2013 BNP Paribas Open...Indian Wells, CA

[hockeyscout]

Sister?

How about giving up your wife?

Ah, sorry, she's perfect! Mine, mine and mine. On my first date with her I decided, all mine. She blond, tall, slim, hunts, fishes, plays sports and has attitude! She's got a sister though who's not married.

[don_budge]

Nadal and Janowicz, one hand backhands and blue eyed blondes...

Just keep posting. It's fun! Posting for the bloody fun of it!

I saw bits and pieces of two matches last night and very early in the morning as Frankie the American born Chocolate Labrador Retriever woke me when nature called and lo and behold it was Radek Stepanek up in the first set against my most unfavorite tennis champion ever...Fafa Nadal. He is the most arrogant and comical I have ever seen. More proof that the professional game has drifted in the direction of Big Time Wrestling. If I had a bit more time I would like to give a bit more analysis here but let me just say the Radek Stepanek is now primarily a doubles player but all of the fundamentals of tennis are still in his system. He almost took "Hulk" Nadal down for the count...which would have been a blessing as far as I am concerned.

Meanwhile...Jerzy "Joe" Janowicz melted down and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The announcers seemed to be so perplexed as to what is limiting the kid from Ludz...but I have laid it out before and I stick with my breakdown. The two hander will always limit his development. It was a mistake in the first place to hang on to it this far and because it is all about money and immediate results because this is the "now" generation...it will never happen that he will evolve in the manner that the game was truly intended to be played. He lost to a left-handed Columbian...ouch!

Maybe more later...I am going to the club to teach my forty year old training mate the one hand backhand. He is going to switch from the two hander. Not that I had anything to do with it...but it is perfect timing with all of the discussion about one handed backhands on the forum as of late. I boned up on the Oscar Wegner One Hand Backhand from Scratch thread and I will proceed from there. I have no doubts in my mind on how to proceed...I know his game so well. But that doesn't matter either...I can shape 'em in any size, age, sex or color. Although I find that blue-eyed blondes in their mid-thirties seem to be the most receptive. At least that has been my experience of late here in the land of the Swedish Goddesses. Estonian too!

[klacr]

Nadal pulled a Houdini last night and escaped a tricky opponent in Stepanek. Radek Stepanek won the first set comfortably and after that it was a dog fight. nadal was down 0-40 on his serve in the 3rd set and managed to squeak it out 7-5.

Funny how Stepanek seems to be labeled "traditional" and "old school" and his strokes labeled "linear" yet his game seemed to hold up quite well against the uber "modern" Rafael Nadal. Love seeing the contrast in styles in this match. I miss those days. Wish it happened more often.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

Current

Nadal pulled a Houdini last night and escaped a tricky opponent in Stepanek. Radek Stepanek won the first set comfortably and after that it was a dog fight. nadal was down 0-40 on his serve in the 3rd set and managed to squeak it out 7-5.

Funny how Stepanek seems to be labeled "traditional" and "old school" and his strokes labeled "linear" yet his game seemed to hold up quite well against the uber "modern" Rafael Nadal. Love seeing the contrast in styles in this match. I miss those days. Wish it happened more often.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

DB should have really enjoyed the Stepanek match. I think it is more than a label Kyle. Radek def is no type 3 fh. His hands and volley skills may be the best out there among current players. When players get in the drop shot/cat and mouse game with him, they are in his world. I have said it before, but he reminds me of McEnroe with those hands and touch.

[hockeyscout]

Don Budge, why do the experts hate the one handed backhand so much?

Okay, fine, return to serve, whatever, just use a two-hander for return to serve or something to mix it up?

I admit, you gotta have a ton of patience, and you can't focus to much on the result, however, in the long run I would think teaching the one handed backhand at a young age would pay off with a more all court game and better agility.

Also, I think for the bigger kids with the longer arms the one handed backhand is the way to go, especially if you envision foot speed being an issue.

I think with the increased speed of the game, you'll need it to chase down more balls. A one handed backhand I think will be a must, along with slice backhands. It's so overlooked now.

I just can't see the advantage of a two handed backhand in building a young players game from scratch. You sure learn more versatility by using it, and it's a better athletic pathways in terms of variety and skill set. What I do with the young one is she'll go to the two-hander when she gets tired with the one-hander. The big issue she has is figuring out her grips, and how to control the racket, however, in time she'll sort that out as she studies it a lot, and I'm thinking in time she'll sort out what is comfortable. I like your vision actually of an all-around game, and what's interesting here is a lot of you are really preaching down the direction that I am going of "anti-technique" in some ways. You did make a nice suggestion of playing with two backhands, and experimenting with that (Bartoli), however, the young one just started hitting left handed, so that's cool.

The only regret I have is not playing Monday as a leftie, and Tuesday as a righty in the early stage of development, as I think I would have had a better balanced athlete, and a better player.

[don_budge]

Back at you...stroke. Please observe the following one and all...

Current

DB should have really enjoyed the Stepanek match. I think it is more than a label Kyle. Radek def is no type 3 fh. His hands and volley skills may be the best out there among current players. When players get in the drop shot/cat and mouse game with him, they are in his world. I have said it before, but he reminds me of McEnroe with those hands and touch.

But more importantly you should have really enjoyed the Stepanek match...and it is a mistake to label Radek Stepanek "old school" or "traditional" in any sense that is to be interpreted as condescending. You see...the label that I put on Radek Stapanek is "one cagey tennis player" much as in the mold of for instance...Brad Gilbert. And then I ask you the same boring question I have been asking on the forum and to my students the last year or so. What is power? To which I answer...control is power. Control the ball with fundamentally sound technique in order to tactically control your opponent. To accomplish this...you must be under control of yourself. Physically, emotionally and spiritually.

It isn't important if it is an ATP #1 or an ATP #2 or an ATP #3. It isn't important if it is none of the above. None other than Rick Macci himself stated so in the forehand video posted by hockeycoach. He maintains that the ATP forehand is the best way to stroke the forehand and I don't doubt there is merit in what he says. But I think there is definitely room in the game for variance or the more popular politically correct term these days is diversity. I hate that term by the way...the way that it is bandied about in social scientist circles but the true definition to this phrase is acceptable when considering different styles of tennis that are potentially successful.

So you are right in acknowledging due respect for the game of Radek Stepanek as he is some years Fafa's senior but he made a nice game go of it last night. I was watching in the middle of the night here in Sweden as my most faithful companion little buddy Frankie...the aging American born Chocolate Labrador Retriever woke me up so that he could go out and look for his little fox buddy at around 3:45 this morning. I stepped into my Johnny Depp "The Secret Window" office out here in the Swedish countryside and wilderness and tuned in on the match between Fafa and Radek Stepanek on my trusty or not so trusty iMac computer. Depending upon who you ask in NSA circles these days. I suspect that even if it is trusty...it may not be secure.

It was a cagey affair but the outcome was pretty well in hand unless Fafa was in a more generous mood than normal. He doesn't give much away normally. Not that he was last night either. Radek simply plays the hand the best way that he knows how into Fafa's hand and he nearly played all of his cards right. There are better athletes, stronger and faster athletes and probably even more intelligent athletes than Radek but this guy is a pretty well rounded tennis player. That being said he has his limitations...but all in all he does what a tennis player should do. He utilizes all that he is blessed with and he capitalizes on the less imaginative tactics of his opponents. Unfortunately he is not the completely dominant physical specimen that it takes to accomplish the ultimate...that is winning the last point against the #1 seed in the tournament.

But all tennis coaches should take notice of phenomena of this nature and realize that there is much more to coaching this game than teaching a specific forehand technique or a tennis game that is less than complete and coach it to be as fundamentally sound as possible. It should also be as flexible as possible tactically speaking. Unfortunately...it is no fault of any of the "modern coaches" the sport has been led down a less than optimal path for whatever reason and most of the accepted coaching principles are mythical and made up by the current and recent regime that is in "control" of the sport of tennis. It is some sort of Mafia...it's organized. I think that it is criminal in a sense. But these are modern days...you have to go along to get along. Afterall...you are either with us or against us. Some big idiot said that not so long ago.

A very interesting match where an obviously outgunned opponent manages to make a rather interesting game of it. Jerzy "Joe" Janowicz needs to be educated in this regard and I believe that much of the carbon copyness of the current crop of players has to do with the engineering...such as court surface, equipment, brainwashing etc...

[don_budge]

Experts? Who is an Expert?

Don Budge, why do the experts hate the one handed backhand so much?

This is such a good fundamental question. The answer is very simple...the supposed experts are not really the real experts. They are a product of some pretty rigid conditioning and have been led to believe certain myths without any substantial proof based on their limited experience in the game, in sports and in life.

A real expert is few and far between these days. In order to be an expert you must consider yourself to be a student of the game. A hard core student of the game.

You ask anyone...who is an expert? More than likely they will tell you that they are one. Ask me if I am an expert...I'll tell you in a long and round about way...I may or not be. It depends on who you ask. The only thing that I do here on the forum is state my case as clearly as I possibly can. Read it and weep...I encourage the readership.

If somebody walks away with something that I said and puts it in their pocket for future use some day in their teaching of the game...that is what makes me an expert. Because someone ridicules me or writes me off as obsolete in no way changes my perspective about tennis. I am truly a student of the game. That is all that I know. I read everything...and I NEVER respond with "I agree" or "I disagree". I might ask questions...I am a skeptic at heart.

For example...in one thread in the past year or so we were discussing the possible resurgence of the one handed backhand and I was an exponent of the resurgence...another poster made it clear that he believed that it wasn't going to happen. To which I responded...nothing. This is not an argument. It is an exchange of ideas and information. The one hand backhand is most viable even in today's present engineered form of tennis. It is discourage mainly because of the new "fad" of introducing children so young to the sport that they find it hard to manage the racquet with one hand. But the fact of the matter is that it isn't a one hand backhand at all and the "off" hand has a big role in managing the head of the racquet right up until impact with the ball.

Experts are one thing. Afterall...aren't the members of Congress and members of the House of Representatives supposed to be experts in leadership and making sound decisions? Isn't the POTUS supposed to be a competent fellow as well and not just some idiotic caricature of some doltering idiot like the original Mr. Incompetent. Why have we had a string of these knuckleheads in the Oval Office? Because someone deemed them to be an expert? Who deemed them so? Johnny Public? See what I am getting at? It isn't so hard to decieve the masses afterall. We are living in the times where the biggest and most dangerous weapon of all is the feared Weapon of Mass Deception.

[stroke]

But more importantly you should have really enjoyed the Stepanek match...and it is a mistake to label Radek Stepanek "old school" or "traditional" in any sense that is to be interpreted as condescending. You see...the label that I put on Radek Stapanek is "one cagey tennis player" much as in the mold of for instance...Brad Gilbert. And then I ask you the same boring question I have been asking on the forum and to my students the last year or so. What is power? To which I answer...control is power. Control the ball with fundamentally sound technique in order to tactically control your opponent. To accomplish this...you must be under control of yourself. Physically, emotionally and spiritually.

It isn't important if it is an ATP #1 or an ATP #2 or an ATP #3. It isn't important if it is none of the above. None other than Rick Macci himself stated so in the forehand video posted by hockeycoach. He maintains that the ATP forehand is the best way to stroke the forehand and I don't doubt there is merit in what he says. But I think there is definitely room in the game for variance or the more popular politically correct term these days is diversity. I hate that term by the way...the way that it is bandied about in social scientist circles but the true definition to this phrase is acceptable when considering different styles of tennis that are potentially successful.

So you are right in acknowledging due respect for the game of Radek Stepanek as he is some years Fafa's senior but he made a nice game go of it last night. I was watching in the middle of the night here in Sweden as my most faithful companion little buddy Frankie...the aging American born Chocolate Labrador Retriever woke me up so that he could go out and look for his little fox buddy at around 3:45 this morning. I stepped into my Johnny Depp "The Secret Window" office out here in the Swedish countryside and wilderness and tuned in on the match between Fafa and Radek Stepanek on my trusty or not so trusty iMac computer. Depending upon who you ask in NSA circles these days. I suspect that even if it is trusty...it may not be secure.

It was a cagey affair but the outcome was pretty well in hand unless Fafa was in a more generous mood than normal. He doesn't give much away normally. Not that he was last night either. Radek simply plays the hand the best way that he knows how into Fafa's hand and he nearly played all of his cards right. There are better athletes, stronger and faster athletes and probably even more intelligent athletes than Radek but this guy is a pretty well rounded tennis player. That being said he has his limitations...but all in all he does what a tennis player should do. He utilizes all that he is blessed with and he capitalizes on the less imaginative tactics of his opponents. Unfortunately he is not the completely dominant physical specimen that it takes to accomplish the ultimate...that is winning the last point against the #1 seed in the tournament.

But all tennis coaches should take notice of phenomena of this nature and realize that there is much more to coaching this game than teaching a specific forehand technique or a tennis game that is less than complete and coach it to be as fundamentally sound as possible. It should also be as flexible as possible tactically speaking. Unfortunately...it is no fault of any of the "modern coaches" the sport has been led down a less than optimal path for whatever reason and most of the accepted coaching principles are mythical and made up by the current and recent regime that is in "control" of the sport of tennis. It is some sort of Mafia...it's organized. I think that it is criminal in a sense. But these are modern days...you have to go along to get along. Afterall...you are either with us or against us. Some big idiot said that not so long ago.

A very interesting match where an obviously outgunned opponent manages to make a rather interesting game of it. Jerzy "Joe" Janowicz needs to be educated in this regard and I believe that much of the carbon copyness of the current crop of players has to do with the engineering...such as court surface, equipment, brainwashing etc...

db, I did enjoy the match, a lot. I in no way am condescending concerning Radek, in fact that interpretation of him and his form did not even occur to me. I think he is a great athlete with the best hands and feel out there among singles players. To me, he had Rafa out of his game for the entire match, which is so hard to do and a huge credit to Radek.

[don_budge]

One American left...

Only John Isner remains among the entries of American men in the 2014 BNP Paribus Open.

[stotty]

This Plexipav surface is everywhere. My club has three courts which are Plexipav. It's a soulless surface...bland...a rallying paradise. We have it at the club because it's cheap to maintain.

It's a shame Plexipav has come to dominate. Artificial grass courts looked promising when they first arrived, but they have never developed the surface enough to make it credible for ATP use. We have to be grateful to Wimbledon because grass would disappeared by now if the Brits weren't such sticklers for tradition. We still have a Queen, you know.

The technology is there to slow things up, speed things up, raise bounces, lower bounces...whatever we want. All that is needed is the will. Being able to play the same way on ALL the surfaces should be made...well...impossible. God, even Borg had to learn to serve and volley back in the day...he managed it too.

Berdych is in deep stuck as I write. Let's hope he pulls through for Klarc's sake. Doesn't look good...2-3 down...Agut's knocking the skin off the ball.

[klacr]

Did Stotty have to mention the Berdych match?!!!

I was hoping I could fly under the radar this week.

All credit goes to Bautista Agut, who, happens to hit a incredibly flat ball. He's beaten Berdych before so I know coming in it would be a tough match. Berdych up until this point was aving a great year. Good news...I'll get to see him in Miami very soon. Sony Open starts soon.

Isner is last of American Men. Sad. Sad. Sad. Querrey has two match points against Andreas Seppi...but lost in three sets. Brutal.

Isner has always played well in Indian Wells. His serve does well in the altitude and dry conditions. Davydenko needed a step ladder to return Isner's kick serves.


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[hockeyscout]

True ballers!

For example...in one thread in the past year or so we were discussing the possible resurgence of the one handed backhand and I was an exponent of the resurgence...another poster made it clear that he believed that it wasn't going to happen. To which I responded...nothing. This is not an argument. It is an exchange of ideas and information. The one hand backhand is most viable even in today's present engineered form of tennis. It is discourage mainly because of the new "fad" of introducing children so young to the sport that they find it hard to manage the racket with one hand. But the fact of the matter is that it isn't a one hand backhand at all and the "off" hand has a big role in managing the head of the racket right up until impact with the ball.

Got it. Funny, she likes the feel of the one handed backhand. Everyone hates it, and says you can't win with it, however, Grigor is doing rather well and he's next in line for # 1, so who knows. Anyways, she does it until she gets tired, and then goes to her two handed She's having a hell of a time figuring out how to manipulate the racket head on the onehander (I absolutely deplore anyone teaching grips, as I come from hockey, and we never, ever, never do that for a variety of reasons), however, she'll solve it if she a true baller!

[tennis_chiro]

Did Stotty have to mention the Berdych match?!!!

I was hoping I could fly under the radar this week.

All credit goes to Bautista Agut, who, happens to hit a incredibly flat ball. He's beaten Berdych before so I know coming in it would be a tough match. Berdych up until this point was aving a great year. Good news...I'll get to see him in Miami very soon. Sony Open starts soon.

Isner is last of American Men. Sad. Sad. Sad. Querrey has two match points against Andreas Seppi...but lost in three sets. Brutal.

Isner has always played well in Indian Wells. His serve does well in the altitude and dry conditions. Davydenko needed a step ladder to return Isner's kick serves.


Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

T-Berd is in rarified air these days and he's been playing so well, but he looked like he needs a break already. The 360 points will hurt, but he may do much better in Miami is he just takes a few extra days off right now. Tough when you are looking at all those points to defend, but he needs to find a way to be fresh for the Slams. As well as he has played, he averaged quarters for Wimby, US Open and Australian thanks to his recent semis in Oz, but he lost first round last year in RG. Seems to be getting better, but needs something extra to get to the next level. He's definitely knocking at the door. I need to do a longer post about it but I'm thinking he needs to look in strange places like Dean Brittenham's BrainInABag.com

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

http://www.braininabag.com/

No, I'm not kidding. I saw this guy do a demo in 2000; spent a few days with him in 2001 and was really impressed. I just happened to look to see what had happened to him and I saw the above links. This is the kind of stuff I think could be the difference for someone like Janowicz. (needs work on the muscle between his ears!!! 6' 8" tall and 8 df's including match point! With a pretty nice motion; ridiculous!)

I think HockeyScout should love this stuff. I want to know what the technology is of the foot and running mechanics he is referring to about Kournikova.

don

[stotty]

Brain in a Bag

T-Berd is in rarified air these days and he's been playing so well, but he looked like he needs a break already. The 360 points will hurt, but he may do much better in Miami is he just takes a few extra days off right now. Tough when you are looking at all those points to defend, but he needs to find a way to be fresh for the Slams. As well as he has played, he averaged quarters for Wimby, US Open and Australian thanks to his recent semis in Oz, but he lost first round last year in RG. Seems to be getting better, but needs something extra to get to the next level. He's definitely knocking at the door. I need to do a longer post about it but I'm thinking he needs to look in strange places like Dean Brittenham's BrainInABag.com

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

http://www.braininabag.com/

No, I'm not kidding. I saw this guy do a demo in 2000; spent a few days with him in 2001 and was really impressed. I just happened to look to see what had happened to him and I saw the above links. This is the kind of stuff I think could be the difference for someone like Janowicz. (needs work on the muscle between his ears!!! 6' 8" tall and 8 df's including match point! With a pretty nice motion; ridiculous!)
don

Condolences about T-Bird, Klarc. I think a key difference between him and the Big Four is movement. The Big Four just move so well that it is major a contributing factor that separates them from the rest of the pack. They can salvage rallies others would lose by incredible defending...and they always get in position so well when they are dominating rallies...amazing.

Brain in a bag is interesting. I cannot make up my mind whether there's anything in it. I had two left feet when it comes to footwork drills, and my brain even got in a muddle when I carried them out. I can't skip to save my life. But oddly enough the ONLY thing I did really well on a court was move. That's not to say I couldn't have moved better, however.

I think a key benefit could be the bilateral training. I know the Germans used to work a lot on bilateral transfer during the Becker/Graf. It's handy for tennis. But I'm far from expert on this kind of thing so it would be interesting to see what others think.

[hockeyscout]

http://www.braininabag.com/

I think HockeyScout should love this stuff. I want to know what the technology is of the foot and running mechanics he is referring to about Kournikova.

don

Basically, with Ana, watch her at 10, and you'll see she's knifing badly, rolling the ankles outward (supination). The first thing that goes is the ankles, then shin splints, back and even knees. It's kind of sad to see a good athlete being losing a career over supination because I firmly believe it can be trained out of an athlete. The bottom line is if you have supination issues you'll never fully develop your legs, and the correct pathways, and you'll hit a point where your leg strength and movement diminishes by the day.

This BrainBag looks interesting. I use quite a few things, however, lumosity.com and another program called timeforlearning.com -- they've done the trick for me as I have a kid who isn't one to be told what to do!