Short Angle: A Tennis Book, Simon and Schuster 2016, 504 Pages

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Ups and Downs

It was all here, I tell you, a short angle about to become the envy of the whole world.

And then-- poof-- it was gone. I couldn't hit the damned thing to save my life.

All I can come up with: The 90-degree sidearm throw put in perfect place according to the 70-20 formula can drain some zen from the upward brush from pronating forearm that comes immediately afterward.

I think this is the problem. I will have to find out. Had a bad night.

In a Federfore most of the spin and pace is dependent on excellent production from humeral twist inside of the shoulder cave.

But when the protective twist comes solely from the forearm (protects you from hitting the ball out), you've got to be strong and diligent and stay on it, can't have a lackadaisical day.

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Perfect Proportion of Energy Between Sidearm Throw and Upward Brush

What is it? 1 to 1 ? 2 to 1 ? 1 to 2 ? 1 to 3 ? This is why we self-feed.

Personally, I prefer self-feed to a ball machine or even to hitting with a human being if I really want to figure something out.

The best example of this viewpoint in tennis history may be Manuel Santana working on his lob from self-feed the night before he won the Wimbledon singles championship.

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From 70-20 to 60-20 or 80 Degrees of Forearm Whap or Feel to the Ball

Generally speaking, no such micro-management is allowed on any forehand, not in my book.

As already has been established however, short angle is a billiards shot and as such may be subjected to infinite study and analysis.

Start with Dr. Dave, I would submit (https://www.youtube.com/user/DrDaveBilliards). Then, returning to tennis, try out the new 80-degree forearm whap/feel in self-feed.

But do not, reader, be intimidated by any numbers. Numbers are just a loose method of finding ratio which can work in athletics.

If a crew coach or a sculler wants to establish the ratio of oars in the water to oars out of the water that would be just fine with me.

Then, returning to tennis, work more on the 80-degree feel/whap.

Easier now to get around on the ball, right? But we sacrificed a bit of side-arm throw energy. Will this work better? Only one way to find out.

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It is so easy to push this shot when what you need is to hit it.

So one can never put all the emphasis on "brush" or "side-armed forearm sweep" but must blend them.

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Cross-Reference: How Could There Be Such A Thing?

See "A New Year's Serve" for my latest modification of a Federfore. The modification makes the Federfore spinnier.

There is a short fence along side of and set back from the court where I most often play my short angle solitaire. Ordinarily, out of a single basket of old balls, four will land in the court then clear this fence.

During today's session, I decided to use the regular loop of a Federfore rather than try to reduce it. And to use about one fourth of usual body turn in both directions rather than eliminate body turn altogether. I still stepped forward with outside foot. Twelve balls on average cleared the fence.

If following this route, one should preserve the usual relation of hand going back from (or rather away from) the shoulders. The angle of arm from a line drawn through both shoulder balls should remain the same in other words...until one starts one's swing.

Switching basic form of the desired shot today back to straight rather than bent arm at contact seemed a promising decision that most likely carries out klacr's advice to employ one's regular shot for the best short angles.

My delay in carrying out his advice was due to my wish to invent the regular shot first.

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Long Man for a Long Race

I think before I write. I write before I do. I do before I talk, if I bother to talk at all.

I should like to build on the aim point I developed while still hitting sharp angles in bent-arm mode.

In long-arm mode, I think I will set the racket as if planning to hit to my own side of the net.

How did I get there? Same way as if preparing for bent-arm version. A step toward net with outside foot combined with a setting of racket slightly forward.

So, if you follow me, arm still is bent, right? But the whole action of getting to that point, which may not seem like much, is actually very theatrical imitation of Roger Federer\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s tip up backswing any time he hits a forehand. But out to front! (The exclamation point is from chess notation and therefore is icily analytical and dispassionate.)

Now I want to close the racket face with as little effort as possible, so, simultaneously, I straighten the arm while pulling the elbow slightly backward.

This puts the racket head very low. Surprisingly, strings aim at the target while down there but not for long enough for this piece of information to remain useful.

The shot from there is horizontal adduction combined with mondo and brush (some would say wipe).

Note: I have given up on body rotation during forward part of the stroke. Again, I do not want it.

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Reader, Did You Try It?

Huge mondo apt to be harsh and cause misshits, right? Smooth out. Apply great ease.

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What a Fiction This Was

When I actually tried the shot, there were no missshits at all. What\'s fun is that you get to under-aim. Then you get to keep racket almost parallel to this initial pose. Then you get to aim when racket passes through low point. Then you get to make the backswing shallower (to close strings more) if balls were going long.

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Straight Arm Sweep is Horizontal Adduction is Coin on Side

If you cock the racket properly, you then can sweep with it as the strings mondo (How LOW can you GO!?) then uncock up the outside of the ball.

Note: Grip light not tight.

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Buggy Whip and Commercial Publication

Once the basics are in place, the shot is largely about navigation.

What is the setting of the racket in waiting position? Surely that will affect what happens at contact.

Should the tip of the racket always come up the way it does in an ordinary Roger Federer forehand?

What if tip didn\\\'t move? Or only came up one inch? Or went down one inch? Or if elbow eased out sideways from body at inception of the shot?

Playing around-- in shot development but also for every individual situation seems of necessity, doesn\\\'t it?

Note: Whatever else the racket does, a forward emphasis here can start with slight push from both hands toward the net. One needs to make space for the sideways arm extension combined with elbow retreat.

Note 2: These thoughts lead to others. If one lowers racket tip a lot during initial move toward the net one will be adding a third factor-- upper arm external rotation-- in creating ease for a true but reliable buggy-whip.

Note 3: On the title of this thread and early mention of Jonathan Karp, the publisher. Commercial publication is not qualified for the creation of truly provocative tennis shots.

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Shadow Study

I studied my own shadow to determine the content here. In general I argue for simultaneity over sequence but the present shot is good exception to that.

Here is one imitation of Roger Federer which bears little resemblance to Roger Federer. During the previously mentioned two-handed push to make extra room for the oddly shaped loop, the hitting elbow glides to the right. You therefore could say that you are pushing toward the net on a slant.

At the same time the racket tip twists internally downward toward the court, let us say four inches, then comes up one inch.

The one inch of upwardness corresponds to far longer lift of racket tip by Roger any time he hits a forehand.

Similarly, the upward inch melds into straightening of the arm combined with retreat of the elbow followed by mondo and horizontal adduction that includes a quickly beginning long wipe.

One simultaneity I considered was external upper arm rotation combined with the arm extension and elbow retreat but which added too much joker factor.

The one inch of racket tip rise, separate, gets the mechanism nicely going same as in a Roger Federer forehand.

This might defeat the purpose of those who want to look like Roger Federer. The idea instead is to take a sensible design feature from Roger which works.

All these self-feed experiments, I feel, increase the number of variations available to one as positive control.

It is almost as if one has added stations to a television or radio although the shot itself has become a limited discipline.

Note: Forward body rotation as a propellant has been excised from this stroke. Step with the outside foot turns the body more toward the shot-- early-- to whet the feeling of freedom.

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Ball Going Long-- Why?

Because one is failing to maintain the coin on side image-- a circular arm swing out to the ball with good separation. This applies to all three shots recently discussed: 1) Federfore A-Train, 2) Federfore B-Train, 3) Federfore Short Angle.

Remember, wipe-- obviously!-- is essential ingredient here. If you send racket too directly at the ball, the strings first won't get around and second will remain too open so that to compensate you'll be apt to flip the ball beyond your good target, which is quite close to the net and near the border or sideline.

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Why Must Rod (The Forearm) Look The Same In Every Volley?

Or aim the same, I guess I could say. Oh, here's a drive-up window. This is not a good Estonian restaurant but so what, and now it's my turn.

"Hello. I'll have a blocked volley, an arm smoothed volley, and a no arm volley, the one in which the rotating hips and shoulders do the work."

"No, no, acute short angle crosscourt parallel to the net."

"Listen, I won't argue with you. If body and not the arm is going to move the racket, then arm can set anywhere it wants."

"That's not true, you had one last week! It's a volley in which the rod can actually counter the one half backward body rotation. Body can set one way while arm sets the opposite way at the exact same time."

"Oh sure, one teaching pro I knew, Jason, advised no body rotation at all. He wanted us to keep shoulders square and just move the arm to save time. But if you go all body, don't you save time that way, too?"

"I know what you're saying, but you had one last week. I think you should talk to somebody. Maybe you can get some more in by next week."

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The Importance of Being Ernests

"10,000 hours or 10 years or 10,000 repetitions-- whichever comes first."-- cute locution bought by everybody in sports

In an interval training crew practice at an average of 25 strokes per minute for 120 minutes one will achieve 3000 repetitions. In four days of these sessions both on and off the paddle-- I recommend 20-stroke 20-stroke strict alternation-- one will reach 12,000 repetitions.

According to the metacoach Malcolm Gladwell, these repetitions are very valuable.

So let us apply them to short angle.

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Not everybody in tennis has access to crew practices. The sport of competitive rowing is time-consuming and expensive. The eight-oared shell I have my eye on goes for $40,000 . For those who aren't about to row, I recommend the present Federfore being described in "A New Year's Serve" for best short angle. Just take the racket forward and out to the side rather than back. For everybody else-- the oarsmen of the world who have taken up tennis-- do as follows.

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You shall be a sculler, not a sweep oarsman. And you shall send the racket forward and out right like Ernests Gulbis, the professional tennis player.

Ernests sends his racket backward and to right but do not be dismayed by this small difference.

The power system you want to implement here is right leg thrust to right arm scissor. You will skip the usual sequence of leg drive to prying spine since you won't require any such megaforce. Also, your eyes would move too much. But keep some starch in your body so as not to chin yourself on your racket or your oar. "Bottle, you're chinning yourself on your oar," Richard MacKenzie used to shout before I knew better. He was the coxswain of the Brown crew.

You will need to set shoulders somewhat square to the line of force, which shall be the line of aim to a point short in the doubles alley if you plan a follow-up volley to the exact same place.

Like Ernests, get the arm straight and awkward but place it fairly low. You then can drop it a little and pull.

Pull the racket up over or around your left shoulder, scissoring with large biceps muscle the whole way.

In tandem and at the same time perform a windshield wipe.

Got it? Congratulations.

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Apologia

Sorry, my readers, that I have sentenced each one of you to a week on the water. But if you already served the sentence, perhaps you noticed that the repetition in tennis comes much slower than in crew, especially if you're playing doubles and the opposition keeps hitting to your partner.

Regardless, the oarsman's short angle is a tremendous tennis shot (I just zipped over to the court and tried it in self-feed).

Of course, if you personally do try it, you immediately become Faust comporting yourself with the devil.

The price of this shot may be the hellish task of learning a different than accustomed contact point.

Note: Getting shoulders square to line of flight behind one, as first thought, may not be necessary. And there could be a small amount of shoulders turn lending body to the shot.

Many different shots can work to produce a sharp angle. But, reader, do you have the courage to go with the most promising one, the one that maybe already is best of the lot?