Ok let's develop a serve!

[don_budge]

Repost...

PART 1

"Can you spot the problem with this serve?"

develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

Just a couple of things...

First of all, I would say for his age (how old?) he looks like he has a very fine basis for the service motion. Nice long backswing and most importantly, a nice big loop behind his back which is one of the biggest factors in developing a service motion.

You could leave it at that...there isn't anything really "wrong" with his motion but if he wants to improve I would suggest the following.

As Don suggests, it appears to me that his rhythm is less than optimal. He initiates his motion with a pull on the racquet whereas I like to see the motion initiated with a "dropping" of the racquet head. At the same time his throwing hand is in a funny position to begin with...but he corrects it in the middle of the motion as he correctly delivers the ball to serve it. Why not begin with the hand in the correct position, drop the racquet head and the rhythm issue is improved?

I don't care for his set up in the sense that it is a bit lackadaisical with little attention to his "aiming". Aiming is largely a product of setup as it is in the golf swing. Think, "Zen in the Art of Archery" by Eugen Herrigel. I realize that he is young and just "going through the motions" for the camera but with such a fine motion, if he is mature enough to start thinking about the more intricate aspects of the swing, so much the better.

Since his motion is very good as it stands I would recommend the Stan Smith video where he discusses the number of targets that one can envision when serving against an opponent. Once he understands the importance of the setup with regard to aiming and then begins to practice aiming his serve, I believe you will see significant improvement.

My recommendations are to scrutinize his setup, initiate the swing with a drop of the racquet head, practice serves with intent (aiming at targets) and begin to develop tactics when serving to different opponents.

I like the motion and wish that I had half a dozen in my program just like him.

PART 2

It's developed alright...it's more like fine tuning at this point.


develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

With regard to his set up...I recommend that he start with a ratio of 70/30 of his weight distribution from the front foot to the rear foot. Take a look at Federer’s setup...he begins with his right foot poised on his toe. See how that just by turning his shoulders Federer accomplishes a total transfer to a 30/70 ratio of weight from his front foot to his back foot.

The power that you are searching for lies in this transfer of weight...and the inherent rhythm. In the setup and pre-serve routine I recommend setting the racquet more forward which will also move his tossing hand into a better position... then bobbing the racquet head up and down with both hands (engaging the shoulders and the rest of the body to do their work) two or three times and on the final bob let the head of the racquet drop...as the racquet head drops, the transfer of weight begins with the turning of the shoulders. Bobbing the head of the racquet is the equivalent of waggling the head of the golf club, which is ultimately paramount in the initiation of the motion from a static position.

The slow and methodical weight transfer that characterizes a McEnroe serve:

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/modern_legends/johnmcenroe/mac_serve/mac_1st_serve/mac_1st_serve.html?Mac1stSDeuceFront2.mov

The slow and methodical weight transfer that characterizes a Federer serve:

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/roger_federer_09/rf_serve/rf_1st_serve/rf_1st_serve.html?RF1stSAdCourtLevelRear1.mov

I think that you will be surprised how much more fluid the motion will appear with these two changes. The service is a chain reaction with each preceding move designed to initiate the next. His present setup is designed to somewhat hinder a long fluid backswing, giving him the appearance of a more woodeny posture than he actually has.

Two very nice things that the young man does is maintaining the path of his racquet head and staying on track in a line with his feet until it “drops” behind his back creating a nice full circle behind him. The delivery of the racquet head to the ball is quite nice also as evidenced by the nice "pop" sound with every hit.

There is easily another 30% more potential energy to be realized with a fuller backswing that is simply accomplished with a smooth and complete transfer of weight. This will encourage him to swing his shoulders back away from the ball on the backswing, then back to on the delivery.

With regard to the video evidence...there is one very important aspect of the serve that is missing in all of the footage. That is the walk up to the baseline that the player makes on his journey to the serve. It is very interesting to watch the routines and waggles that they use to prepare themselves for this explosive motion. Serving comes with an attitude and this attitude is often expressed in how players approach the baseline to serve. You can often see which players mean business in their approach to their setup...hopefully the attitude is one that clearly says, "you can't touch this". I would omit any player that bounces the ball more than three times...however.

PART 3

Michael Stich and Stefan Edberg...setup and weight transfer

develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

In your infinite wisdom...you have selected two players with very effective service motions, with Stich's being the more classic of the two and therefore more worthy of imitation or of being an example to an aspiring young protege. Both of them exhibit the weight transfer that I was trying to persuade you that is so important for your young charge in order that he can incorporate the key things that are important to you into his swing.

http://youtu.be/cf2vjXP_cHg?t=35s

Take a look at the Edberg serve at 3.43 in the clip...and the setup at 5.17. Since you are a fan of Stich's serve, take a look at the setup and motion at 4.50. He is executing precisely what I am trying to describe. Both of these player's service setup position with their weight and their racquets well forward in their stances which encourages them to swing their racquet and their arm in one unit and also to swing their bodies into position to make the most bio-mechanically efficient motion going forward.

Your boy has done a very nice job of delivering the racquet head to the ball from a somewhat awkward setup position...which is why I am alluding to the fact that he has another 30% of potential energy to be realized within his grasp if you set him up to do it. There is absolutely nothing wrong with his arm action and the pause at the top will only come if it makes sense within the context of the timing of his motion to do so.

To get him to setup correctly...try having him bend at the waist a bit and shift the weight and the racquet forward and see what happens. The position of his feet is excellent.

Thanks again for putting your work on the forum for us to view and comment on.

PART 4

Patience and The Horse

develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

I agree that it would be nice to have the big serve working when he moves up an age group but he may not think so. With my prize student I have found myself having my patience tested on a number of issues but have found that usually my patience has paid off. Lately I have been patting myself on the back...but we shall see. I have not been in such a hurry for him to post results in the juniors...it's the mens events that are my goal. He can save his arm until it matters..but he should be ready to go when the bell tolls. That is when he is going to really need the big serve and hopefully it is coming around at this point. Recently I have been "emphasizing" the importance of taking the initiative with the serve and getting more positive feedback. Before it wasn't happening.

The "rock" is not so much back as it is down and up. The old down together, up together. The racquet drops...but so does the arm in harmony with the rest of the upper body...and the shoulder turn is executed with a turn as you lift, without noticeable movement backwards. Once again, I call upon golf speak...the turn is often described as taking place in a barrel with limited room for lateral movement.

Set up, drop, turn and lift. It's fairly simple, yet remains one of the great mysteries. Good luck and thanks again for sharing your thoughts and sharing your student. It certainly helps me to think out loud.

I think his arm and wrist motion is really good...I love the position of his feet and his footwork in general. It's only one piece of the puzzle. He may subconsciously be saving his arm for future use. I think he is destined to have a very good serve...it may only be a question of when. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink until he's ready. On the other hand...you can try to stimulate the thirst...just a bit.

[tennis_chiro]

Exactly!

Part 1,,,

Finally...with regards to your last video of the impromptu 45 minute session. You are absolutely on the right track...it's all about the setup and the backswing.

1 Fine tune setup...lean a bit more forward from the waist. Bobbing racquet head with arms and shoulders. And a one...and a two...and a three, here we go. Or, one for the money...two for the show...three to get ready....and go cat go.

2 Debug backswing...small almost imperceptible pause on the way back. By swinging the arm and racquet in one position, and as one unit all of the way to the top of the backswing this small pause will disappear.

3 We shall see where we stand after points 1 & 2. Arm action and footwork were very good at the beginning...it should be even better now. The more comfortable he gets, the more his shoulders will turn quite naturally.

I am very, very impressed with your last video and eagerly await your next submission...from the tone of your words.

I'm so much on the same page as D_B here, it amazes me. The "deliberate" nature of the backswing I referenced above is exactly what he is talking about in "debugging" the backswing.

I, too, am very curious to see your progress. I'm going to email you some videos of Stich's serve that will give you better comparison material.

keep up the good work,
don

[stotty]

Another good day....40 minutes practicing...just sticking with the same at the moment until he gets even more comfortable with the weight transfer. It's improving all the time, pace is starting to come...even better, the student is now fully on board with the concept.

I had him with the arms up and him slightly leaning over the baseline. The thing is with Stich when I watch his serve over and over again, there is no hard pressing down with the front foot... nor is there any hard pressing down on the back foot...it's all so gentle, relaxed and easy...it's almost weightless to look at...yet it's weight transfer to perfection.

Re the pause in the backswing, I had completely missed that one.

2 Debug backswing...small almost imperceptible pause on the way back. By swinging the arm and racquet in one position, and as one unit all of the way to the top of the backswing this small pause will disappear.

Is the key to achieve the above relaxation, gravity? I think because he is trying to control his arms thru an unfamiliar swing path he is a little tense in the arms...might take this on this weekend and see what I can come up with.

Over the weekend I will post some clips taken in daylight, which always come out better...plus some slomo clips.

I'm very grateful for everyones comments and input so far. I'm getting help with technical aspects of the serve that I was hitherto unaware of as a coach. I intend to give G the best serve possible. I think his foundation is sound and his potential is great.

I may post tomorrow is I get chance to do a couple of baskets with him.

[stotty]

Thanks for that, DB. Yes, I'm getting a good picture of what to do and how to go about it. Another 30 minutes tonight...let's see how it goes.

Two things you might want to know about G:

1. He is great at mimicking...can emulate the shots many players on the tour. I intend to sit him done in front of those Stich clips...something could well rub off.

2. The boy is passive. A stroker and timer of a ball, not a hitter. It's hard to educate him about aggression because he just ain't mentally configured that way. He is very talented. When I get the chance sometime I'll post clips of him playing an all court rally. He's like a little Mecir at times...smooth, easy, languid, deceptive.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your efforts and help, Don_Budge. You are a wonderful writer and great at explaining the way to proceed.

[tennis_chiro]

Just love this!!!!

...

The quote below is from my post titled "Roller Coaster of Love...Part 1" (From the "Racquet snaps the wrist on serve..." thread, tennis_chiro and I sound a bit like the dueling banjo's in the movie "Deliverance" in that thread. It's currently on page six in the forum.)

"Here we go...hold on to your hat! One thing that we must clarify before we go into any kind of explanation about the motion is the pressure of your grip. Sam Snead referred to the grip on his golf club as holding it with only so much pressure as you would hold a live bird. We only hold on with our hand tight enough to not let go of the racquet. We maintain only enough pressure in the entire arm, forearm and wrist to swing the arm and racquet back into position in one piece without disturbing the exact position that it is in at the setup position. We must eliminate all sources of tension and resistance when we are attempting to use pure gravity to dictate our motion. From this relaxed and confident position at setup we need only to release the racquet with our left hand that is supporting it, and allow the weight of the racquet head to merely fall upon the line of the track all the way back to the fence until it reaches a position at the top of the hill."
...

I just love this description of the backswing!!!
don

[stotty]

Getting Rid of the Drag

I just had to have another go with G tonight. We only had 15 minutes but I (and G) was itching to make a start. I don't see a pause in the swing, just a drag in the early part of the backswing. I'm glad it was pointed out because I had missed it completely. In the short time available I set to work trying to get rid of it....while at the same time trying to keep the weight transfer intact.

Stich is now the definite model for G's serve. I am trying to get G to emulate Stich's preparation and early backswing up to the trophy position...and similar weight transfer. It isn't easy but we are determined to achieve...

Here are three serves http://youtu.be/88Tc-NIHBXk

See any improvement? Something's working because in the space of a week it's going a lot quicker.


I will show G the clips of Stich's serve this weekend. G is great at mimicking and this will help a lot

[tennis_chiro]

Much improved

In my book, better than half the rhythms on the men's tour and about 90% of the rhythms on the women's tour. Big improvement. He'll do better when he studies Stich a little more.
Here are the links to 3 views of the Stich serve at the Grand Slam Cup 1993:

Court Level from the Ad Net Post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2jxYly-ziY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Court Level from the Rear:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJMIAulE4jU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Directly Overhead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5iBOSZ1fR4&feature=youtube_gdata_player

You can also take a look at the Front-Back-Front Service Rock video I put up on my youtube channel, GlobalTennisDC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki1JbK1i--s&feature=youtube_gdata_player

and you can see some of the alternate backswings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNIXPtx5J3g&feature=youtube_gdata_player

and even a version close to a Gonzales serve:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wESyQkyQeBY&feature=channel_video_title

And here's the actual Gonzales rock by Gonzales:

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/golden_legends/panchogonzales/panchogonzales.html?PGServeFront1.mov

don

[vrc10s]

Weight

On players that already can serve, non beginners, I like to start at the feet and work up. In all of the posted videos of G, he doesn't land in the court far enough. In fact in the last two videos that I viewed he either landed in the posisition he started in or actually backed up a little.

I believe he would get more power if he exploded "up and into" the court more. I believe he should land 4 or 5 inches into the court with left foot.

Good luck and I hpoe this will help him.

[stotty]

On players that already can serve, non beginners, I like to start at the feet and work up. In all of the posted videos of G, he doesn't land in the court far enough. In fact in the last two videos that I viewed he either landed in the posisition he started in or actually backed up a little.

I believe he would get more power if he exploded "up and into" the court more. I believe he should land 4 or 5 inches into the court with left foot.

Good luck and I hpoe this will help him.

I agree with you...thanks for your help. Exploding upwards will come later...at the moment it's all about rhythm and timing. It's not easy what he is trying to do...emulate Stich that is. We'll get there

I couldn't get on court with him today because he had a ratings tournament in London. He won one match and lost the other. I wasn't there but he said he played badly but served quite well. He says he is preoccupied with his serve and finds it difficult concentrate on points as well - understandable in my view.

[tennis_chiro]

It takes reps

I agree with you...thanks for your help. Exploding upwards will come later...at the moment it's all about rhythm and timing. It's not easy what he is trying to do...emulate Stich that is. We'll get there

I couldn't get on court with him today because he had a ratings tournament in London. He won one match and lost the other. I wasn't there but he said he played badly but served quite well. He says he is preoccupied with his serve and finds it difficult concentrate on points as well - understandable in my view.

He has a really good motion to start with, but it still will take 3000 to 5000 serves before he really can even begin to be effective in competition. That's less than half of what I usually tell players when they want to make a change. G has to understand this. He's going to be a little less effective while he is initiating this change.

don

[don_budge]

Repost...

PART 5

Fine tune, Debug and We shall see

develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

http://youtu.be/LeG0grNzmUk

Finally...with regards to your last video of the impromptu 45 minute session. You are absolutely on the right track...it's all about the setup and the backswing.

1 Fine tune setup...lean a bit more forward from the waist. Bobbing racquet head with arms and shoulders. And a one...and a two...and a three, and a here we go. Or, one for the money...two for the show...three to get ready....and go cat go.

2 Debug backswing...small almost imperceptible pause on the way back. By swinging the arm and racquet in one position, and as one unit all of the way to the top of the backswing this small pause will disappear.

3 We shall see where we stand after points 1 & 2. Arm action and footwork were very good at the beginning...it should be even better now. The more comfortable he gets, the more his shoulders will turn quite naturally.

I am very, very impressed with your last video and eagerly await your next submission...from the tone of your words.


PART 6

One last thing...the figure 8

develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeG0grNzmUk&feature=youtu.be

By creating the new path with a modified setup and drop of the racquet head initiation of the swing..."G" has a nice big circle in front of him that is his backswing. Coupled with the nice big circular motion that he already had behind him, what have you got?

Answer: Don's figure 8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wkhxlMD-0o

PART 7

Sam Snead, Olof's flimsy shoes and The Roller Coaster of Love..."Deliverance"

develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

The thing is with Stich when I watch his serve over and over again, there is no hard pressing down with the front foot... nor is there any hard pressing down on the back foot...it's all so gentle, relaxed and easy...it's almost weightless to look at...yet it's weight transfer to perfection.

Re the pause in the backswing, I had completely missed that one.

2 Debug backswing

Is the key to achieve the above relaxation, gravity? I think because he is trying to control his arms thru an unfamiliar swing path he is a little tense in the arms...might take this on this weekend and see what I can come up with.

With regard to the "weightless footwork" of Micheal Stich...think of Sam Snead practicing his golf swing barefooted...or (bottle remembers this one) Olof practicing his serve against the backboard in his "flimsy canvas loafers". One very interesting note regarding Stich's footwork is how his feet are placed in the overhead view video that Don sent us via e-mail (there's some immediate feedback to your wish for overhead viewing, way to go Don!). The back foot is parallel to the baseline and the front foot is more or less 45 degrees...which is what I teach verbatim. All in all, Micheal Stich's motion is textbook, he's certainly in total compliance with my model for the service motion...you couldn't of picked a better model for sheer silky, slinky service technique. Richard Gonzales would of loved it.

I think you have answered your own question here about the debugging of the backswing...

The quote below is from my post titled "Roller Coaster of Love...Part 1" (From the "Racquet snaps the wrist on serve..." thread, tennis_chiro and I sound a bit like the dueling banjo's in the movie "Deliverance" in that thread. It's currently on page six in the forum.)

"Here we go...hold on to your hat! One thing that we must clarify before we go into any kind of explanation about the motion is the pressure of your grip. Sam Snead referred to the grip on his golf club as holding it with only so much pressure as you would hold a live bird. We only hold on with our hand tight enough to not let go of the racquet. We maintain only enough pressure in the entire arm, forearm and wrist to swing the arm and racquet back into position in one piece without disturbing the exact position that it is in at the setup position. We must eliminate all sources of tension and resistance when we are attempting to use pure gravity to dictate our motion. From this relaxed and confident position at setup we need only to release the racquet with our left hand that is supporting it, and allow the weight of the racquet head to merely fall upon the line of the track all the way back to the fence until it reaches a position at the top of the hill."

Now the key to all of this is to keep it as simple as possible. I like my little story about the serve metaphorically as a roller coaster supported by the visual image of tennis_chiro's figure eight's clip.


PART 8

"To be" vs. "to imitate"...development.

develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

Elaborate (a musical theme) by modification of the melody, harmony, or rhythm.

It's not easy what he is trying to do...emulate Stich that is. We'll get there.

Monkey's imitate...human beings enlighten and therefore develop through discovery, hopefully.

"G" now has the beginning of a sound fundamental basis for the service motion. Before imitating a professional tennis player who had been perfecting his service for fifteen years, perhaps it would be prudent to proceed one step at a time. Let "G" develop into "G" as opposed to imitating Stich. He can borrow some things from Stich perhaps, as well as Federer, McEnroe, Brosseau...but it will be better for "G" in the long run to learn to be himself. The key word is develop.

Now...with a nice motion in place, and as tennis_chiro suggests with some practice it will take some time to become second nature to the boy...let's focus on spinning the ball a bit. Afterall, that is the purpose of developing this serve, isn't it?

Have "G" imagine that the tennis ball is as big as a beach ball and have him try to throw his racquet all the way around the beach ball to create as big an arch in his motion as he can. Toss the ball at one o'clock and a bit further forward into the court. This should loosen up his arm a bit and get him to toss the ball a bit more into the court...in order that he "launches" himself at the ball. Work at this with a variety of speeds. Work on this from a meter behind the baseline. Nice and easy at first...relax the arm for the full potential effect. Learn to keep the arm relaxed as you turn up the heat. Think big circles. "And Then There Were Three" (circles)...Genesis.

At the same time incorporate some serve and volley drilling so that his motion is directed into the court...or rather to the target. After he has the concept of the motion it is time to attempt to incorporate the motion into play time. Having the motion stand the test of match play is the final phase of development. Time to let up on the service details some, I think. It's more like a feeling than a definition. It's more of an imaging process, ala Yandall, than a matter of mechanics at a certain point. There is the danger of overload or as you put it...preoccupation, which is somewhat natural. It's like a new toy, isn't it? Don't wear it out. Let's be somewhat cautious of his arm as well. Let's keep things in perspective. Let's create curiosity on the student's part.

Looking good...and steady as she goes. There is no hurry now. Just be patient and see what develops. He's only fourteen...there is only so much room in his noodle. Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was the British Empire.

vrc10s...I like the idea of building from the feet up, it's good to have a sound foundation.

[stotty]

De-Bugging

Here are some more clips taken today…before reading DB's post 26. I have taken them from different angles to give a more all round view of his action.

It's hard to get rid of the drag in the early part of the backswing. The reason for this is that he is dependent on this slight "dragging" to be sure to time the ball at the top of the reach. It's going on subconsciously and is quite deep rooted. Looks like a lot of figure 8's are going to be needed.

He gets the idea of gravity and "reaching the top of the hill". He's watched Stich over and over and can see the difference between Stich's flowing backswing and his own. He understands the key is learning how to initiate the backswing by allowing gravity to play it's part.

And, yes, I let G read some of the posts on this thread. It's an open process as far as I am concerned and no coach should be apprehensive about trying it. I have done it before on Tennisplayer and the reaction from students is the reverse of what many would think. G is flattered by the input from other coaches and by the efforts of others as well as myself to help him. It motivates him…makes him feel like a worthwhile tennis player...makes him grateful, too.

I am not going to move on from trying to de-bug the backswing. I feel time spent here could pay big dividends. But as DB says it's time to settle for what we have at the moment and switch the emphasis. We did work on spin today which he enjoyed and succeeded at.

Shame the clips can't give you all an idea of pace. I have restricted him to three-quarter paced served thus far…but despite this the ball is moving pretty quick.

No more posts until Wednesday, earliest. My wife is having four kidney stones removed in a London hospital and needs my moral support. I will follow the thread if I can connect to a wireless network somewhere.

http://youtu.be/WEflOtFt57Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXDeExm8UxM

http://youtu.be/MNPHHLfY2aE

http://youtu.be/gVODwH8M4z8

http://youtu.be/YKdPoXCjEOg

[tennis_chiro]

Really good!

Here are some more clips taken today…before reading DB's post 26. I have taken them from different angles to give a more all round view of his action.

It's hard to get rid of the drag in the early part of the backswing. The reason for this is that he is dependent on this slight "dragging" to be sure to time the ball at the top of the reach. It's going on subconsciously and is quite deep rooted. Looks like a lot of figure 8's are going to be needed.

He gets the idea of gravity and "reaching the top of the hill". He's watched Stich over and over and can see the difference between Stich's flowing backswing and his own. He understands the key is learning how to initiate the backswing by allowing gravity to play it's part.

And, yes, I let G read some of the posts on this thread. It's an open process as far as I am concerned and no coach should be apprehensive about trying it. I have done it before on Tennisplayer and the reaction from students is the reverse of what many would think. G is flattered by the input from other coaches and by the efforts of others as well as myself to help him. It motivates him…makes him feel like a worthwhile tennis player...makes him grateful, too.

I am not going to move on from trying to de-bug the backswing. I feel time spent here could pay big dividends. But as DB says it's time to settle for what we have at the moment and switch the emphasis. We did work on spin today which he enjoyed and succeeded at.

Shame the clips can't give you all an idea of pace. I have restricted him to three-quarter paced served thus far…but despite this the ball is moving pretty quick.

No more posts until Wednesday, earliest. My wife is having four kidney stones removed in a London hospital and needs my moral support. I will follow the thread if I can connect to a wireless network somewhere.

http://youtu.be/WEflOtFt57Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXDeExm8UxM

http://youtu.be/MNPHHLfY2aE

http://youtu.be/gVODwH8M4z8

http://youtu.be/YKdPoXCjEOg

I think it looks really good. Tremendous progress. It's starting to look natural. I particularly like the way he is using a Stich-like bow of the legs instead of more of a bend to the knees; I really think you might be able to pop up quicker out of a bow than out of a complete bend. In any case, it is much closer to the Stich model. If he really wants to follow the model completely, he should try bringing his hands a little closer together. This is not necessary; he is doing great; but if you want to realy copy the Stich rhythm, having the hands a little closer together gets them to the bottom at the same time and makes it actually easier to synchronize the movement of the hands and weight transfer. I repeat, it is not necessary, but I would ask him to just check it out to see how it feels for about a dozen serves.

But, most of all, I think it is getting a lot better. And I can see the natural pace developing as well. Great work, both of you!

don

[don_budge]

Congratulations..."G" and Coach Stotty

PART 9

Debugged...Mission Accomplished

develop...grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

1...It's hard to get rid of the drag in the early part of the backswing. Looks like a lot of figure 8's are going to be needed.

2...He gets the idea of gravity and "reaching the top of the hill". He's watched Stich over and over and can see the difference between Stich's flowing backswing and his own. He understands the key is learning how to initiate the backswing by allowing gravity to play it's part.

3...And, yes, I let G read some of the posts on this thread.

4...I am not going to move on from trying to de-bug the backswing.

5...Shame the clips can't give you all an idea of pace.

6...No more posts until Wednesday, earliest. My wife is having four kidney stones removed in a London hospital and needs my moral support.

Ok...so here we are. The setup is fine tuned but needs just a little tweaking and the backswing is bebugged for all intents and purposes. Now we shall see.

1...The drag is gone. What you have in its’ place is a very elegant, very classic and very sophisticated backswing. See what tennis_chiro said about his rhythm...he's not kidding, he's not whistling Dixie. Some figure 8’s possibly but to me figure 8’s are only a means of getting there. He is there.

2...Yes, he gets it, I see the racquet head drop almost lazily...and you get it too, apparently. It’s a double dip, Stotty. I would not give any more thought to using Stich as an image to copy. It may only limit the young man...his motion is that good. Let’s develop “G”...to be “G”.

3...I want to write him a letter on the forum...is it ok with you?

4...Move on Brother, you have accomplished more than you have any right to expect. Move to the “weak link” in his game while he continues to develop his serve. I suggest putting the service priority on simmer for a bit.

5...Ahhh, Stotty. You underestimate the powers of observation that good old don_budge possesses. That ball is moving...and deceptively fast. The power is effortless and it's sneaky, therefore there is a lot of potential to be tapped in the future as the kid grows and matures.

6...Give my best to the wife and wishes for a speedy recovery.

PART 8 "To be" vs. "to imitate"...development (beach ball, launch and serve and volley drill) is still in play...I am very curious as to what this missive will produce. One more peek at video after this idea is introduced to the kid. The toss needs to be moved to the right in order to spin the ball...soon to be addressed in PART 10...The Conclusion.

http://youtu.be/WEflOtFt57Q

I see the image of the racquet head arching to circumnavigate the beach ball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXDeExm8UxM

I see the "snakiness" of Nastase in the first serve. Uh oh...!!!

http://youtu.be/MNPHHLfY2aE

Forget Stich...my money is on "G". This clip tells me to move the toss a bit to the right.

http://youtu.be/gVODwH8M4z8

My next tip about the setup is from this clip.

http://youtu.be/YKdPoXCjEOg[/QUOTE]
Beach ball, bingo...boom! Bing, bang...bye!

Unbelievable!!! It's that good. I would like to pay you a compliment as well...nice job on the camera, the feedback and your general overall professional approach. You do your student a great service. It's definitely a pleasure working with you...as usual.

[stotty]

G and I got back to it today. I thought I'd post this clip with G's hands starting closer together. His says his hands feel more in unison but the slight change makes the serve feel very different.

The serves are tame because he sore hamstrings from cross-country running...so no driving up to the ball... just motions.

http://youtu.be/B0Bc0ltGNPs

The backswing is looking much more fluid than it is was, too. He doesn't have to think about this anymore.

G (not me) also noticed a funny thing from watching Stich on youtube. He noticed Stich sweeps into the "up together" motion almost directly out of his ball bouncing routine. There is no steadying or collecting himself after the ball bouncing. The ball bounce is virtually connected to his service motion.

G has been serve and volleying all this week in my absence. This has helped his forward momentum quite a lot. He likes to serve and volley and is exceptionally good at the net. His backhand volley is a stunning shot for someone his age. I'll post a clip of it at some point.

Don_Budge Of course you can write a post for G. Write a post for him whenever you want.

I'll let his serve bed down for a while, then I think more spin, more driving up to the ball, and a more forward ball toss (and more to the right) are in order. Beach ball here we come...