Have a Question for Me?

[scottmurphy]

I think everyone should just know that John's mom is terminally ill and so he's spending the last days he ever will with her. Makes a late issue of Tennisplayer seem pretty trivial doesn't it? The combined issues of September and October will be as good as ever and in the meantime let's all hold a good thought for John and his mom.

Scott Murphy

[uspta2712824457]

Well said Scott Murphy. Thank You. All Tennisplayer.net fans can wait.

John, please take care and take your time coping with this difficult period of life. I'm sure many of us, if not all of us have you and your mother in our thoughts and prayers.

Kyle LaCroix

[uspta4201423750]

help

John,
Sorry to hear about your situation; I don't care if the issues take 6 months to put out; I'll still be here. Anyway, I need some help with my son's backswing. His loop has always been too big, but he got away with it because the balls were slower. Now that he's pushing his way out of level 2 tournements and into level 1b, his loop, which does an awkward and slow twist over his head, is making him late on fast shots and he can't come over the top of the ball in time. The guy I've had my son working with in privates can't seem to fix it any better than I can, and group lessons and match seem top exacerbate the problem because there is no correction. What do I do?
Harry Kingsley

p.s. No rush on reply; my problem is not an emergency

[jperedo]

Mardy Fish

Any plans to have this guy's strokes captured in the future? Some similarities to the Federer/Verdasco model but seems to be missing something. Would be interesting to compare.

[johnyandell]

First Harry make him start his swing already in the bottom of the backswing.
We he can do this, stand behind him and use your racket or a tennis tube. Put it over him at the backswing height you want and then he'll crash into it if he goes higher. How heavy is his racket btw?

I've said this before but this type of question really requires video of the stroke for a valid answer.

[johnyandell]

Yeah we've got a bunch of video of Mardy--just not so sure he is site worthy...to be completely honest. But eventually we might put him up. I think we did put his serve in the Interactive Forum. But not sure you'd want to spend time looking at his forehand--backhand maybe though.

[uspta4201423750]

Big loop

Well, he's got the rafa aeropro, and I know that probably seems a lot for an 8 year old, but I worked him up to it so gradually that it doesn't seem to bother him, and he competes with smaller/weaker kids with the same raquet. I actually started yesterday just as you said to. So far so good. He's not playing another match until we get this down. Thanks for the help harry

[johnyandell]

yeah well that's one reason kids use huge loops they just can't get the racket going...what does that thing weigh??

[jperedo]

Yeah we've got a bunch of video of Mardy--just not so sure he is site worthy...to be completely honest. But eventually we might put him up. I think we did put his serve in the Interactive Forum. But not sure you'd want to spend time looking at his forehand--backhand maybe though.

That's what makes it so interesting. Considering all the hype the straightarm forehand config is getting on these boards, it would be neat to analyze why Mardy's straightarm forehand is such a weakness.

[johnyandell]

Not sure if it is...I'll check.

[jasonfrausto]

Great issue John, I still think Delpo is the exception in terms of his racket position, but it does prove there is wiggle room in terms of the racket face angle during the backswing.

I noticed that Murray has closed his off more than the past as well as Ernest Gulbis, Delpo is the only player off the top of my head in the current gen that uses this "style". Nadal once again seems to have gone back to the more closed face position. I believe Delpo would be the only player in the top 10 with this position. I also agree with you that the more mild grips tend to cause the face to be in more of an on edge position like with Agassi and Delpo.

As good as his US Open win was, it will be interesting to see as you pointed out in your work if he'll be able to continue along that path. I don't feel his recent fall form is a reflection upon his overall level of play. The 2010 Aussie Open should be a great tournament with 5 legitimate contenders.

What I'm really interested in is the straight arm forehand, it seems like quite a few players have now been captured in the stroke archive with this hitting arm structure. Any data on the possible benefits? It seemed as though Paradorn and Flip were the first two, but now Nadal, Fed, Delpo, and Verdasco seem to be doing it as well. I've thought about trying to hit it myself purposely, but I'm not sure how well that would go as I'm a natural double bender.

[johnyandell]

hey know you love that closed face at the top...

[jasonfrausto]

hey know you love that closed face at the top...

Guilty as charged! Great double issue, I look forward to next month's as well.

[uspta4201423750]

the hip in the forehand

Hey John,
My son hits open stance forehands and forward (or neutral/semi-closed stance whatever you call it). In the forward stance (set like a baseball player or golfer) he easily gets hip rotation, but in the open, which he uses more often in matchplay, he gets little or none although he gets good shoulder rotation. How do I get him to engage the hip the way Bollitieri shows on tennis channel's academy show on the open stance forehand?

Thanks, Harry Kingsley

[vfishman]

I would like to see more video materials in your lessons

I am trying to improve my serve. The lesson on serve I looked at is good, but is way too short. Serve is the most difficult element of the game, especially for 3.5-4.0 players, like myself. I would expect to see more slow motion videos explaining all phases of serve. And I can find all this on fuzzyyellowballs.com. And it is free. Are you going to improve the quality of instruction on this web site?