first wood racket, and awarded me my first trophy.

His son Chris used to kick my ass.