How Rafa Changed His Serve and Won the U.S. Open

[johnyandell]

Share your thoughts on Christophe Delavaut's article "How Rafa Changed His Serve and Won the U.S. Open".

[bruce]

????

why is oscar suing rafa?

[privas]

Amazing!

Wow. What a bomb! I hope Tennisplayer.net isn't next to be named in the lawsuit! Mr Yandell, as Wilander would say, publishing this one took "balls." I hope you get a Pulitzer.

Pedro

[jfd001]

That's why he lost the Open to Novak!

Well said indeed! This explains why he struggled in 2011 after dominating in 2010. Novak improved for sure but Rafa regressed.

[johnyandell]

Seems hard to believe that this could end up in court. Haven't been many details forthcoming. Maybe Christophe can shed some light on it for us.

[stotty]

How come the coaching session with Oscar was allowed to be filmed? I'm surprised Toni agreed to it being filmed, very surprised. Doesn't anyone else find this strange?...a high profile tennis start in an experimental coaching session with a near stranger? That videoed session must be worth its weight in gold to Oscar.

[mlogarzo]

One of the most interesting things i've seen for a while.

He has most definitely reverted to his original take back with the arm extended, wrist down and trophy position further away than what he had at Us Open 2010.

Interesting to find out why, as in '10 his serve definitely did improve and he won a lot more free points.

If you ask me, during that lesson, he didn't look as receptive as they made it seem to be. He may have been doing it on Uncle Toni's advice as he didn't look like a guy who was totally into it eg. bouncing balls, whilst the guys talking. When my students do that i know theyre not 100% with me and aren't feeling it. Thats just the perception i got and i could be totally off.

[bruce]

i agree totally.........he had the uninterested look about him

[bruce]

notification

John,

it would be nice to have some kind of notification system like on facebook or amazon to know when someone has added a comment to a forum. This would encourage a lot more interaction. Is it possible?

[llll]

John,

it would be nice to have some kind of notification system like on facebook or amazon to know when someone has added a comment to a forum. This would encourage a lot more interaction. Is it possible?

is it that hard to log in and check??
just asking

[johnyandell]

Bruce,

I can check into it--not sure everyone would want more "notification" in their lives, but let me see.

[johnyandell]

On the Rafa thing.... having been on the court doing video with a few pro players, including a couple that won slams, I can say that there is a innate resistance and suspicion to technical input...but that doesn't mean the player isn't actually assessing it and incorporating something. That's my take on what happened.

[richberman]

great, great article

John,
I sure hope you the law suit doesn't encompass you. Frankly, as was stated earlier by one of your readers, I'm surprised Tony/Rafa permitted the taping. I suspect they were not aware it would be shared. With that said, I'm delighted it was.
I always thought Rafa's elbow was too high and that prevented the power position. Probably the same thing to say the arm was too far extended. I have found in my teaching that many students have the same problem. I correct it, but it often rears its ugly head and comes back without diligent and constant oversight. Especially, when a student was told to extend the elbow above the shoulder by a tennis pro and then practice it over and over again.
Bottom line: From a teachers perspective, this article is PURE GOLD.
Thank you for sharing this with us. Again, PURE GOLD.
rich