Roger Running Forehand I Want...John Yandell

[don_budge]

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/music_videos/forehand_i_want/forehand_i_want_large.html

"Nothing's so loud...nothing's so cold." I get lost in the lyrics...and the stars in the sky...the night seems so dark around you.

My favorite instructional video in this months issue. There simply are no words. Who needs them? The other articles and videos are simply great too and it's created some very impressive technical discussion. You guys are like a bunch of mad scientists brainstorming upon the most infinitesimal details. It's truly amazing. But there is definitely something going on when Johnny sets the great ones to music. There is nothing quite like it. Art trumps science...but only in my book. And you know what the book is...it's Tilden.

I like to introduce beginners with a fundamental lesson on the forehand as in turn, step and hit...and try to emphasize to them that once they understand that little piece of wisdom it is time to get their butt in position on a moving ball.

Nobody does it better...than Roger "The Living Proof" Federer. If not better...then more eloquently or more elegantly. As to rhythm...it appears to me that the racquet is back in position and beginning to go forwards when the right foot is planted and he is making the best of his opportunity to hit the ball, to meet the ball precisely when his front foot meets the earth. Right out of Tilden...on how to hit a running forehand. Substantiated by John Yandell and set to "Toad the Wet Sprocket" and "All I Want".

I am doing a lot of repetition on a basic footwork drill that is much like the Roger Federer running forehand. I sell it to the kids as a dance step. I try to sell tennis as a dance...with the tennis ball. I show them the ball and I say this is your dance partner. Try not to step on her toes and try to move her around the dance floor gracefully, effortlessly. Make her look and feel beautiful. "Dancing with Tennis Balls"...sort of a sequel to "Dancing with Wolves". The drill is a 5 step dance step.

To their right they go step one first with their left foot heel to right foot heel which kicks the right foot out a bit and lands at a 90 degree angle or parallel to the baseline which is step two...at the same time they show the face of the racquet to me and begin to turn their shoulders. Step three is a step across with the left foot as they continue to turn the shoulders pushing the racquet backwards. Step four is when they set the planted rear foot with the racquet back ready to go forwards and finally step five is landing on the front foot while they swing through the ball. Is it brilliant? No? Ok...

For a backhand dance step...go to the left and everything is a mirror image of the forehand. All together now...and a one, and a two. Baila mi hermana...mi hermano. Very cool...once again. Extraordinary work! Thank you for sharing... John.

This could be a music candidate for a future video...

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

All I Want...Toad the Wet Sprocket

Nothing's so loud
As hearing when we lie
The truth is not kind
And you've said neither am i
But the air outside so soft is saying everything
Everything

All I want is to feel this way
To be this close, to feel the same
All I want is to feel this way
The evening speaks, I feel it say...

Nothing's so cold
As closing the heart when all we need
Is to free the soul
But we wouldn't be that brave I know
And the air outside so soft, confessing everything
Everything

And it won't matter now
Whatever happens to me
Though the air speaks of all we'll never be
It won't trouble me

And it feels so close
Let it take me in
Let it hold me so
I can feel it say...

Nothing is so loud...nothing is so cold.

[don_budge]

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...ant_large.html

"Nothing's so loud...nothing's so cold."
All I Want...Toad the Wet Sprocket

Nothing's so loud
As hearing when we lie
The truth is not kind
And you've said neither am i
But the air outside so soft is saying everything
Everything

All I want is to feel this way
To be this close, to feel the same
All I want is to feel this way
The evening speaks, I feel it say...

Nothing's so cold
As closing the heart when all we need
Is to free the soul
But we wouldn't be that brave I know
And the air outside so soft, confessing everything
Everything

And it won't matter now
Whatever happens to me
Though the air speaks of all we'll never be
It won't trouble me

And it feels so close
Let it take me in
Let it hold me so
I can feel it say...

Nothing is so loud...nothing is so cold.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/music_videos/forehand_i_want/forehand_i_want_large.html

The more I watch it the more I like it. It's a 5 step dance step for the most part...at least from the center of the court or near the center.

It's beautiful...what with Federer and the Federfore on the run. I will take a forehand to go...please. With Toad the Wet Sprocket. The lyrics. It's all I want...to feel this way.

It's art. There is science. I can do the math. You shouldn't need a calculator to teach a forehand. Ok...today you do. But it is the art in the end that will win the soul over. Music and visions...over information. I love this place. You are there...I am here.

I know...I know. Information is king. It's the day that we live in. Well...it's different for me. I am in the woods. There is silence...the sounds of silence. There is room to think. Some of you are thinking...too much room. But...I have an iPhone.

As I drive to work I hear the melody in my ears. It's all I want...to feel this way. The vision of Federer striking forehands in my noodle. Federfore's. Then it's show time. Time to perform. Ladies and gentlemen...allow me to introduce myself.

One good hallucination deserves another. Why not? We are all in...aren't we?