Have a Question for Me?

[johnyandell]

Jim,
Great find! The swing looks like a backhand groundstroke--the racket doesn't know if the ball bounced...

[jimlosaltos]

Hey, John, since you're written here about the emergence of the swinging volley on the ATP, highlighting Fed's, I thought I'd ask what your thoughts are about backhand, swinging volleys -- even from one-handers ! Here, if I can figure out the new embed stuff, are links to short videos of Grigor Dimitrov at the ATP World Cup executing one from deep, and a frame cap from that video. To my amateur eye Grigor's one-handed backhand, swinging volley looks unlike what I've seen. Hmm, embed codes don't seem to work the way they used to, I'll have to figure that out later, so meanwhile here are some links that I hope will work, and perhaps the content will be of interest to your readers.

Tight view: https://flic.kr/p/ZB9EfQ
Long view with replay: https://flic.kr/p/21Gp7zz
Still, frame cap: https://flic.kr/p/21Dshns

https://flic.kr/p/21Gp7zz

https://flic.kr/p/ZB9EfQ

Photo embed:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/21Dshns][img]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4519/38492530876_ed727f6374_b.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/21Dshns]DimBhdVolStill[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jfawcette/]Jim Fawcette[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/ZB9EfQ][img]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4554/37810102724_2ed53a9fe9_c.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/ZB9EfQ]GrigoBHVolTight[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jfawcette/]Jim Fawcette[/url], on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/21Gp7zz][img]https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4573/38525862091_b4aae3996c_c.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/21Gp7zz]DimBhdVollongShot2Views[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/jfawcette/]Jim Fawcette[/url], on Flickr

[johnyandell]

Not wrist lag! Check that out in the myths in advanced tennis. Grip strength? As relaxed as possible without losing control of the handle. Visualize the actual path of the forward swing and especially the checkpoints for the extension--either with or without the wiper.

[knkelly]

Aside from "hitting up" is there any part of the forward swing that should be consciously controlled (e.g. wrist lag, grip strength, racquet face position, etc.), or visualized? Trying to better understand the balance between what I should focus on vs. what just naturally happens if you execute specific fundamentals properly.

[johnyandell]

Just visualize hitting up with a really full swing. This is also where the wiper finish comes in as in the article in Advanced Tennis regardless of grip. Match the force of the incoming ball.

[knkelly]

I've been working on the forehand extension progression and finishing with the racquet on edge definitely helped. I found it more natural to do this when the ball was in my strike zone but when facing a heavier ball that came in higher I had trouble visualizing how to finish in the same way. I'm either launching the ball long or resorting to an old habit of short-arming a windshield wiper motion. Thoughts on the higher/heavy ball in terms of the forehand swing path and finishing with the racquet on edge?

[johnyandell]

You guys can delete any post. Threads if they need to be deleted we can discuss and if they need to be, they will!

[stotty]

John

In the old forum, posters could delete their own threads. I am sure I remember deleting a thread once. In the current forum I cannot find the option to do this...don_budge can't either. Is there a way to do it?

It's probably quite important a person can delete a thread if they want to.

[johnyandell]

Uh, OK sure. I looked at Isner and the elbow is slightly higher. Novak also. Roddick also. Fed looks about even. Have a feeling that it's related to shoulder flexibility. I wouldn't put it at the top of list of fundamentals though. The cherry on top at best.

[seano]

John -

Unable to upload images, sorry. Back to the main question.

The serve tip was - to achieve greater external rotation of the hitting shoulder, in "full racquet drop" try to KEEP ELBOW HIGHER THAN YOUR HAND. He mentions use of relaxation and flexibility exercises to help achieve this. What are your thoughts on this advise?

Sean

[johnyandell]

Seano,
Had a hard time following. Can you post links from the hs archive??

[seano]

John -

Question - I received an email from an ATP/WTA certified coach trying to promote his camps and he gave a tip on the serve. Wanted to get your thoughts on the advise and give an observation from looking at your high speed archives on serves. The serve tip was - to achieve greater external rotation of the hitting shoulder, in "full racquet drop" try to keep the elbow higher then the hand and to swing up with the elbow, not the hand. He mentions use of relaxation and flexibility exercises to help achieve this. What are your thoughts on this advise?

My observation from your archives is that the pro's who keep the racquet more on edge in the racquet drop (Djokovic, Dimitrov, Wawrinka), tended to be able to get the elbow above the hand. While pro's who had the racquet face pointing up towards the sky in the racquet drop (Federer, Sharapova) did not achieve the elbow above the hand. Other pro's brought the racquet face back at about a 45% angle (Nadal, Murray), they didn't seem to get the elbow above the hand either. Any thoughts?

Best view of the serves seems to be a side view with the servers back to the camera.

Sean

[johnyandell]

Well the latest research shows top players actually inhibit the flex to control the shot line. I have had tremendous luck using the exact images in Scott's article. Better less flex than too much and the feeling of pushing through the ball with the wrist laid back is powerful.

[brant]

I see. I guess I can understand now laying back the wrist is OK as an early fundamental, since one needs to get that "feel." Having never been taught that way, it feels odd to me. Though when I get it going, it's definitely a result not an action and what I imagine is a looser flow -- so even the work "locked" conjures up the wrong feeling to me.

[johnyandell]

Classics are classics from the archives--there is so much good material that I bring out an article or two every month. You ask good querstions. But. as a teaching concept for learning the basics teaching the laid back wrist is really the way to go.