The Contact Moves Revisited: Building Points

[johnyandell]

Let's hear your thoughts on David Bailey's latest "The Contact Moves Revisited: Building Points"

[dipperhitter]

The sequences of this article made me think of the relationship to comments Geoff Williams has made in the past about defending the contact point. What I sort see is these guys patrolling the baseline and doing what is necessary to keep the ball in front of them or keep it from getting past their contact points when they can't really stop enough to set up.

[10splayer]

The sequences of this article made me think of the relationship to comments Geoff Williams has made in the past about defending the contact point. What I sort see is these guys patrolling the baseline and doing what is necessary to keep the ball in front of them or keep it from getting past their contact points when they can't really stop enough to set up.

Yes!! The quality of one's footwork can only be evaluated by how it impacts (to the positive or neg) striking. In my mind, the two are definitively intertwined.

In the simplest terms, the contact is the most important moment. Players, thru experience, implicitly understand what footwork patterns, stance permutations, etc. will allow them to best execute in this very situational game. So yes, every move they make, is geared towards producing the racquet at the proper point in space and time.

I've found this is a great way to learn.... that is, focus on impact and let the mind start to fill in the blanks.

[stotty]

Great article

I really like this idea of "standing your ground in rallies". This opens up a whole new way of going about things for me as a coach. I hadn't really considered it much before.

I have a stable of good junior boys at the moment aged 15 to 16 years old. One of them has forged ahead of the others, though not through superior technique or shotmaking. He's simply learnt to hit spots on the court which makes life awkward for opponents. The other boys seem never to be able get a foothold in the rallies anymore to enable them to build and construct points. They get dismantled very quickly in rallies.

It's amazing how quick this scenario has started to happen. One moment all the boys are roughly the same standard, a month later one has completely separated from the others, purely through discovering how to hit the spots on the court that make life difficult for others. It's like the boy's been suddenly given a gift. You can't teach this kind of thing.

After reading the article....

If the other boys could learn to hold their ground in rallies through good footwork, it may help them combat what they are going through against the boy who has surfaced to become so strategically superior, as much of their problem revolves around them losing control of rallies under the duress of being pulled around ....they give ground when it is most critical to hold ground.

This has been a great article for me. I feel I have really learned a lot here.

It's quite fascinating what is going on with this group of boys at the moment...how one has suddenly developed an IQ for the game that has left the others standing.

[10splayer]

Stotty,

Interesting topic, because here in America there is an on going debate about out approach to the game in the last 20 years or so. And in many ways it gets down to our insistance on teaching a "hold your ground/first strike mentality" in development. This approach certainly runs counter to the Spanish mode of thinking, which promotes "receiving" skills, defense, and in general both giving and holding ground. (see Jose Hugerus article) Certainly, we are not known for producing players that are "good movers", or defenders. With the exception of Sampras, (who IMO was just a supremely gifted athlete) one could argue we rank amongst the lowest in this area......

By no means am I questioning your findings in your group of kids. Learning to hold your ground and taking the ball early is an acquired skill that needs to be nurtured, but I question whether we, here in America, have not gone overboard with this mentality. The game of tennis is becoming increasingly more about athleticism, and skill set BOTH on the offensive and defensive end.. My gut feeling is that the Spaniards have it more right than not. You just can't be a one trick pony anymore.

[stotty]

Defend, attack...and hold

Stotty,

Interesting topic, because here in America there is an on going debate about out approach to the game in the last 20 years or so. And in many ways it gets down to our insistance on teaching a "hold your ground/first strike mentality" in development. This approach certainly runs counter to the Spanish mode of thinking, which promotes "receiving" skills, defense, and in general both giving and holding ground. (see Jose Hugerus article) Certainly, we are not known for producing players that are "good movers", or defenders. With the exception of Sampras, (who IMO was just a supremely gifted athlete) one could argue we rank amongst the lowest in this area......

By no means am I questioning your findings in your group of kids. Learning to hold your ground and taking the ball early is an acquired skill that needs to be nurtured, but I question whether we, here in America, have not gone overboard with this mentality. The game of tennis is becoming increasingly more about athleticism, and skill set BOTH on the offensive and defensive end.. My gut feeling is that the Spaniards have it more right than not. You just can't be a one trick pony anymore.

10splayer,

Oddly enough I have been thinking about this topic on and off throughout the day, and came to a similar conclusion. Against the kid who has become more strategically dominant, the answer for the other boys to is to hold their ground, defending doesn't work, they've tried (been forced into) that. Holding their ground I think is the answer. I have them altogether on Friday for a squad so will find out soon enough.

I am very frank with the boys, so the dominant kid will be privy to what I am going to ask the other boys to do and why. It will be down to him to respond to those kids instructed hold ground. It should be fun and interesting.

Until reading the article I hadn't considered the "holding your ground" scenario all that much. I have mostly advocated students learn to defend and attack according to the situation. Holding ground hasn't been in my coaching vocabulary until yesterday.

But I agree with you in that it's wiser to teach the whole gamut.

[johnyandell]

Great discussion and we can thank David for getting it started.

[10splayer]

Great discussion and we can thank David for getting it started.

Yes, I really appreciate his work. The act of actually identifying and quantifying different patterns of movements, stance permutations etc and how they relate to tactics must of been tedious work. There's alot going on there.

[DavidBailey]

Hey Guys, Thanks so much for the discussion on the article.....just fantastic to be associated with people that love talking tennis
There seems to a lot of talk here about systems of training and I really agree that Australian tennis (I am a aussie) and US tennis have lost there "Way of Playing" unlike the Europeans and particularly the Spanish.

Aussie players where known in the past for serving and volleying and slicing their backhands but we havn't really adapted to the modern game thus we have really lost our dominance that we once shared with the US and this could be for many many reasons

One thing that is not taught as a fundamental of playing at a very young level in Australia is the importance of footwork and balance unlike the spanish who develop the Tennis Athlete before the Tennis Player. But even more importantly they (the Spanish) definitely have a system of education that all coaches adhere to i.e fundamental drills and teaching methods that all coaches embrace and teach

My belief that todays player will have to become more "Complete" than just a aggressive baseliner or a retriever or an all court player and it all comes done to 2 skills 1. taking time away from the opponent and 2. forcing the opponent to hit out of their strike zone

If you take time away then you need to approach and volley well, take the ball early (hit of neutral stances) and hit with disguise from a semi open "inside the baseline" set stance.

To hit out the strike zone you want to 1st Make them bend i.e. slice 2nd . Hit heavy i.e make them jump and hit above their shoulders 3rd Make them reach i.e hit effective angles 4th hit hard through the middle and take away their legs and ability to hit angles

On top of that the Complete player must also serve and return very well

In all 9 fundamentals skills, that are taught from a young age through great balance, movement, contact points, mental and tactical thinking and swing lines. In summary it is also about understanding the appropriate contact moves that create the Complete player and which contact moves enable you to hit heavy, take the ball early, hit with disguise, hit angles etc.

That is having a system of teaching that is embraced and shared is the only way forward .....Happy to discuss this IDEA or BELIEF further as it is a great topic