Have a Question for Me?

[johnyandell]

Good question. For one thing at least he toss the ball further into the court and lands further into the court. Since it's probably a more diagonal launch he jackknifes over (just speculating). Fed goes a little more up and less out.

[shootermcmarc0]

I have a question, why does Roddick "jack-knife" so much on his landing compared to Federer?

[shootermcmarc0]

Here's another really good slow motion compilation, I haven't seen this one before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XEIN0gufHs

I think Federer's forehand is going to be like the Sampras serve, a stroke that's one for the ages.

[johnyandell]

Always like to see video of young players--sure post some links.

[shootermcmarc0]

I like the new Sampras article. You're right though, its impossible to ever get tired of his serve.

[danielli]

The new Federer!

Hi ,

I just want to introduce a young british player , aged 10 who in my opinion has everything of a great champion. His strokes are very similar to Federer's.The kid is first at his age group and 1 year above in whole Great Britain! He's a genius ...
At the moment he's in an academy in France!
I'll post videos and some photos and maybe you'll make some analysis of his strokes.I think it will be very interesting comparing him with Federer and have a look at the new generation champions!
What do you think?

[johnyandell]

Question 1:

Control of ball direction is based on the direction the strings are facing at contact.

Answer:

Not sure really if this is true. Players hit with a closed racket face, sometimes for one thing. Second, the interaction between the angle of the incoming ball and the racket face is complex--too complex for me. Speed of the swing, spin, and shape of the stwng all have something to do with it--but I don't know enough to really give you an opinion--maybe someday.

Questions 2-5:

Depth and aim are enhanced when one works for more extension.

Depth is controlled with topspin as well as extension

Topspin is generated by driving up on the ball.

Rotation across and over the ball is a way to create spin.


Answers:

Yes, I think so.


As for the spots on the ball questions.

Not sure this is really what happens, but again the evidence is not there for a good opinion. We need 5,000 frames a second.

But consider this. I believe it is probably impossible to hit the ball on a forehand at 4 or 5 or 3 oclock.

The swing is inside out--the racket always approaches the ball from the left side. The racket cannot approach the ball from the right. Now whether on an extreme crosscourt you might graze the right side, I don't know. But you can't approach it from 3 o clock.

Personally I've never understood the spot concept literally except I know the idea has helped many players.

Again, we may need more frames and probably multiple cameras to determine this.

[CraigC]

Many questions on rotation and extension article

John,
In my quest to get better as a coach, I am trying to get a grasp on what is happening in reality vs. what my eyes are telling me. Please let me know which of these statements are right or wrong as they relate to the forehand hit from the baseline.

Control of ball direction is based on the direction the strings are facing at contact.

Depth and aim are enhanced when one works for more extension.

Depth is controlled with topspin as well as extension

Topspin is generated by driving up on the ball.

Rotation across and over the ball is a way to create spin.

When coaching the forehand, we teach extension and rotation but we really have no idea how to rationalize a 4 millisecond contact, where the strings must face the target, with driving through the ball with extension and coming across the ball with rotation.

And now a few other questions...

When hitting an angle to drive a ball beyond the sideline, hitting the ball at approximately 4 o'clock will help the cause. However, to create more angle, we do not go more toward 3 o'clock, but rather, we move more toward 5 o'clock because we need to create more spin to make the ball land shorter, and thus we hit lower on the ball. THis is a very hard concept to understand for me. If I want more angle, I hit more toward the center of the ball than if I want less angle, and yet it appears it is true. Is there any evidence in what you are seeing that tells otherwise?

What part of the ball are most players hitting on a forehand crosscourt drive, on and angle, on a down the line, and on an inside out forehand.

Do they create spin by hitting different parts of the ball or do they do it all with rotation?

Sorry to be so random but I think I can get a lot more out of this site by learning how to explain things rather than learning how to do them.

Thanks for all the hard work!
CC

[johnyandell]

Try the outside edge of the torso or opposite shoulder.

[aarioli]

forehand extension

John - great site - a little confusing with 'racket hand in line with opposite shoulder' though. I think you mean that the racket hand has come around so as to be roughly in front of the opposite shoulder, between it and the net. The term 'in line' needs to specify where that line is, because you can always put a line between any two points. Anyway, once more, great insight and I'll be working on extension now as my old back permits. Al

[johnyandell]

I think you can do it however you want--doubt the second hand is the way to get a lot of touches.

[jayfro]

Just a quick question on the first step test in the physical training section. In one of the videos the player holds the racket with just one hand.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...c_Oncourt.html

In the article entitled My Etcheberry Adventure the player is doing this same drill but holding the racket with two hands. Which version is the correct version when testing students? Is it different for male and female students? Thanks.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...adventure.html

[johnyandell]

In so far as the wind up and backswing affect rhythm, and the timing of the racket drop and the uncoiling of the legs--and sometimes the depth of the racket drop--yes!

But a lot of people do all this well with different motions--the question is, which works for you? Check out the Your Strokes on Paul Goldstein, for example, for a tour player who got a big benefit from a change in the shape.

With Mac, it was that sideways stance that gave him the extra body rotation. You might want to look at that in Tour Strokes. The windup worked for him--until the shape changed. There is an article on that too in Teaching Systems.

[tennisfan04]

Trophy Position Serve

John,

Great magazine, awesome instruction. We eagerly look forward to each month's issue.

My question was on the trophy position that different servers reach on their serves. John McEnroe's racket travels parallel to the baseline and then comes into the trophy position, while Pete Sampras and Roger Federer's rackets point to the back fence as they are being taken back and into the trophy position.

Do you think that there is a difference vis-a-vis the final serve depending on how one arrives at the trophy position? Or since most of the acceleration comes after the trophy position, it really does not matter? McEnroe's serves were always known to have a vicious spin and did the "parallel to the baseline" take back have anything to do with it?

Thanks

[johnyandell]

Strange I get the same thing from the Forum page--we did some maintainence there so...

But go to the front page and login there and you'll get July.