Chris Lewit Article

[ralph]

I need some help understanding the parabolic swing shape. I understand the the hit up and then down swing or inverted follow through. I was wondering about the round swing as exemplified by the circle of balls. Once the racquet is dropped in the slot and butt is pointed at the ball, my understanding is to pull the butt directly to the contact point which would encourage a delay of the turning of the racquet head. A more rounded swing as suggested by the circle of balls suggests that the tip of the racquet follows the circle from when the butt is at the back hip all the way to contact. Which one is right? I hope that I explained this clearly.

Ralph

[richberman]

Thank Chris,
Great drills showing the up, rotation, and extension needed for the advanced forehand. I am planning on using a few of these drills later today.
FYI, I have also stolen teaching techniques - don't we all. However, I give credit where credit is due. Thank you Dennis Van der Meer, Robert Landsdorf, and, yes, thank you John Yandell to name just a few.
Rich Berman

[bottle]

I think that neither is right, or both are right, and one has to decide between them unless one wants to do both.

My question has to do with summing or not summing various forces. I see one film strip on hinging one's forearm to add to racket head speed, and then another about extension of upper arm toward the net, in a different direction for a kind of division of labor.

Is that's what is happening or are all the forces lining up when these Spaniards or other huge topspinners do their thing, i.e., does everything shear, or do some things provide shear while others provide weight?

Great series by the way and a great question by Ralph. As for mine, I've probably been wondering about it for the length of my tennis life.

[chrislewit]

parabola

I need some help understanding the parabolic swing shape. I understand the the hit up and then down swing or inverted follow through. I was wondering about the round swing as exemplified by the circle of balls. Once the racquet is dropped in the slot and butt is pointed at the ball, my understanding is to pull the butt directly to the contact point which would encourage a delay of the turning of the racquet head. A more rounded swing as suggested by the circle of balls suggests that the tip of the racquet follows the circle from when the butt is at the back hip all the way to contact. Which one is right? I hope that I explained this clearly.

Ralph

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for question but I'm not sure I understand it completely. I've always taught the swing in a parabola shape arcing outward to the right towards contact rather then more linearly. John would have to tell us whether this is what actually happens on high speed video or if the swing is more linear than I have suggested to my students. However, I believe open stance swings tend to have more parabola shapes than classic closed stance swings. John, can you comment based on the evidence?

As for the buttcap, I really don't focus on it at all when teaching my students. I've never had a student focus on where the buttcap is facing preimpact, and I think it would cause my students to think too much during a time in the swing when they need to be relaxed and fluid. However, I know some famous coaches who talk a lot about the buttcap.

I believe that there is always a lag of the racquet tip preimpact (ie. The buttcap is leading) but John would be the best person to verify this too

I will check back this week to see if there are any followup questions.

Cheers
Chris

[chrislewit]

sorry

I think that neither is right, or both are right, and one has to decide between them unless one wants to do both.

My question has to do with summing or not summing various forces. I see one film strip on hinging one's forearm to add to racket head speed, and then another about extension of upper arm toward the net, in a different direction for a kind of division of labor.

Is that's what is happening or are all the forces lining up when these Spaniards or other huge topspinners do their thing, i.e., does everything shear, or do some things provide shear while others provide weight?



Great series by the way and a great question by Ralph. As for mine, I've probably been wondering about it for the length of my tennis life.

Sorry but I don't fully understand your question re shear and weight. If you want to repost the question with further detail I can take a stab at it.

Best
Chris

[chrislewit]

thanks

Thank Chris,
Great drills showing the up, rotation, and extension needed for the advanced forehand. I am planning on using a few of these drills later today.
FYI, I have also stolen teaching techniques - don't we all. However, I give credit where credit is due. Thank you Dennis Van der Meer, Robert Landsdorf, and, yes, thank you John Yandell to name just a few.
Rich Berman

Thanks Rich


Let me know if the drills work for you
Cheers
Chris

[johnyandell]

Well, we can always hope to actually measure these curves one day. There is no such thing as a strictly linear swing, obviously, as the racket is moving on a curve throughout the forward swing.

I like the parabola image because it is great for giving the feeling of the more extreme wiper Chris is talking about. A swing that finishes over the shoulder is probably a parabola as well. But the way Chris has placed the balls it gives a more radical pattern, where the parabola less approximates a half circle.

As the video of Nadal shows you can still extend like crazy and have that more radical parabola shape. The extension point tends to occur sooner I think and closer to the right side than the left for a righty. (Obviously the opposite side for Nadal.)

[bottle]

No question. I'll just do 366 degrees with the racket head.

[tommyt]

Hi Chris,

Great article. On the emergency drill your student is taking small adjustments steps to the ball, would larger steps be more suitable? Thanks.

[chrislewit]

emergency drill

Hi Chris,

Great article. On the emergency drill your student is taking small adjustments steps to the ball, would larger steps be more suitable? Thanks.

Hello,

If Sean needed to take an adjustment, then he did the right thing. Adjustment steps are common on the dead run.

At the same time, larger steps are crucial early on to get up to top speed.

On clay, the adjustment would most likely be a slide, rather than small steps. Spaniards use the slide to make the last minute adjustment

Chris

[ralph]

Chris,
Thank you for responding. My first instruction on the modern forehand was in studying the Brett Hobden videos. He covered several stroke endings, each one appropriate for a different shot. The inverted swing or parabolic shape that you cover in your article was introduced as an ending for angled or dipping shots. Do you recommend the parabolic stroke as a basic stroke that can be used as the primary stroke for depth hitting?
Ralph

[jvanc]

question for chris on forearm hinge

thanks for the article.

With respect to the forearm hinge and the straight arm forehand ( vs. double bend) , is the forearm hinge used in the straight arm forehand ala Nadal, Verdasco? it would seem on the surface that the straight arm version along with the forearm hinge would be mutually exclusive. Could you please clarify?

Regards

[chrislewit]

Low finish

Chris,
Thank you for responding. My first instruction on the modern forehand was in studying the Brett Hobden videos. He covered several stroke endings, each one appropriate for a different shot. The inverted swing or parabolic shape that you cover in your article was introduced as an ending for angled or dipping shots. Do you recommend the parabolic stroke as a basic stroke that can be used as the primary stroke for depth hitting?
Ralph

Hi Ralph,

Yes--In my experience many players will use a low finish for many shots from the baseline--not just angled shots.

It depends on the kid. You have to experiment with each player and see what finishes they gravitate toward.

But the low finish is common on sharp-angled shots in particular

Chris

[chrislewit]

Forearm hinge

thanks for the article.

With respect to the forearm hinge and the straight arm forehand ( vs. double bend) , is the forearm hinge used in the straight arm forehand ala Nadal, Verdasco? it would seem on the surface that the straight arm version along with the forearm hinge would be mutually exclusive. Could you please clarify?

Regards

Hello,

This is an interesting question. Perhaps John could chime in based on his extensive study of high speed video.

I would have to check some high speed video myself, but off the top of my head, I would say that they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

First of all, I doubt that Rafa or Verdasco are straight arm on every shot; I believe the straightness of the arm probably varies depending on whether the player is crushing the ball flat or hitting a topspin drive or sharp, dipping angle.

That being said, I would expect to see more bend and hinge in heavier topspin shots (especially shorter angle shots) and straighter arm configurations when powering through the ball deep and flatter.

I wonder what John has seen in the video to support or challenge this notion.

Also, I believe there is significant hinging and wiper action of the forearm after the contact, so in that case, the arm could be quite straight at the contact while still showing a hinge/wiper after contact.

But on heavier topspin I would expect significant low-to-high hinging pre-impact, which might make the arm appear more bent at contact.

Those are my initial thoughts. If I get a chance to check some video this week, I will, and will repost.

Hope this helps, though.

Chris