Have a Question for Me?

[johnyandell]

JR,

Good thoughts. But what is w/r/t? In all the grip articles I write anyway I always refer to both key points--knuckle and heel pad. You can check it out in this month's 1HBH article. I love Pat D. but don't always agree with his preaching... Look at the differences in the above article regarding hand spacing, knuckle alignment. I don't see those as a big deal.

As for WTA, yes. It's a race to accumulate footage with all the new men's players being at the top of my filming list. Just being honest. 90% of our subscribers are men and I hope to have enough footage of whichever new guy wins the next Slam to put up a full portrait. With all the You Tube fuckers abusing the rules and filming illegally it's had a restrictive effect on us--painted with the same brush unfairly!. That said if you look through the Forum over the past 3 years there are mini portraits of a lot of the top women. Halep, Kerber, Keys, Osaka, Sloane, Coco, Barty and others.

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members...ast_forum.html

It's an interesting question what to show students. Obviously most of the women have big behind the body backswings. Not that they don't work because they do. My fear is showing that as a model could lead to even bigger more exaggerated backswings as players try to copy positions. My own approach is to show women the compact guys--Fed, Grigor, but then see. Never had awoman that developed a pure ATP motion, but I think the compact model probably moderates the huge wind ups.

[J011yroger]

@JY

Two suggestions from "the field" for the site.

1: Can we talk about the back of the hand w/r/t grips? I have noticed a lot of students who think they have X forehand grip because their index knuckle is on the requisite bevel when in reality their grip is much more mild because their heel pad is on a different, sometimes 1.5 difference bevel. Also on the serve can we look at the back of the grip as it applies to lining the knuckles up along or across the bevels to that you get more or less racquet head path movement with ISR. I know Pat Doughrety preaches knuckles along the bevel to form an L with the forearm and assist in racquet head inside the hand, but most don't do that and still make contact inside the hand.

2: As they are coming, can you add more WTA players to the high speed archive who demonstrate technique from your articles? I teach a lot of girls and sometimes it is nice to show a 14 year old another girl and not Roger Federer hitting a forehand. Also, I know it would be a lot of work, but an index would be great so if I wanted to look for someone who served with whatever stance or hit a forehand with whatever grip, bent or straight, you could have a list of the players. or perhaps list it on their name, I.E. Roger Federer: Extreme Eastern straight arm forehand, medium with platform, moderate one hand bh.

Just a few thoughts.

J

[johnyandell]

I know nothing! I will ask around.

[seano]

John -

Do you know anything about the Catapult Vector S7, it's a GPS tracking devise? Reading an article on Andy Murray/New Gen Players wearing the vest for data when they play. The next 4 paragraphs are from the article:

"The GPS receiver and inertial sensors in the device will measure velocity and direction, acceleration and force, rotation, body orientation, and will quantify internal load (through heart rate). The data from the wearable device, which will only be accessible by each player and those that the player gives access to, will provide accurate maps of movements and actions.

The data collected will allow players and coaches at the award-winning 21-and-under event to quantify the demands of the competition, better understand athlete loading and make key performance decisions that are supported with objective data.

Players and coaches will receive both post-practice and post-match reports from an on-site vendor who will also provide one-on-one support throughout the week. In a dream come true for tennis coaches everywhere, the data can then be synchronized with the match footage turning X&Y coordinates into invaluable information. The age-old “eye-test” can now be supported with data points and precise measurements.

Players will be able to see their heart rate during crucial points, how much ground they covered, which patterns worked best, their top speed, which approach shot worked best, how much energy they expended, and more. Did they go for too much on a key shot? Maybe they didn’t go for enough and were caught out of position. The possibilities are endless. There is no reason for tennis to be behind the curve when it comes to advanced data and sports science. The stakes are too high. Information is power and further discovery could change the way the game is played".

Thoughts?

SeanO

[johnyandell]

You're welcome. Jeff needs to subscribe and actually study some high speed video... I treated myself to not looking at the hs footage of him in his kick serve article but if you can stand it report back!

[seano]

Thank you for the reply John, that was my thinking as well but it's nice to have a knowledgeable resource to go to when I have questions. Thank you again.
SeanO

[johnyandell]

More bend more drop. More elbow extension on the way up

https://www.tennisplayer.net/members/high_speed_archive/phantom/John_Isner_HD_HS/index.html?dir=Serve/1st_Serve&stroke=JI_1stS%20Ad%20Side1%20500fps.mp4&new=

But honestly focusing on that I think would only cause muscle tension whatever the angle.

[seano]

John -

I have a question about the serve and specifically if one would maintain 90* at the elbow joint (achieved in the trophy position) through out the racquet drop and in the upward swing (until elbow extension). I've never really though about it but I was recently watching a Jeff Salzenstein serve video and I believe that is what he was advocating. My initial reaction was, to get the deepest possible racquet drop, one would either bend the elbow more or have to have a very flexible shoulder joint. What are your thoughts on this?

SeanO

[johnyandell]

RT,
I don't think we have any 2017 Fed footage--been concentrating on filming younger players. I tried to get Brian to do articles on the one-hander but so far no luck. I would recommend though my summary on the one-hander in Ultimate Fundamentals. There is a lot of one-handed material in Advanced Tennis as well. As as you see in this issue I am starting a new detailed series on the one-hander.

[rthodges]

Hi John,

I was wondering if there is any high speed footage of Federer from 2017 that is going to be released. Also, do you think there will be a section for the one handed backhand added into biomechanics? Your article on Sampras’ serve and Brian Gordon’s articles on the forehand and serve have helped my game immensely!

[johnyandell]

Excellent! Glad to hear it about the teaching system. As for grip pressure, think of holding a bird in your hand tightly to keep it but not killing it! However I wonder if you might be getting a lot of miss hits that have to do with focusing on the ball at the top of the bounce and looking for the spin. That will usually help you find the center of the racket. Hard to say but if you post some video it might reveal more.

[dpremsagar]

Went through John Yandell's Teaching Systems for both serve and forehand. My power has immensely increased but control is lacking.
I can feel the racquet whiz at high speeds that I did not have before.
One thing I've noticed is my racquet handle slips in my hand during the shot execution. Is this a problem? (I believe it is)
Often, when this happens, the ball sails long.
Lets say A is the moment where the racquet handle slip begins in my hand and B is the moment where the slippage ends.
And lets call the moment where the racquet makes contact with the ball C.
I feel C is happening between A and B lot of times during the forehand and serve.
Perhaps I'm not holding the racquet tight enough? May be I got into the bad habit of not holding it tight enough because I've been hearing that we need to stay lose?
Now, I'm consciously trying to squeeze the racquet handle tight. I seem to get better results. But eventually, due to habit or lack of grip strength I keep falling back to holding it loose and the racquet handle slips during my strokes.
This issue never occurs during my 2H Backhand. I suspect the extra hand provides that extra firmness so that the racquet handle doesn't slip even with a technically solid backswing producing good racquet speed.
Interested to hear John's thoughts on this.

[johnyandell]

Time will tell!

[stotty]

Now that he has some attention will be interesting to see how that affects him.

I think he'll be fine and will deal with success better than the other newcomers. He has a relaxed confidence about him. His success has been going on quite a while and he seems to be getting used it. He seems to go from one tournament to the next without losing any form at all so far. We desperately need some new, high quality blood, John. It's been way too long.

[johnyandell]

Now that he has some attention will be interesting to see how that affects him.