Have a Question for Me?

[johnyandell]

Virtually all our footage we shoot for ourselves. The networks don't save their close up footage--and if they did the cost would be ridiculous. Having said that I may have a few surprises in upcoming months.

[lgvargas]

John,
Any future articles on the serve from Chris Lewitt? His article on the "kick serve" was one of the best articles I have ever read on the serve in general-outstanding!

Also, what are your thoughts on us tournament adult amatuers charting some of our matches-are we missing a valuable tool? Only hear about charting for pro's, but seldom for adult players. Perhaps , a Tennisplayer.net article for a future issue?

[johnyandell]

Yeah when I go to New York in May I hope to get with Chris again.

As for the charting--check out the articles I wrote on that in the Strategy section. There is one about Going Inside Your Matches that applies.

[nbaron]

parent

Your sight and insight are excellent. Myth series outstanding for a parent that observes the game the players and realizes most teaching pros speak without observing students or pros. keep the articles coming

[johnyandell]

Thanks and will do! Remind your friends who are coaches they can study this stuff for themselves if they are USPTA members.

[rosheem]

Forehand - Double Coil vs. Shoulder Turn

Hi John,

Thanks for creating such a wonderful resource. I've been playing for two years and have been really frustrated with the lack of quality instruction available to new adult players.
I struggled with my forehand and had hit thousands of balls the wrong way. I always rotated out of my shot by initiating my forward stroke with a pull and rotation from the left hip.
I tried to correct this by improving my shoulder turn and extending the left arm across, but I still found that I rotated too early, opened up too much, and my swing pulled across the ball and off the line of the shot.
Your analysis of Federer's double coil is what finally fixed my problem.
Now I realize the importance of starting from a strong athletic base with a low center of gravity. This allows the coiling of the torso against the hip. If the weight is too far right and beyond the right knee, or if the left leg is straight and not involved, then the turn is just a turn and not a coil.
The coil enables the inside out pull of the racquet and forward drive of the shoulder and racquet through the line of the shot. It seems to help keep the swing on the right side before the elbow breaks and the rotation naturally wraps left. It's amazing.
My question is: do you have any tips on managing the explosiveness of this uncoiling on balls that are coming in with less pace? I feel like I am early sometimes, which leaves me reaching for the ball. A good example is on weak 2nd serves. I should be able to go inside in on that weak 2nd serve to the as side and just crush that ball down the line, but once I go into the coil, there's no slowing it down. Any advice?

[johnyandell]

Thanks for the great feedback.

The ball says it all. I don't think the problem you're describing is technical. Remember the speed of the ball is constantly changing in the air and both speed and spin change radically at the bounce. You have to feel this. Try looking hard for the direction and amount of spin at the top of the bounce--see the blurr of the spinning seams. You'll probably improve your timing and this could cure the difficulty.

[vespasianvs]

Carla Suarez Navarro's Grip

Mr. Yandell,

I am fascinated by Carla Suarez Navarro's playing style. How such a girl can generate such powerful strokes! I am trying to figure out the forehand and backhand grip she uses and how she changes her grips.

So to your opinion, what grip does she use in forehand and backhand according to your grip system (such as Roger Federer's 3 1/2 / 3 forehand and 1/1 backhand)? How does she change it?

Thanks

Ves

[johnyandell]

Excellent questions, but I don't have the answers. Haven't filmed her or, to be completely honest, even really seen her play! Maybe we'll film her this year at Inidan Wells. Anyone else got an opinion on this?

[oliensis]

Just youtubed Navarro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ffv14MsJ4g

That's part 1 of 8 from Oz against Venus.

I've noticed her backhand, and that it looks impressive. On this youtube clip her serve looks excellent at first glance. Great knee-bend and good torso rotation as she "chambers" racket (heads for trophy position). Her knee-bend on the serve is reminiscent of Tim Henman's in terms of depth and timing.

But her backhand is the most eye-catching one-hander by a woman that I've seen, maybe as good or better than Hennin or Mauresmo in that she seems to take it on the rise well and hit through the ball...actually looks like Dimitrov's backhand, which seems modeled on Federer's, but may end up being bigger.

I, for one, would love to see her filmed for this site. I would love to go through it frame by frame.

Best,
ao

[vespasianvs]

Navarro's Grip

Thanks for your answers.

I downloaded her Aussie Open game against Venus Williams and watched it several times. The most interesting thing is that she most times does not change her grip from forehand to backhand, which might indicates that she uses a 4 1/2 / 4 on forehand and a 8 1/2 / 8 on backhand, hence having no need of change grips. However, I am not very positive on this, because some times I do see her switches her grip.

I am a short guy on tennis court. I am really interested in how those small men and women make themselves look tall on the end the court. Henin is one of them. Navarro looks even taller when she produces those strong backhand, even though she is even shorter than Henin.

I just could not wait to see her filmed on this website. I hope she will go beyond quarterfinal in Roland Garros.

Thanks

[wicky10s]

forehand preparation

Hi John,
I have avidly subscribed to tennisplayer.net for several years. Thank goodness I found it because without your articles and stroke archive I would not be as happy today.
I am an adult trained tennis player and I have taken private lessons for years. I play at the 4.5 level.
The reason I am writing to you now is to share a perspective that I have on the modern forehand in hopes that what I have experienced and recently learned might help another club level player like me.
I have a pretty reliable forehand but occasionally it would break down under pressure. I started with an Eastern grip but several years ago moved that to a conservative semi western grip.
When I started to switch to this grip,the pro I was working with at the time told me to hold on to the racquet with the non dominant hand until the ball bounced and then swing fast. His rational was that by doing this the swing would stay compact and simple and not much could go wrong with it.The sad fact is I was chronically late on many forehands. I can't believe I paid money for this and that it left me without any understanding of one of the most important parts of the modern forehand which is the preparation leading up to the swing.
(In the meantime I worked with a trainer for several years to develop better footwork, agility, core strength and rotational skills that are so necessary when hitting the modern forehand. All of which does very little good if you never get set up properly to rotate into the ball in the first place !)
Anyway for years everywhere I went on occasions, teaching pros would say time and time again that I had been late on my forehand. They would say.."Get your racquet back early" ,"turn your shoulders"or "you're late!" This is the most confusing thing to tell a player when they have no concept of the set up phase or how to correct what ever it is that makes the swing late in the first place.
Do you know what I mean? It's incomprehensible. Not to mention frustrating!
It may seem simple to you and the world of teaching pros but no one explained it in a way that I could understand. I was totally confused by the word "timing".
I finally figured it out more or less, on my own after a conversation with a pro that I now work with who said that" the preparation for the forehand ground stroke has to be completed before the ball bounces on your side of the court."
ca ching..ca ching. Finally a clue. I still wasn't clear on exactly what preparation meant but it was a start.
He didn't exactly explain it to me at that time either. He just, once again ,talked about being late and timing. This one comment about the bounce did spark my curiosity because it at least put the preparation phase into a time frame. It happens between the time that the opponent hits the ball and the time it bounces on my side of the court.So now that I knew when the stroke was breaking down, I decided to go to Tennisplayer.net to see for myself just exactly what this segment of the swing preparation is all about.
You have a ton of information about all the segments and I have read everything. The article on preparation has put it all into perspective for me.In fact I am amazed at how much it has clarified for me.
I understand that the entire forehand stroke is indeed seamless and that only with still photography can one see the multitude of segments that make up a shot. I also realize that everything leading up to hitting the ball is preparation and it happens very fast. But there was obviously a middle part to my forehand that was missing (or just late) and I just didn't understand that part. After seeing that video and listening to your explanation several times I finally get it!
The only way I could get it was to see it. I then went searching through the videos of the pros to find forehand shots that show the ball at or before the bounce and the player set up at the same time in the same frame. Most of these videos are taken from behind the player, the rear shots, and sadly not too many videos show the bounce of the ball at all . All of the videos that show the bounce and the player together also show a common position of arms and legs at that moment. A commonality that you point out. The arms are about shoulder height and shoulder width apart and the weight is beginning to be transferred on to the back foot. It's been remarkable to see just this segment of the forehand. It transformed the concept of timing for me simply because I now have a very clear mental picture of the position I need to get into before the ball bounces.
When I get into that position on time I have plenty of time to make adjustments and even change the direction of the ball. It transferred immediately on the court! I had remarkable results. The footwork fell into place and I was rotating naturally and effortlessly into the shot.It was amazing! I was also hitting the ball early and sometimes I was off the ground! You can't do that if you set up and swing late.
I already knew about the split step,the unit turn and where to recover on the court. I just didn't get this part.
Why was this so difficult for me to understand? You mention in the preparation article that it is widely misunderstood. Is it simply because this pro told me to hold on to the racquet too long and I had a very bad habit? Or is it because everything happens so fast that it is too complicated to explain?
It's not that difficult to comprehend for sure once you see it. It's very clear to me now.
Anyway,if anyone out there is having trouble comprehending this concept of timing,I suggest they definitely listen to the preparation article and then take a close look at a still photo of the position of a pro like Agassi, Henin or Federer just before the ball bounces and you will see why they all make it look so easy. They look pretty similar at this point and so do most of the other top players.
I have just one last observation to make. I have also heard pros say to students .. "turn the shoulders and take the racquet back while stretching the front arm across the body." as if there are 1,2,3. separate steps involved.
When I look at the videos and listen to your preparation article,I see a unit turn with the hands together and low and then a lifting and separating of the arms (as you point out) almost in unison. It looks like the arms are almost at shoulder height and width apart for balance at this stage.
Maybe that's why it gets confusing. It is not explained as a synchronized move contiguous with the unit turn.It gets broken down into separate individual parts when it is actually one smooth symmetrical move.
I think of figure skaters whose arms are always up and synchronized for balance.
It's been a revelation to me ,so thanks John! I certainly have gotten my money's worth out of this resource.
I hope that you will continue to add new videos that show the ball bounce in the same frame with the pro since seeing this part of the preparation has been so helpful to me!

Thanks
here are some of the videos that show the bounce.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/rogerfederer/rogerfederer_forehand/rogerfederer_fh_wide/rogerfederer_fh_wide.html?FedererFHWideNeutralStanceRear.mov

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/andreagassi/aa_forehand/aa_fh_center/aa_fh_center.html?AAFHCenterNeutralStanceRear.mov

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_woman/justine_heninhardenne/jhh_forehand/jhh_fh_center/jhh_fh_center.html?JHHFHCenterRear.mov

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/andreagassi/aa_forehand/aa_fh_center/aa_fh_center.html?AAFHCenterOpenStanceRear2.mov

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_woman/justine_heninhardenne/jhh_forehand/jhh_fh_center/jhh_fh_center.html?JHHFHCenterDowntheLineCourtLevelRear.mov

[vespasianvs]

Tennis Wrist Pain

Hi, Everybody.

I am suffering from severe wrist pain and forearm pain now, which prevents me from tennis training. So I have several questions below:

1. Does switching to less extreme grip help relieve and avoid wrist and forearm injury?

2. How to treat wrist and forearm pain after you contract them?

3. Is there any physical training to help develop a stronger wrist and forearm to avoid their injuries?

4. Is there any warm-up that you can use before play tennis to reduce pain and avoid wrist and forearm injuries?

5. How to use tape to secure wrist just like player securing their ankles?

6. How to pick up recquet,strings, tension to avoid wrist and forearm pain?

7. Finally, how to build up a swing that will reduce the wrist and arm injury?

Sorry to post up so many questions here. I just want to get back to court as soon as possible.

Thanks

Vespasianvs

[johnyandell]

Wicky,

Thanks for the great post, and the great feedback, and I agree we could definitely post more video showing this relationship between the preparation and the ball bounce. It's one of the first things I look at whne I film people, and if you know to look for it, you'll notice how many players (sadly) don't even start the preparation til the ball bounces on their side.

Sounds like you really love the game of tennis and congrats on all the work you've put in. As time goes on I think (or hope) we'll see a lot less misleading coaching information because as younger players grow up with computers and video, it will become natural for them to document or check what they believe against film.

John Yandell

[johnyandell]

Ves,

Sorry to hear about your injuries. I'm not a doctor or a physical therapist and those are the people you really need to consult about your condition and how to get better asap.

There are quite a few tennis specific strengthening exercises involving the lower arm in the Roetert series in Physical Training, but again someone who has actually seen your injuries should really prescribe your rehab, not me. Tape though is not going to be the solution. You need to get healthy and stay healthy although an arm strap can be used protectively as you come back.

As for technique and injuries, you see people with horrible strokes who never get hurt and vice versa. So hard to make direct corelations there, but it's not a conincidence that pro players can hit 100mph forehands and rarely have the same injuries you are talking about.

Obviously I've never seen you play, but if you submit some video of your strokes when you are back in action, I can post them or possibly use them in Your Strokes.

As for rackets, ultra light, head heavy (like the hammer concept) stiff rackets are definitely much harder on your arm, as are tighter, stiffer strings.
I think conventional medium weight even balanced rackets with soft synthetic gut are the way to go not only because they are easier on the body but because they produce the best tennis when you have good technique.

John Yandell