Have a Question for Me?

[hyperwarrior]

Great question. And I have no answer but definitely I agree with the posts at TW about his grip being more eastern. Also more over the shoulder and reverse finishes. As usual at the majors there weren't enough close ups to see if that stuck, but it seemed he was back to more wiper action--all just an impression.

We plan a high speed filming at Cincy, so that may reveal more.

Cool, hopefully he'll be there for Montreal and Cincy.

[uspta990770809]

Right, it should be 180 coming back! Amazing I screwed that up. Thanks. And yeah I agree. If you can master the basic rotation there is hope for the future! What did you think of the analysis of Amber by the way??

I loved the analysis. I started to work from the hint you gave me as soon as I could. I lined up clips of Fed, Rafa and a couple of others and played them for her simultaneously with her own clip in Quicktime on my laptop. But it looks even clearer in the article. Loved the explanation about jumping up to deal with the high bouncing balls. Pulls a lot of things together.

Did you miss my post(About Amber's Forehand) just above the one about 180 vs 90? Also hoping you get to look at the thread: Footwork.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/showthread.php?t=1346

Hope you got recharged from your fishing trip!
all the best,
don

[johnyandell]

Man, missing things right and left. In Missoula Montana now, blame it on that...

[10splayer]

Thank goodness, someone findly addressed this whole "pat the dog" issue. As mentioned in the article, delaying the formation of the hitting arm structure, is exactly what most players want to avoid. I've also found, it can lead to quick, choppy, almost violent movements, in the "turnaround" stage of the swing, when the EMPHASIS is on keeping the racquet face this closed, this late, in the downswing.

Moreover, I'm now an even bigger fan of Don. I've always liked his articles, and am always interested in his thoughts on the game. The guy knows what he's talking about.

To check his ego at the door, on a public forum, for the benefit of his student, reveals the caliber of coach, and person he is. Many pros would not do this! I know, I've been around. What a great example, of putting the kid first.
It's not hard to understand why the guy is successful.

John's analysis, was spot on in my opinion, and I have no doubt Don will make the necessary changes, to compliment and already very develped game. Again, great collaboration and example of real teachers at work!

[johnyandell]

I appreciate it and it's always productive collaborating with Don.

[uspta990770809]

Thank goodness, someone findly addressed this whole "pat the dog" issue. As mentioned in the article, delaying the formation of the hitting arm structure, is exactly what most players want to avoid. I've also found, it can lead to quick, choppy, almost violent movements, in the "turnaround" stage of the swing, when the EMPHASIS is on keeping the racquet face this closed, this late, in the downswing.

Moreover, I'm now an even bigger fan of Don. I've always liked his articles, and am always interested in his thoughts on the game. The guy knows what he's talking about.

To check his ego at the door, on a public forum, for the benefit of his student, reveals the caliber of coach, and person he is. Many pros would not do this! I know, I've been around. What a great example, of putting the kid first.
It's not hard to understand why the guy is successful.

John's analysis, was spot on in my opinion, and I have no doubt Don will make the necessary changes, to compliment and already very develped game. Again, great collaboration and example of real teachers at work!

You guys are being so nice to me, it's almost...no, nevermind, I'm almost hypoglycemic anyway and I think I can handle it. It will be interesting to see if I can get Amber to make the necessary changes in that forehand. So far the effort seems to be having positive results, but it will take a couple of months to see any significant change in longstanding habits. It's amazing how many strange habits talented kids seem to be able to develop. Maybe it's actually everyone and we only notice the talented ones because they are able to survive and even excel inspite of those habits; the others just give up and fall away.

In any case, thanks for all the kind words. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it works out.

In the meantime, anyone else notice the strange way Amber's arm goes from straight to bent and then straightens out through the hit? This is really pushing the ball across the net instead of swinging through it. I'm hoping that just disappears as we address the "pat the dog" problem.

thanks,
don

[10splayer]

You guys are being so nice to me, it's almost...no, nevermind, I'm almost hypoglycemic anyway and I think I can handle it. It will be interesting to see if I can get Amber to make the necessary changes in that forehand. So far the effort seems to be having positive results, but it will take a couple of months to see any significant change in longstanding habits. It's amazing how many strange habits talented kids seem to be able to develop. Maybe it's actually everyone and we only notice the talented ones because they are able to survive and even excel inspite of those habits; the others just give up and fall away.

In any case, thanks for all the kind words. I'll be sure to let everyone know how it works out.

In the meantime,

anyone else notice the strange way Amber's arm goes from straight to bent and then straightens out through the hit? This is really pushing the ball across the net instead of swinging through it. I'm hoping that just disappears as we address the "pat the dog" problem

.

thanks,
don

I would imagine it would. The bending at the elbow in the forward swing seems to coincide with the forearm supinating and racquet face opening. Which would make since. Who knows why the arm straightens again. It will be interesting to see if, the elbow angle remains more or less constant when the hitting structure is set up earlier. I would bet it would.

I've had some success showing kids how to supinate the arm, manually first, when this too closed, for too long, racquet face problem exists. Just kind of showed them how the forearm rotates the racquet head down and back, and how the elbow bends and moves into the rib cage, before the racquet begins to move forward.

Ultimately, you'll probably want this to occur as a result of the hips rotating, and the external, or outward, rotation of the right shoulder. Showing her how to do this manually, at first, might be good stepping stone to the final package. Anyway that's how I see it, but I've been wrong before.

[prestige1]

Hi John

I am unable to send you the video of my son because the video from the camp is not sent homem but is analysed there. I cannot record the video myself because my camcorder is not compadible with my computer. Thank you for offering to help though. My son is actually doing great with his new grip and his forehand is almost back to normal.

Thanks again,
Jonathan

[johnyandell]

u could just send a miniDV tape.

[tcuk]

John,

Pancho Gonzales supposedly had a 72% career average on his first serve. This stat came from Tennisone. Tennisone (I emailed them) say they got this stat from Vic Braden. I emailed Vic Braden to ask where he came across such a stat because I'm not convinced all results from back then could have been successfully archived. I suspect the stat was derived from a cross-section of his matches and not his entire career. Braden never replied to my email.

Would you happen to know anything about this stat? Pancho had a wonderful serve, as good as anyone's today considering players had to keep their front foot on the ground back then!

Seventy two percent seems staggeringly high, though.

[johnyandell]

I have no idea! Two points that might affect percentage--in those days you had to keep one foot on the ground. Welby Van Horn says that made percentages higher--and also players were serving and volleying which made first serve percent critical. But again I have no numbers myself...

[uspta146749877]

same grip for forehand and backhand

John,
any opinion on the post at tennis-warehose quoted below?
One of my students asked the same question-my reaction was very negative.
Was I very wrong ?
---> quote from the post
I use the same grip from my forehand and 1hbh. Is this "bad"?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I never consciously thought about it until my coach asked to see which grips I use. I was shocked to see that I use a semi-western grip for both strokes. He said that a SW grip for a 1hbh is better for high balls, that such an extreme grip might be difficult to use on low balls. However, he said that some players can make it work for them. So I'm going with this route; it works for me.

But really, is this a bad habit?

[johnyandell]

Is he turning the hand over or shifting the grip? In general it's probably the case of someone who thinks he's a pro or wants to copy one using a grip that doesn't fit with the game he plays, height of ball he gets etc. But I could be wrong...

[10splayer]

John,


Is a forehand article by Brian Gordon still in the works. That would be an oh so good read.

[johnyandell]

Not AN article, a massive opus series... the pain of producing said opus is probably what is holding us both back...but it will emerge at the right moment in the course of human history...