Racket Head Speed

[EdWeiss]

I know a very successful and knowledgeable tennis coach who is a strong believer in the racket head speed theory that I will delineate below. I would be very interested in everyone's view of this including John with any input from a research point of view.

By way of background, the coach was an excellent player in the mid-70s. He came from a quite cold part of the country where tennis was not a popular sport but yet was top 25 in the U.S. in the 18 and under and then played No. 1 for a major SEC university. He played on the satellite tour for awhile and then began a tennis teaching career and eventually wound up back where he grew up and has produced a number of very good players. He reads all of the tennis literature but is also very much an independent thinker.

In short, he believes that on groundstrokes (1) advanced players should strive for the same racket head speed on each shot (excluding drop shots and the like), (2) that the racket head speed should be the fastest the player can produce while still staying relaxed and smooth and (3) given the constancy of racket head speed and that the player is maxing out on racket head speed, control comes through spin, i.e., if you want to be steadier hit more spin or move your aim targets more inside the lines. He believes that this is a key factor in why the groundstrokes are so good today (yes there are other factors too such as greater athlete pool, better overall understanding of technique, new racket and string technology, etc.): the players are swinging out on each ball and using spin as the major way of controlling the ball. A player just needs to worry about how much spin he is putting on the ball as the swing speed is constant.

Why does he believe in this? Several basic related reasons:

(i) if you swing the same speed each time it is much easier to establish your timing. If you take one swing at 40 mph and then one at 50 mph and then one at 60 mph (just making up speeds here), that is too much for your brain to adjust to. Much easier to figure out your timing (he believes) if you swing at the same speed each time
(ii) If you buy the argument in (i), then the question becomes how do I best get a constant racket head speed? His answer (and he points to some research on the so-called "ceiling effect") is that finding your maximum speed and replicating it each time is much easier than trying to replicate, say, 60% of your maximum. In other words, if you tell a person to swing as fast as he or she can (again while not tensing up to do it) for 10 swings, he or she will find much more of a constancy of racket head speed among the 10 swings then if you ask him or her to do 10 swings at 60% of maximum. Your muscles (and brain) just can feel maximum much more than say 50% or 60%.
(iii) The faster you swing, the more time you can wait to see the exact bounce of the ball, etc.
(iv) Obviously, if you buy into (i), (ii) and (iii), having max racket head speed has the obvious advantage that your shots will have more on them.
(v) this is all consistent with the ATP Type III forehand which emphasizes a shorter backswing but more explosive power - the coach would say what you are trying to achieve is maximum racket head speed with the shorter backswing.

He notes that when you see pros warming up in the short court they mis-hit the ball much more than you would think - his theory is that when they warm-up in the short court they are not swinging at maximum speeds and have more timing issues as a result.

I would be very interested in everyone's thoughts on this. Thanks.

[hockeyscout]

Agassi's dad had it right, "Young Andre, beat the shit out of the ball."

[hockeyscout]

Again, nice bit of information Ed.

[GeoffWilliams]

Dead on.

[gzhpcu]

Agree. I think it also applies to the serve as well...

[EdWeiss]

It might be better to speak of swing speed rather than racket head speed.

I would be very interested if there are any studies of racket head speed of Fed or other Big Four when they are hitting their groundstrokes in a point. Are they keeping pretty constant racket head speed regardless of whether the shot has little, moderate or heavy topspin? and, if so, do we think it is at max speed (assuming they have kept good techniques with a relaxed, smooth swing)? If we do not have this data it would seem to me that we should go about finding it out!


Phil, Gonzalez and well as others always talked about swinging just as fast on the second serve as the first. I think they were thinking more in terms of having a second serve that was effective with plenty of spin resulting from swinging fast going up on on the ball; but the timing point could also be important as well. It is also easier to stay loose when you are swinging fast.

[EdWeiss]

Re Geoff's point, obviously a good one as the racket head speed is the result of what proceeds, it (i.e., kinetic chain, etc.). Thx

[GeoffWilliams]

Swinging just as fast on second is the same physically emotive point as groundies. For the same reason, timing and domination of the contact point in a relaxed, attacking, safe, aggressive way. Those athletes who have mastered safe aggression, always dominate their own sports.

When you take into consideration, total mass of frame, balance point, swing weights, twist weights, inertial rate of head heavy vs. head light, wrist bands, etc,nearly all the top players all have something in common: a ratio that is very similar. Those who swing fast share the footwork issue: a burst step to get sideways faster, a good split step, so that the player has more time sideways, to get set, to body fly into their shots, loaded, to project confidence out front ahead of time. Those who master the burst step and get ready very early, and have fast unit turns, dominate.

[stroke]

I would be very interested in racquet head speed of pro players also. I am in complete agreement with Ed about basing one's swing speed on how fast one can swing relaxed. My guess would be Fed would be right at top with his super relaxed forehand. As Geoff pointed out, Cilic also has a very relaxed forehand, which to me looks a lot like Fed's forehand. Nadal and Verdasco have to right up there also.

[stotty]

In general I am in agreement with Ed and his chum.

Anyway, today's tennis governs that racket head speed must be constantly fast, very fast...or you'll get blown away. Imparting spin - either more or less - is a great way to ensure constant racket speed in a multitude of required situations.

I think if players play around with racket speed too much they shoot themselves in the foot, as they are bound to lose rhythm. At club/amateur level once you start hacking you cannot suddenly turn around and start blasting winners...most of us have experienced that one.

Within reason, keep racket speed constant...it's a good plan.

[johnyandell]

There is no real research on pro racket head speeds that I am aware of. But when you look at the differences in ball speeds on the forehand you might wonder about the max theory. I guess the speed spin trade off is one thing that plays into it. But in general yes I would agree that you want to have confidence in swinging at your maximum speed--just not sure that's all the time.

[klacr]

Swing fast but swing comfortably. Play within the max of your own personal comfort zone. Absolutely. Not sure of any racquet head speed data out there. I remember watching Martina Hingis warm-up with mini-tennis for 30-40 minutes , didn't miss hit too many shots to be knowledge, but her racquet head speed may not have been close to what the pros are hitting today, wasn't her game.

As for hockeyscout's comments about naval position, as a former competitive swimmer it plays a huge role. Position of naval that is lower on body is advantageous because it creates longer torsos.

Swimming is the art of surfing the wave created by the swimmer

A swimmer who makes the bigger wave is the faster swimmer, and a longer torso makes a bigger wave.

What that has to do with racquet head speed, I have no freakin' clue. If a student is going to be playing tennis than they are playing tennis. I'm not pushing them to another sport because they don't fit "the mold". I don't care if their naval is on their forehand, I'm happy they are on a court with me. So lets get back to it, it's about racquet head speed. Sure, genetics and physical location of a belly button have a role, but so does technique and being able to find the best way to increase this while at the same time, make sure the student is relaxed and in their comfort zone.

Swinging fast is great, if the ball goes in. Swinging fast and missing the ball or hitting out off the field of play is baseball.

I think what is important in the swing are the basics. Preparation, getting a student to understand where the contact point is they know where they need to get to and the initiation of racquet head acceleration during the swing. How can you do that? If you can get students to understand those technical checkpoints, then perhaps the rest falls into place.

This racquet head speed is a great concept, but perhaps it's a sign and symptom and result of other happenings, but not a cause

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[GeoffWilliams]

There is no real research on pro racket head speeds that I am aware of. But when you look at the differences in ball speeds on the forehand you might wonder about the max theory. I guess the speed spin trade off is one thing that plays into it.

It's time to use shot spot tech to gauge fh frame head speed, of top players, vs. lower ranked players, to see if there is a correlation. Why hasn't anyone done it yet? The ratio of mass/sw/tw/etc. is there for all to see. The exceptions are those guys with super light frames/ ala Nishikori/Nadal.

All the time? That's a data point to check, esp.: on the run, vs. time to set/load. I'm betting the top players are also the top on the run hitters vs. those time to set. The best defenders: nadal/murray/Djoker, are also the best offenders on the run. Why is that? They are able to get set and relax after the burst step. They have a burst first step! They get sideways faster! They project intimidating confidence via time available.

I'd like to see a frame head speed comparsion in this final coming up. Who has the fastest average fh frame head speed? Bh? Serve? It will be Cilic, and he will win regardless of mobility.

Frame head speed does not fall into place after form. Quick twitch fhs are not the result entirely of form. It's who has the guts, the genetics, and the form, of the atp/snap back fh, who can create the most consistent attacking/safe shots. The safest most aggressive player always wins.

[gzhpcu]

At impact, racket head speed will vary being dependent on the backswing, as it occurs in match play. Guess we are talking here about not varying the strength of the forward swing. The trajectory might vary, the impact point might vary, but the initial force applied to initiate and maintain the swing should remain the same.

[don_budge]

Golf...club head speed.

I know a very successful and knowledgeable tennis coach who is a strong believer in the racket head speed theory that I will delineate below. I would be very interested in everyone's view of this including John with any input from a research point of view.

Golf is light years ahead of tennis in certain respects. But that my be due to certain inherent differences in the games. Golf being the infinite and tennis the finite.

Golfers routinely for the last couple of decades have been discussing their club head speeds. They measure their speeds for the driver and down through the various irons...of course they find that the shorter irons are swung with lower club head speeds due to the smaller circumference of their arcs. The same effort produces lower club head speeds in the shorter irons.

This concept of "dialing in" to an optimal speed is fundamental to a golfer's success on any given day. The closer they can dial in throughout the course of a round the better their chances of shooting better scores. Being that consistency of swing is a hallmark to successful golf.

What is the optimal speed may vary from golfer to golfer. Some might swing better at 110%...swinging out of the shoes. But my own optimal speed I would guess to be in the area of 85% effort from the driver to the pitching wedge and this may be due to the fact that I never played golf until I turned 40 years old. My theory was that it would be best to learn to play as an "oldtimer" early on as that reality wasn't going to be so far off. Swinging in this manner allowed me to be aggressive but not foolhardy. I never did learn to swing out of my shoes.

Tennis is of course a different proposition. In golf the ball is lying still for optimal opportunity to take your ideal swing. In tennis the opponent is constantly trying to maneuver you out of position and off balance in order to throw your balance off. Less than optimal swings may be more the norm...particularly the lesser the player.

If I were to make an educated guess as to what level I might optimally swing...again I would guess around 85% where I would still be able to be aggressive yet maintain my sense of control.

In competitive golf the tension and pressure tend to have a rather insidious influence on the golfer's tempo. Learning how to maintain the tempo of the swing throughout the course of a the course of a competitive round being the biggest challenge...and that goes for all of the swings including putting. The sense of rhythmic tempo permeates all of the swings. Under pressure certain players might tend to get quicker with their swings as nervous energy peaks in their systems. Others might become tentative and tend to try to steer the ball into position...an incredibly frustrating sensation.

So you must "swing out" in a relaxed yet controlled manner. But in modern tennis and the influence of the "forgiveness" in oversized racquets and the speed at which the game is played...the tendency is to swing hard and harder. To maximize racquet head speed. In order to maximize racquet speed it is ironically important to somewhat minimize the effort...the muscular effort. You must be relaxed to let all of the parts build up a synchronistic effort where the end result is greater than the sum of the parts. Plus you must time the swing to where the maximal speed is when the racquet is impacting the ball or just after impact.

This comment that you have made is a rather long story and fundamental to what is important when you are attempting to construct into a player's game. Particularly when you take into account the differences between individuals. Some will be more successful than other swinging at their greatest efforts where others with find that it creates problems to swing like that and it is best to dial down somewhat. Golf swings tend to reflect something of the personality of the golfer.

Serving would of course be a whole different story. A rather long one...and very interesting to discuss at great length. Particularly if one is serving in the "classic mode" with various spins and tactics. Modern day servers would probably fall into a serving out of their shoes speed more often than not...left to figure out what a safe speed to swing at in second serves.