Meet Bryn

[GeoffWilliams]

With both Henman and sampras, their heads move 4' forward before contact is made from the rear position to the time contact occurs. The typical hack does not move his head at all forward, or very little.

[stotty]

Bryn...

As promised I worked a little on Bryn's serve today. He only has a 30 minute lesson so time is precious. I decided to work on the things I felt were most fundamental.

- a more "regal" start
- less dipping of the left shoulder
- synching the arms better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO-tnVTEHDk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I did a approach the width issue with him but it's a little too much to take on board yet.

I felt things went quite well but as you will see from the clip, his racket arm during the wind up wants to move quicker than his tossing arm (tennis_chiro's toss and catch drill should help help). I know as coaches we often want the reverse. Overall I feel it's an improvement from the previous clips taken just a week before.

Thoughts please....?

I have some slomo clips taken today which I will upload later. I know tennis_chiro wanted a slomo rear shot.

[don_budge]

Yep...it went quite well alright. Nice job...Coach!

I decided to work on the things I felt were most fundamental.

- a more "regal" start
- less dipping of the left shoulder
- synching the arms better
-eliminated the back step and lateral move backwards

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO-tnVTEHDk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

I felt things went quite well but as you will see from the clip... Overall I feel it's an improvement from the previous clips taken just a week before.

Yeah...it went quite well. Amazingly well...I would say. Good job...Coach. I hear a little more pop with a little less effort. Just what you want to see...to hear. Once he incorporates a bit more width and turns the shoulders just a tad more...well let's say he is going to be really happy with you.

Not nearly as convoluted and much more pleasing to the eye. Very interesting what you accomplish with your use of the forum.

[stotty]

Some more of today's clips:

Higher Start: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zpwViL85G0

Slomo side:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gQbfQE_fAY

Slomo rear:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuNy3lqqgnI

[vrc10s]

It looks much better for just one lesson!

[bobbyswift]

Lot of of improvement already. I would change his stance have his right foot more left of front foot like Federer. He doesn't rotate his shoulders clockwise enough. At contact he is to parallel to net with hip and shoulder. Too much twist rotation not enough shoulder over shoulder due to his stance at least initially.

[stotty]

Thank you to everyone....

It looks much better for just one lesson!

I think you're right...

Lot of of improvement already. I would change his stance have his right foot more left of front foot like Federer. He doesn't rotate his shoulders clockwise enough. At contact he is to parallel to net with hip and shoulder. Too much twist rotation not enough shoulder over shoulder due to his stance at least initially.

You're a great contributor, bobbyswift. Thank you for your input. I believe the way forward is very much what you say. We're on the same page. He could definitely do with more rotation. But it has to be one step at a time with a kid like Bryn, a kid who doesn't play a whole lot. I think it best to cement what we have so far and work on rotation later down the line.

The stance issue is an obvious one, but I may make a judgement not to tackle it as it has been proved possible to deliver a great serve with maybe just a slight adjustment to the left with the back foot. I know many will disagree with me because of all the video articles John has done on Federer's serve, but for a club player it may be simpler not to go down the route. I did try it with Bryn but he hated it and it may be a step to far for him. Stotty's jury is out on that one for the moment.

Yeah...it went quite well. Amazingly well...I would say. Good job...Coach. I hear a little more pop with a little less effort. Just what you want to see...to hear. Once he incorporates a bit more width and turns the shoulders just a tad more...well let's say he is going to be really happy with you.

Not nearly as convoluted and much more pleasing to the eye. Very interesting what you accomplish with your use of the forum.

I think the forum is a magical place for things like this and it amazes me how few coaches take advantage of it. Sure, I leave myself wide open and people take a pop at me now and then, but at the end of the day who cares? I like my coaching ideas to be qualified or rejected by those on the forum who, overtime, I have come to respect as excellent coaches.

[EdWeiss]

A really big improvement, great to see. Seems much cleaner with things flowing much more in the direction of the target. I wonder about the tossing arm as it seems more bent than you normally see but overall big strides in just a week!

[don_budge]

The Foundation..."flowing towards the target".

I keep picking up on little things. I just noticed that our boy Bryn takes a small step backwards with his right foot when he starts his backswing which perhaps makes his stance a little too wide where his backswing is not wide enough. Strange.

This backward impetus also seems to be inducing a rather pronounced lateral shift backwards and then he of course must make the same journey forwards to make contact with the ball.

In your first clip after the lesson the back foot is still and as a consequence the throwing hand does not have the opportunity to move as far beyond his thigh although he still goes past the point where it appears that he should. Try to have the weight on the inside of the feet in the set-up and keep it there throughout the swing as much as possible...until the forward momentum propels everything forwards. Weight transfer.

But without the backward lateral slide the dipping front shoulder disappears. Just keep that in mind. Backward motion causes elongated throwing motion and dipping shoulder...in Bryn's case. Please get Bryn to anchor that back foot. Have him move that front foot up to "toe the line" as well. Why give up six inches of the court to begin with? The feet anchor the legs which in turn engage the hips.

It is all about weight transfer in the lower body portion of the swing...plus creating width in the upper body portion of the backswing at the same time. Take a look at this golf instruction video. Is there anything here in this four minute video that helps you to understand a bit more about the weight transfer. Keep in mind that the service motion is an upside down golf swing...according to don_budge.

http://etc.michaelbreed.com/lessons/etc-core/swing-fix-lesson-9-weight-transfer/?utm_source=mrb-internal&utm_medium=email&utm_name=mrba-etc-content&utm_content=mbra-etc-fix-9&kme=clicked_email&km_subject=Get%20More%20“Collision%20Power”%20in%20Your%20Drives&kme=

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO-tnVTEHDk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Lot of of improvement already. I would change his stance have his right foot more left of front foot like Federer. He doesn't rotate his shoulders clockwise enough. At contact he is to parallel to net with hip and shoulder. Too much twist rotation not enough shoulder over shoulder due to his stance at least initially.

A really big improvement, great to see. Seems much cleaner with things flowing much more in the direction of the target. I wonder about the tossing arm as it seems more bent than you normally see but overall big strides in just a week!

bobbyswift brings up a very interesting point and he is focused on the footwork as I believe he once postulated that you build from the ground up. Very true. Most professionals go with the back foot in various degrees behind the front foot...but Bryn is not a professional at this point. So...

EdWeiss touches on another aspect of the service motion that I think is paramount when he says “things are flowing much more in the direction of the target”. In teaching the serve I borrow from my golf experience and present the motion to the student as a process of aiming continually throughout the stroke. See how the golf instructor in the video is lined up square to his target.

This is one reason that I liked johnyandell's series on the serve as he took the motion as a sequence of events. I teach very much the same thing but with every sequence I place a heavy emphasis on aiming because it is by aiming that you genuinely get the process to be one of "getting your ducks in a row".

Your student does a lot of things that I like. He has everything you could hope for on which to build the motion. He is young and inexperienced and you are wise to not heap too much on him at once although he should be encouraged to play more and more even if his chief goal is not one of being a professional tennis player. It is this process of engaging the mind and body with the spirit that is so beneficial to growing young people.

But for starters I really like his starting position...to start with. He at some point may evolve into a position that bobbyswift is suggesting but it isn’t all that necessary. Turning the shoulders sufficiently from this position should not be a problem...in fact his turning motion from this position is actually stronger because his feet are planted in the position in which they are...he will have more resistance against his own body the more he turns his shoulders so that when he turns back to the ball the “twisted rubber band” effect will be that much more stronger.

The emphasis of the serve at this level of development is twofold...one is motion but the other equally important facet is aiming. I am going to write a bit about aiming...if you don’t mind. Thinking of the serve as a two dimensional proposition is helpful to the student as it helps him to answer the question in his head...WHY?

Meanwhile take a look at Boris Becker...he is rather square in his lining up to his target yet he gets a very healthy shoulder turn away from the ball and back to the ball. He winds up...then he unwinds. Boris has many of the elements of aiming that I look for in the motion...he really seems to be flowing at the target...almost melting towards the target. He had a great serve too...didn’t he? I think that his grip might just be a bit idiosyncratic though.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/modern_legends/borisbecker/borisbecker_serve/bb_1st_serve/bb_1st_serve.html?BB1stSAdFront2.mov

[stotty]

But without the backward lateral slide the dipping front shoulder disappears. Just keep that in mind. Backward motion causes elongated throwing motion and dipping shoulder...in Bryn's case. Please get Bryn to anchor that back foot. Have him move that front foot up to "toe the line" as well. Why give up six inches of the court to begin with? The feet anchor the legs which in turn engage the hips.

I had missed the relevance of the back foot and had consigned it to the "of little importance basket". But yes how daft of me not to notice that by shifting back the right foot it it contributes to an increased shoulder dip. Thanks for this. I don't think I was going to get there on my own.

Meanwhile take a look at Boris Becker...he is rather square in his lining up to his target yet he gets a very healthy shoulder turn away from the ball and back to the ball. He winds up...then he unwinds. Boris has many of the elements of aiming that I look for in the motion...he really seems to be flowing at the target...almost melting towards the target. He had a great serve too...didn’t he? I think that his grip might just be a bit idiosyncratic though.

I think Becker does a real "corkscrew" turn on his serve. I showed some clips of Becker to Bryn. But I also showed him players who are perhaps better/easier examples for club players to follow:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q13_STOUBc

This is what I meant when I say there have been great serves without the back foot being too left of the right foot. On this basis I would settle for this type of stance for Bryn. I don't have to go down the modern route in Bryn's scenario...but I can always leave it as an option.

A really big improvement, great to see. Seems much cleaner with things flowing much more in the direction of the target. I wonder about the tossing arm as it seems more bent than you normally see but overall big strides in just a week!

The slightly bent tossing arm was something I raised in post #6. Yes, it could do with straightening out. Oddly enough the whole family do it; his brother and two cousins.

To enlighten everyone, Bryn is a county badminton player. He plays badminton to a high standard. He loves tennis, however, and is very popular at the club. We are all hoping he will start playing more and are confident he will.