Glad I Signed up

[scottf2]

Hi John,
I signed up for Tennisplayer in October, just a few weeks after picking up a racket for the first time. We exchanged some emails back then and I expressed a concern that the material might be a bit too advanced for me. You graciously offered me a one month trial which I took you up on, and then signed up for the year.

I just wanted to drop you a note to say that I'm SO glad I signed up! Even as a beginner, I've found the site extremely helpful. Of course, I pick and choose which lessons to pay most attention to, but I've found plenty of them that are appropriate for me. I'm a BIG fan of video analysis (I learned how to scull a few years ago and found videotaping myself an invaluable part of the process), and it's a great benefit to be able to compare my own videos to those of the pros.

I've also been able to sort out some misinformation I've gotten from other players, or even the pros at my club. For instance, I took a serve lesson last night (in preparation for my first USTA tournament, coming up this weekend) and the pro insisted on teaching me the "back step crossover" instead of the "front leg hop"... I had read an article about the serve on tennisplayer early on, so I was using the "hop" technique and it felt pretty good, and when the pro tried to get me to switch to the back leg technique it felt quite awkward. I tried it out for the duration of the lesson, but was pretty sure I would be switching back to my old method... As soon as I got home from my lesson, I logged on and read your "Myth of the Back Foot" article, which confirmed my suspicion that I was on the right track BEFORE the lesson and should disregard the advice I received to keep my front foot planted and step around with my back foot.

Anyway, this is just one of the many things I've learned from Tennisplayer.net, and I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work authoring and compiling these great articles.

I'm looking forward to continuing to make extensive use of the website as I develop as a player!

Best,
Scott

[bottle]

Diamond Sculls

Wow. Another oarsman! And it writes! And clearly! All of my life I've been looking for oarsmen and oarswomen who play tennis (in olden times they were called "sweepswingers" whether they played tennis or not).

As for scullers, every one of whom is an oarsman, one of the most interesting contributions I've ever seen in a tennis forum came from Xeno Muller, the fabulously amusing on-line rowing teacher and gold medalist for Switzerland in the Atlanta Olympics.

The videos and instructional articles at Tennis Player are unquestionably great, but I also advise you to pay close attention to this forum.

The forum is where off-hand comments occur, and as I'm sure you already have learned in sculling and tennis both, unguarded comments are usually where people reveal the true secrets best.

Can I interest you in my book INNER SLINGSHOT? Go to amazon.com/authors/john_escher and thanks.

[tntenniswhiz]

Hi John,
I signed up for Tennisplayer in October, just a few weeks after picking up a racket for the first time. We exchanged some emails back then and I expressed a concern that the material might be a bit too advanced for me. You graciously offered me a one month trial which I took you up on, and then signed up for the year.

I just wanted to drop you a note to say that I'm SO glad I signed up! Even as a beginner, I've found the site extremely helpful. Of course, I pick and choose which lessons to pay most attention to, but I've found plenty of them that are appropriate for me. I'm a BIG fan of video analysis (I learned how to scull a few years ago and found videotaping myself an invaluable part of the process), and it's a great benefit to be able to compare my own videos to those of the pros.

I've also been able to sort out some misinformation I've gotten from other players, or even the pros at my club. For instance, I took a serve lesson last night (in preparation for my first USTA tournament, coming up this weekend) and the pro insisted on teaching me the "back step crossover" instead of the "front leg hop"... I had read an article about the serve on tennisplayer early on, so I was using the "hop" technique and it felt pretty good, and when the pro tried to get me to switch to the back leg technique it felt quite awkward. I tried it out for the duration of the lesson, but was pretty sure I would be switching back to my old method... As soon as I got home from my lesson, I logged on and read your "Myth of the Back Foot" article, which confirmed my suspicion that I was on the right track BEFORE the lesson and should disregard the advice I received to keep my front foot planted and step around with my back foot.

Anyway, this is just one of the many things I've learned from Tennisplayer.net, and I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work authoring and compiling these great articles.

I'm looking forward to continuing to make extensive use of the website as I develop as a player!

Best,
Scott

Scott,

I join you in celebrating a great website that combines what I consider some of the very best available in tennis instruction, as well as a vibrant community of amazing tennis enthusiasts. But of course, you have already found those facts out for yourself! Welcome to the gang!!!

[tntenniswhiz]

Wow. Another oarsman! And it writes! And clearly! All of my life I've been looking for oarsmen and oarswomen who play tennis (in olden times they were called "sweepswingers" whether they played tennis or not).

As for scullers, every one of whom is an oarsman, one of the most interesting contributions I've ever seen in a tennis forum came from Xeno Muller, the fabulously amusing on-line rowing teacher and gold medalist for Switzerland in the Atlanta Olympics.

The videos and instructional articles at Tennis Player are unquestionably great, but I also advise you to pay close attention to this forum.

The forum is where off-hand comments occur, and as I'm sure you already have learned in sculling and tennis both, unguarded comments are usually where people reveal the true secrets best.

Can I interest you in my book INNER SLINGSHOT? Go to amazon.com/authors/john_escher and thanks.

Bottle,
I'm so glad you made the recommendation to Scott!!! I have placed it on my list of books to obtain and will do so after I complete my newly acquired set from Chris.

[DougEng]

Hi John,
I signed up for Tennisplayer in October, just a few weeks after picking up a racket for the first time. We exchanged some emails back then and I expressed a concern that the material might be a bit too advanced for me. You graciously offered me a one month trial which I took you up on, and then signed up for the year.

I just wanted to drop you a note to say that I'm SO glad I signed up! Even as a beginner, I've found the site extremely helpful. Of course, I pick and choose which lessons to pay most attention to, but I've found plenty of them that are appropriate for me. I'm a BIG fan of video analysis (I learned how to scull a few years ago and found videotaping myself an invaluable part of the process), and it's a great benefit to be able to compare my own videos to those of the pros.

I've also been able to sort out some misinformation I've gotten from other players, or even the pros at my club. For instance, I took a serve lesson last night (in preparation for my first USTA tournament, coming up this weekend) and the pro insisted on teaching me the "back step crossover" instead of the "front leg hop"... I had read an article about the serve on tennisplayer early on, so I was using the "hop" technique and it felt pretty good, and when the pro tried to get me to switch to the back leg technique it felt quite awkward. I tried it out for the duration of the lesson, but was pretty sure I would be switching back to my old method... As soon as I got home from my lesson, I logged on and read your "Myth of the Back Foot" article, which confirmed my suspicion that I was on the right track BEFORE the lesson and should disregard the advice I received to keep my front foot planted and step around with my back foot.

Anyway, this is just one of the many things I've learned from Tennisplayer.net, and I just wanted to thank you for all the hard work authoring and compiling these great articles.

I'm looking forward to continuing to make extensive use of the website as I develop as a player!

Best,
Scott

Congratulations, Scott!

I'm curious...I don't know this back step crossover being taught. That is, I have never seen a coach actually teach the Venus Williams serve. I think it just develops out of perhaps weak core muscles, misunderstanding of foot up and finally using the back and shoulder incorrectly. It can result in more power (flatter serve but less spin). Do you mean foot up (to meet) or back foot up (to baseline, aka Venus Williams)? First is good and second is almost always bad.

Best,
Doug

[GeoffWilliams]

That's the Lendl serve/ ala courier. It can cause injury to the over loaded hamstring. Most beginners don't move their weight from back to front, and no leg drive upwards, and don't snap backwards under their neck/armpit area, but just use their arms for frame speed, not the whip lash or their weight.

Whip lash is created by lagging/dragging behind the opening shoulders/hips.

[scottf2]

Thanks for the welcome everyone. I actually had no idea this was posted in the forum until I just stumbled across it (I sent it as an email to John) - I hadn't really looked in here yet, and I'm glad I did!

As for the serve I was taught by the pro... as best as I can understand, she was trying to get me to "step through" with my right foot leading as part of my follow through. Maybe like what the woman in this video does.

I also noticed that my girlfriend, who learned how to play when she was in high school in the 80s, and hasn't really made any changes to her serve since then, follows through in the same way.

Anyway, I'm sure this works for some people, but I find the "hop forward on the front foot while kicking the back leg up" style more natural...

Anyway, thanks for the welcome and I look forward to reading more of the forum posts.

Scott

[scottf2]

Wow. Another oarsman! And it writes! And clearly! All of my life I've been looking for oarsmen and oarswomen who play tennis (in olden times they were called "sweepswingers" whether they played tennis or not).

As for scullers, every one of whom is an oarsman, one of the most interesting contributions I've ever seen in a tennis forum came from Xeno Muller, the fabulously amusing on-line rowing teacher and gold medalist for Switzerland in the Atlanta Olympics.

The videos and instructional articles at Tennis Player are unquestionably great, but I also advise you to pay close attention to this forum.

The forum is where off-hand comments occur, and as I'm sure you already have learned in sculling and tennis both, unguarded comments are usually where people reveal the true secrets best.

Can I interest you in my book INNER SLINGSHOT? Go to amazon.com/authors/john_escher and thanks.

I'm a big fan of Xeno's online video instructions/review. He's definitely one of the contemporary rowing coaches making full use of video analysis and social media.

And thanks for the book recommendation - I will definitely check it out!

Scott

[rlangston]

Tennisplayer.net is my “go-to” reference for my game, I find all my answers and your video is the best!!!