Have a Question for Me?

[richberman]

copoly strings

Hi John,
First: Your site continues to improve - hats off to you!!
Question: Will copoly strings benefit the ave rec. player who doesn't/can't hit with significant racquet head speed.
thanks for all you do for the tennis community.
Rich Berman

[johnyandell]

Question 4:

Dick Gould at Stanford gave me my first teaching job in California. He had an amazing (still does) teaching system based on checkpoints. He never used the word "model" but essentially that's what he was using for all the strokes.

I used this approach to reconstruct my own forehand, and I saw how powerfully effective it could be with students and players at all levels. When I started teaching at Golden Gate Park in the late 1970s I became friends with the cadre of high level men's players who trained there at the time. I was a few levels below them as a player, but was able to use the approach to help some of them make technical improvements.

We had an original sony betamax system and that is where I used video for the first time. As I began traveling around norcal and watching my friends play open matches, I noticed that inevitably watching them intently had a positive "osmosis" effect on my own game.

So there you have all the elements. Visual input, visual feedback and the creation of physical models with checkpoints. The Mac/Lendl video was the first systematic effort to take this and turn it into a teaching tool/product.

20 years later all those elements are the components of Tennisplayer.

[johnyandell]

Rich,

I can answer for myself. When I experimented with double poly--yeah I found I had to really increase my swing speed to get the full effect--and that the aesthetics of the sound and feel weren't that pleasing.

So I went 17 guage hybrid with a soft synthetic. Love it. I can get more spin for sure, but it sounds great and still has a relatively soft smooth feel.
Used it to win a couple of 4.0 NTRP league matches for one of my clubs filling in on one of the teams. So if the player actually has viable swing shapes, yeah, I think it can add.

John

[don_budge]

Thanks again...JohnY

John...

Thanks again for your responses. The last two questions I decided were probably not that interesting...they had to do with your thoughts on the future of playing style and about the effects of the tough economy on junior tennis and activity.

That McEnroe and Lendl video choreographed to "Walking on the Moon" is really something, an all time favorite. I can see the expression on Lendl's face as he crushes that last forehand. It's ironically funny that in some respect it was one of your first endeavors in this medium. A lightning strike on the first try...I would say. Wow!!!

There isn't much that I can add that the other members have not already said about your site...except to say, that as far as bang for the buck goes...you cannot beat it. The value is an excellent one. Thanks again.

[johnyandell]

DB,

Appreciate the words very much. We'll be putting up the rest of the Mac/Lendl video eventually....

JY

[westcoast777]

Developing the two-handed backhand

John, a question

Would either Djokovic or Murrary be appropriate models for the two-handed, bent-straight variation? From what I was able to discern both players use this variation (at least on some shots). From the footage available on the HighSpeed Archives would you suggest another model?

Regarding the site, I can't thank you enough for the work you have done. I hold nothing but admiration for even attempting to bring quantitative analysis into tennis, much less deriving results applicable to the average player like myself. The progress I have made in the past few months is nothing short of remarkable.

[johnyandell]

Definitely. As good as any on the site!

[westcoast777]

A few additional questions regarding the two-handed backhand,
I am ambidextrous and fairly athletic - currently playing left-handed. When I began playing tennis my father and the pro had a difficult time deciding which side I should play with - I wrote left, threw right, batted left in baseball, and dribbled right and shot left in basketball. I have played right-handed, while serving lefty, though with a stronger two-hander than forehand, which led me to switch to the left. The left-handed forehand naturally developed after switching. Though on the backhand side I tried playing with a one-hander for roughly eight months with some success before deciding one month ago to make the switch.

Long story short - I am having difficulty with my two-handed backhand and I believe it is related to choosing the appropriate hitting arm structure + grip to use. As I mention in my previous post, I am trying to create the bent-straight structure that is popular in the men's tour. Translated into righty grip terminology, I have a mild eastern backhand grip on the bottom hand (1 1/2/ 1) and a modern eastern (3/3) on the top - is this an appropriate grip? Should the top hand be shifted to a modified eastern? Would you recommend a different hitting arm structure?
Thanks

[johnyandell]

Great questions. And maybe the hitting arm position is the key. Of course we are assuming that the turn and set up and timing and the extension are fine. Would love to see some video of the stroke, because those are big assumptions.

For the bent straight you might try going a little stronger on the bottom hand.

But maybe since you weren't bad with a one-handed backhand you should try straight straight--particularly with the left, right arm thing.

Again though it's hard to diagnose and we might be on the wrong track with seeing the whole stroke.

[jryle1]

The "Physics of Tennis" section. It never got going. My question is simple and will probably seem stupid but, what exactly was this section going to deal with and is there any plan to do anything with it in the future? Just curious. As a Leaving Cert physics student it would just be interesting to see.

[westcoast777]

The "Physics of Tennis" section. It never got going. My question is simple and will probably seem stupid but, what exactly was this section going to deal with and is there any plan to do anything with it in the future? Just curious. As a Leaving Cert physics student it would just be interesting to see.

Didn't the Physics of Tennis sections just release an article in May's issue?
Copoly Strings: How Do They Really Work?
-- http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/..._do_they_work/

[johnyandell]

Correct. And eventually there will be more on copoly, the kick serve, etc, bascially Rod Cross's work on a lot of topics.

[jryle1]

Apologies, I read that article but didn't realise that it was in that section. So it's going to be that type of thing? Cool.

[nikae]

Hello,

I have a question about David Ferrer's backhand.
Is it a good model for a club player? (me)

I have been playing for around 3 years, and I really had a problem with my backhand... For some reason I thought when hitting backhand with left hand straight -its straight/bent variation- (I am righty) was good for me because I could hit one handed backhand way better then left hand forehand.

But since I watch Ferrer play all the time, he is the same weight/height as me, I have been experimenting with bent/bent variation of 2hbh and I was doing better

I simply copied everything that he does on his backhand....but I will need time to practice it for some time before I can really use it in matches.

So far in matches I would hit slice backhand instead of normal 2hbh 95% of time .

Should I continue to work on "David Ferrer" backhand, or bent/bent variation that is, because looks like I will have way more success with it then straight/bent,
OR
should I try to copy someone's else backhand?

thanks

[johnyandell]

What I'd suggest is not necessarily slavishly copying Ferrer although he is very sound. Look at Davydenko as well, another great bent/bent. Read through the Advanced Tennis articles about the 4 variations. There is the model and then there is the player's approximation and interpretation.

It's the key positions more than the exact duplication of a particular player. You are smart to experiment with the hitting arms--that's an individual thing and you should start with players you like and evolve your own exact shapes, rhythm, etc.

BUT make sure you video yourself to see if you really are using the structure you think. In fact send one in for Your Strokes!