Have a Question for Me?

[malice]

Ok just went back to read the stuff.

Just for confirmation.

Preparations are identical to the topspin , however..

- Use a continental
- Prepare the angle of the racquet face to be partially open
- Move straight through the shot , relying on the angle to generate spin.

For clarification , is it good to imagine a somewhat similar topspin backhand's swing path ?

Did i get that right ? Going out to hit tomorrow , gonna give it a shot.

Thanks again and sorry for taking up your time

[johnyandell]

Yes, except that the height of the racket head should be at about ball level at the start of the forward swing.

[leis]

Clay Footwork

John: Any thoughts on learning soft court footwork, including the slide. I knew of some pros who untied their shoe laces during practice on hard courts because they couldn't get access to soft courts that day. The untied shoe laces forced them to stay balanced or they would run out of their shoes. It also helped them quickly adjust to the "tippy toe" movement needed to initiate a running motion - a motion that hard court players have difficulty with when trying to quickly adjust to certain types of soft courts.

[johnyandell]

Excellent question and I would say the obvious--play a lot on soft courts. But I don't even consider myself knowledgeable and haven't done any sliding in quite a few years.

Someone else has to know more.

[malice]

Haha , been testing my new slice style over the past few weeks John.

I gotta say that it's truly a PLEASURE to hit now haha.

Thanks a HEAP sir

Been improving so much over the past few months

[johnyandell]

Good news. Good news.

[hyperwarrior]

Tennisplayer subscription as christmas gift!

Hi Mr. Yandell,

I love your site and I guess every members received an email saying we have a one gift subscription per subscriber.
I sent a name and an valid email of a friend a few days ago and I'm wondering if it takes times to get the subscription or maybe the email itself failed to reached you?

Thank you for your help and this is a great gift for a tennis friend.

[johnyandell]

Post it hear in the boards again. I have received literally hundreds of requests and it's overwhelmed us somewhat.

[hyperwarrior]

Post it hear in the boards again. I have received literally hundreds of requests and it's overwhelmed us somewhat.

Thank you Mr. Yandell. I received an confirmation about the subscription earlier and happy holidays!

[jasonahuang]

Free membership trial for a friend

Hi Mr. Yandell,

I requested a membership trail for my tennis buddy Alan Wang last week. However, he said that he hasn't received the invatation yet. Anyways, his email adress is tenniskrzr@gmail.com

Thanks again Mr. Yandell
Love your website.

[julian]

Serve

I think basically I agree with most everything you state, with these caveats. Technically the contact is probably "lower" measured from the ground. but by probably a couple of inches at most. BUT the arm is still fully extended at the elbow. I wouldn't think of lower contact. Hit up and extend to the ball--as you said the toss creates the different contact point.

Look at the Sampras 1st and 2nd Serves in the rear views in the Stroke Archives for the best examples.

So far as the exact contact point on the ball, not sure about the "quadrant" concept. Could be correct. We need to film at about 10,000 frames a second to check that. I think it's more the line or angle of the swing. This is indicated by the angle between the racket and the arm at contact. The more the shaft tilts back to the left, the higher the topspin component...

It maybe a diffrent quadrant if serve is aimed more at the body or the T

[veena]

question about serve

Hi John,

great site you've got going. I have a question regarding the legs in a serve (forgive me if this is on your site, but I have not read all of the serve articles yet). On the pro serves that I've been looking at, Sampras and Federer, they start in platform but their legs come together in the air, and then separate. Should the club player imitate this kind of footwork on the serve?

Thanks

[johnyandell]

I think if you use a moderate platform stance--more Fed than Pete--have good balance and ball position, that leg action will happen. If anything you need to key the back leg kicking back and away as it is at the landing. Trying to bring the leg up is confusing a cause and effect. Work on the kick back and a balanced landing.

[veena]

I think if you use a moderate platform stance--more Fed than Pete--have good balance and ball position, that leg action will happen. If anything you need to key the back leg kicking back and away as it is at the landing. Trying to bring the leg up is confusing a cause and effect. Work on the kick back and a balanced landing.

Okay, so I guess I'll hit the court and concentrate on that back leg. Thanks.

[malice]

Hi John.

I seem to have a problem with my forehand that i would really appreciate if you could offer some advice with.

I currently use a grip in between an Eastern forehand and a Semi-western one.

My problem is , i am a little unsure on how to cut down on hand and arm-rotation when attempting to flatten out a ball for pace.

I used to use a slightly more extreme forehand grip , along the lines of Coria/Ferrro-esque grip and developed a habit of rotating the outer arm.

This is not done consciously(?) as i tend to use a very loose grip and allow the racquet-arm to swing as freely as possible to allow more head-speed to hit-through , for some reason , my arm always rotates a great deal , i ASSUME it's due to it being completely relaxed.

Now , after i have swapped to a more conservative grip , my hand-arm rotation STILL seems to turn a great deal , far more than the pro footages of those who use similar grips. (Mr.Agassi to be specific)

It aids me when i need to hit additional spin , however i find it very hard when trying to flatten out and attain maximum extension through the ball.

What i have tried , is consciously aligning the racquet head and keeping my hand-arm from rotating , however this feels very awkward for me and i was hoping if there was a way to help me in doing so.

When hitting "flat" , i use a more linear swing path , however due to excessive hand-arm rotation , i often end up with a rip cage finish or something closer to a more "extreme" grip finish and this happens almost all the time when i'm executing on muscle memory . I noticed that Agassi finishes very high after executing a penetrating shot and i end up nothing even remotely close to this.

I hope you could understand that wall of text , i don't really know how to convey it across in words better >< .