Have a Question for Me?

[GeoffWilliams]

Mostly flatter strokes demand a medium stiff frame, and an 18 x 20 with a power string set up. Size of the frame is preference. If you are a flat hitter then an 18 x 20 frame will suit your game more, as the directional control is better, and there is less spin, and a lower angle of trajectory off the string bed and more penetration, more quickly. The stiffer the frame, the more power. The more powerful the string, the more depth. Also try the vs team/alu hybrid, the best flat hitter string hybrid there is. Lots of the top spanish players use big banger original still. I also like it in a hybrid with big hitter blue rough. The nxt sensation is a good string for crosses, with soft control, and good feel crossed with lux. big banger. Tension loss is among the worst for nxt. That's a set up you'd have to restring a lot for the control to remain steady, as the trampoline effect will come on fast as durability will not match the big banger's durability nor tens. loss. What the big banger lacks in feel, the nxt provides.

Look at Donald Young, and how much better his results are, by playing ultra aggressive with a frame that has more pop, and a string as well: Solinco tour bite, a string I rec. in the string article, but it feels way better as a hybrid with alu/cross than as a full set. His equipment is making his game way better, as it will for you.

http://www.stringforum.net/strings.php?sdnr=1627&count=1

http://www.stringforum.net/strings.php?sdnr=1604&count=1

[johnyandell]

Nikae,

Asked Geoff Williams to give an answer here. I think it's a matter of personal feel and maybe swing speed. I'm a Head Agassi 105 which is light a little over 11oz and slightly head light strung with Big Banger 17 mains and Wilson Sensation NXT 17 crosses---and I don't even know the tension--just had Sam the Stringer in SF match it to my old non-hybrids.

Long way of saying you may want additional input.

John

[nikae]

I am a club player, playing for 3+ years and I am following every Johns' advice about forehand like the grip (extreme eastern), good preparation, keeping it simple with good extension and not much forearm pronation and such.

I Must admit that my game has become so much better since I became a tennisplayer.net member, excellent work John and others!!

Now, since I play on clay only, everyone in my club is crazy about spin, and pretty much everyone is using Nadals or Ferrers kind of racket (generaly rackets with open string patterns like 16x18 and 100 inch head)

My question is this, would I benefit more from rackets with more closed pattern like 18x20 (and maybe smaller racket head, like under 100) since I am using mostly flatter strokes and playing rather aggressive,
or, I should stick with open pattern racket which would generate more spin (or would it? since I am using extreme eastern forehand with more extension and little forearm pronation) for more margin of error?

OR, I should stop thinking about it and play with whatever

P.S. no, its not possible to demo rackets around here :/

[bowt]

Hey just a question from your article on the absolute truth

Yet when we look at Djokovic we see that unlike any other top player he actually turns the racket face backwards until the strings are flush or parallel with the baseline. In doing so he goes further back and behind than either Federer or Nadal.

Compared to Roger, Novak's arm goes behind his body and his racket face turns backward.

Is this some unknown advantage - a technical advance that only he has developed? Or is it a liability that he overcomes in some other way? Or is it simply idiosyncratic and/or irrelevant?

could this be related to his grip being so strong?

[johnyandell]

Soon!

[jryle1]

I have a very annoying question for you but I have to ask! When's the September edition going up because I cannot wait! My mouth is watering with the prospect of reading it!

[johnyandell]

Were:

I can't really answer that question. Of course you swing with your hand but if everything is set up right the torso is making it's contribution--as well as the legs, etc.

Brign Gordon might be able to break down the contributions of the segments, but for me it's about the positions. What you want to see is whether your stroke conforms to the key positions in the stroke models. I've gone over that in a lot of different ways in those forehand articles in Advanced Tennis.

[johnyandell]

Jon,

Don't worry about where the elbow points. Try the windmill drill, let the elobw go up high, relax and let it drop. Don't worry either about where the racket is in relation to the back fence. Just try to get it to fall as far as possible--and yes along the right side of the body. The face of the strings should be perpendicular to plane of the torso.

[were]

forward swing

John, what is the driving force behind the forward swing? Is it body rotation or the lifting/pulling of the arm?

[jryle1]

Hi John,

I'm a little confused about the pro racket drop...... I was re-reading that analysis you did for me on my serve last year and was having a look at some footage of Fed in the new archive and had a look at that video of the girl doing the windmill drill.

The big I'm confused about, is which direction does the tip of the elbow point, I know it sounds like a stupid question cause you can see it in the window but I can't get my head around it, where also should the racket face(strings) be pointing, towards the back fence? And the side edge should be roughly perpendicular to my torso yes but on the right hand side?

Thanks once again for all the help.

Jono.

[johnyandell]

They could have signed up and created free passwords before we closed it off. Nabrug is lurking in there somewhere because I know he has read posts after being banned...

Glad you are perusing the old threads. There is a ton of great stuff.

[don_budge]

Who's online...or "The Tennisplayer Internet Cafe"

db,
you know i never even looked at that--looks like 10 people in an internet cafe...i'll have our programmer check into it, but you should have to be a subscriber...
jy

"Who's online" is actually a very interesting feature of the site. I often take a look to see who's online and see what they are reading. So many times I have seen that so and so is reading this post from an old thread...so I go to that post and start reading myself. It's fascinating to read interesting posts that have been written in the past and the quality of the discussions that ensued. Tennisplayer has quite a history...to say nothing of it's future!

Now I am even more curious as to who the "guests" are.

[GeoffWilliams]

Thanks for replying so much. Please only go from the last version I sent a couple days ago. If I had this article when I first started playing, it would have meant a huge difference in my game/equipment, and development, more than any other article on equipment or string I have ever read.

[johnyandell]

gw,

as soon as i finish translating your article! seriously though in the midst and asap...

jy

[johnyandell]

db,
you know i never even looked at that--looks like 10 people in an internet cafe...i'll have our programmer check into it, but you should have to be a subscriber...
jy