Have a Question for Me?

[johnyandell]

Yeah I did post something. But sometimes honestly I don't always feel I have the answer. It does seem to me that the extreme grips are more spinny and they probably do effect something in the exact angle of contact. Just not certain about how all that works.

[uspta990770809]

Please check my post last post on pronation on Rafa's 130MPH serve

In trying to answer a question, I think I formulated as good an answer as any on why the continental grip is necessary for the most efficient serve or maybe the fastest. You don't have to do it, but it gives you a greater upside when you learn how to hit the flat serve with the strong continental grip. I sure hope this spurs some responses. I've been away from this for a few months and it seems like it's tougher to get a response from the Cognoscenti then it used to be. Or maybe I was just deluded. Usually the case. At least I want to see what you think
don

[johnyandell]

Excellent questions. Becker always managed to have great knee bend even with his old style footwork. You just wonder if he had gone totally modern if things might have been even bigger.

So far as a correlation between that and his grip--I'd never pondered that and don't come up with an immediate insight. Maybe you or someone else has one?

[mcrok]

becker serve

Hi John, what do you think of the use of the back foot in Boris Becker's serve; his serve looks like some old footage (Stan Smit etc), we can see after the hittng point his right foot goes forward first and then the body follows the movement; what do you think? What is the difference with the modern use of the left foot, Federer etc.? Then the strange thing of Becker serving with a forehand eastern grip. Any relation between these two ideosyncratic aspects of the Becker serve?

[uspta990770809]

my post on Gayathri

John,
hope you will check out my post of Gayathri's backhand and your article. I can't back it up with many of the prostrokes videos, but I do find a few and I feel I am on to something there. Wondered what you think?

don brosseau

[johnyandell]

Yes it would. If he would play a few senior events in the states I'd be there. The old footage really is non-existent as far as any real analytic value.

[bigryoung]

I don't know how difficult/possible it is to get footage of older players but some videos of stefan edberg would be cool.

[bigryoung]

In my experience, the rhythm should be slow until you start the forward swing, then it continues to be smooth but you accelerate. i wouldn't really want pete sampras's forehand but watching it I get a better idea of rhythm. same with his serve except I would want it, haha.

[jimj1961]

John,

One thing I've noticed in watching good players vs. not as good players is their rhythm. The pace of their serve and ground strokes seem to be smooth and not rushed. Is this something that can be or should be taught? I have found my serve to be better when I focus on this, but it is harder for me on ground strokes.

By the way, you can see this play out in golf as well. Just go to a driving range and you can tell the good players from the bad just from their rhythm.

[johnyandell]

A whole article devoted to it? No and not sure why that would be a good idea. In advanced tennis under one-handed backhands, the article on the extreme version includes him.

[jryle1]

Oh ok. Any chance of there being an article on the Gasquet backhand in the near future?

[johnyandell]

Yes and yes. Brian is very busy with Rick Macci perfecting his new capture system, so I don't really have an estimate on his new series. As I have said a few times in the newsletters, the new high speed archives will be starting by the end of the year.

[jryle1]

Will you ever be updating the high speed archives with Federer, Nadal etc? And do you know if Brian Gordon will be starting a series on the forehand and if so what time roughly?

[johnyandell]

Yeah we've been wanting to film her but she just hasn't crossed the right court at the right time. Love the serve.

[stroke]

Stosur really shows how important movement is in tennis. She seems to have the best serve, and best forehand in women's tennis. Why can she not make a real run at #1. Her movement is below par. If she had Graf's movement(or even the Williams movement, or someone like Kournikova), she would easily be #1, I think.