klacr Strokes

[klacr]

You're the first tennis coach I've seen coaching kids who has world class physical tools that would be translatable to other sports. You must be what, 6'7" or something? You're enormous, which is great! When a kid has to compete against A MAN, they become that! My young one see's mama squatting, or papa in the gym fighting, and all she thinks is, well, ho-hum, thats normal, now I will go do it.


I understand you're now just rounding into shape, however, its pretty obvious you had some great early setups in the small muscle groups. I would have loved to see where you were at when the back, core and rib cage were at optimal performance 2-3 years ago.

Mind telling me how you got injured in the first place?

You look like you had some people around you early who knew what they were doing when you had no racket in your hand, and we're off court.

You missed your calling! Hockey. You're aggressiveness and presence is suited towards it, just like my eight year old daughter. Pity the two of you like tennis, as you'd be much more inclined towards ice, than ground based sports. I would have turned you into a goalie, or big crease clearing defenseman. You've got the perfect size and proportions for it.

The thing about it is, not a lot of athletes REALLY want to do the gym work. I can already see that'd never be a problem for you. This set up takes lots of athletic setup work off the court, and I think you'd be predisposition like say Sampras to putting in that sort of work.

Many athletes don't have the mentality for gym, track and road work, however, you have the aggressiveness to get in their and compete say like Pete Sampras did, or Agassi was willing to do in the later parts of his career.


Their looks like their is some real effort on your part here, and you're not a pretender collecting a paycheck.

You come across as a very smart individual, so that'd be a bonus, you'd be very easy to lead to your NEXT's.

I will post my daughter soon.

Some answers...
I'm 6'6" 210lbs.

I have good genetics. Both parents were athletes. But yeah, I do some cross-training to stay in shape. Hate the gym makes me yawn but I like dynamic activities outside the gym to keep me in shape.

I've never had to deal with any major injuries. The neck surgery I had last year was due to two cysts on the back of my neck. One was growing towards my spinal column and another one towards my brain stem, they needed to be removed to prevent some major issues that would have occured had they stayed in there and kept growing. Y'know, paralysis and stuff like that

Never had anyone around me to tell me what to do. I taught myself against the carport of my parents house in Tampa, then on a big hitting wall and finally on any tennis court I could ride my bike to. I played in college but sadly the coaches had very little interest or impact. I learned by watching, reading and wanting to do it.

I like Hockey. I like to watch it. I'm a big Maple Leafs fan. Gilmour, Potvin, Clark, Sundin etc... I could never play hockey, too cold. I like warm environments. Anything below 80 degrees and I don't do well.

Hard work has never killed anyone. The off court work I cherish. Not afraid of it.

I don't like playing pretend. It's much deeper than just collecting a paycheck.

I'm smart on some things. Dumb on others. The things I'm dumb on I just work harder than others and that gets me through.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[hockeyscout]

Where to even begin? First things first...Look up "straw man" and then lets proceed.

You can teach size or raw power. Just a fact.

[klacr]

Well thanks for posting your clips, Klacr. About time...

I think the best thing to do is tackle one shot at a time. I'm going to start with the forehand. It's always tricky assessing strokes that are being pumped out so uniformly from a ball machine because we only see a player under minimal duress. I stopped displaying an advanced student because of this reason. I decided I may invest in a wide angle camera for such purposes. You can film whole matches this way. But I digress....


We do, however, get a good view of Kyle's swing path and set up. I like the set up. The body turn and positioning of the feet seem good, and this gets repeated over and over...like it. I especially like those last couple of micro steps before the strike. So many young players don't do this. It's those little steps that can make all the difference between getting set up really well and not being quite behind the ball.

The thing I am far less keen on is the swing path. The racket head never seems get beneath the level of the ball as you approach to hit it. (I'd like to see a slow motion to verify this but it certainly seems that way from the real time clips). As a result the shot looks slappy and loose at times. The front view clips bear this out best. Now I understand you are taking the ball early and high up on the bounce at times, but it doesn't alter the fact you still need to come from underneath the ball at least a bit.

If you look at Federer, he is hitting this ball at a similar height to you, but his racket head drops well beneath the ball when he's pulling the trigger. Even when he is hitting flatter he will come from underneath.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/pro_men/roger_federer_09/rf_forehand/rf_fh_center/rf_fh_center.html?RFFHCenterCrosscourtCourtLevelRear.mov

It makes me wonder how the shot would stand up under duress, especially when pulled out wide. I'd like to see you hit a few shots where you let the ball drop lower off the bounce to see how that effects the look of the stroke, and to see if it forces the racket head lower.

Stotty, I agree on the forehand and have heard it before. I had my forehand analyzed on dartfish next to Federer's. Having had it slowed down, I saw that my racquet head is parallel with the ball and not below it. Eye opening for sure.

The question of course is how? How do I drop the racquet head below the ball. We can agree I need it, but what tip or visual aid can I receive to do it each and every time. I still have no problems from back of the court with consistency and I can roll the ball back high and deep but it is much more forced and not as free so it causes me to have to think about the execution as opposed to just doing it. How can I get it to be more natural?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[10splayer]

Kyle,

Are you in a continental? Looks close. Oh I see your answer, never mind

[gzhpcu]

Kyle, your forehand is similar to Jack Kramer's...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQTp9Od2c_4

(Sorry to go back so far... but Kramer was famous for his forehand in his day...)

[klacr]

Maybe it is the forehand grip? Looking at some studies of Laver, Panatta, Nastase, Gimeno, I see a similar swing path. The more you go towards Western, the more the head drops. Do you use a continental grip Kyle?

Question is: Do you need for the racket to drop when hitting a hard flat shot will little or no topspin?

I had a grip that came close to a continental. My base knuckle was right on the line of 2-3 and in some rallies would drift over to complete continental. For running forehands I could really whip it and was quite effective. However, in these videos I have gone to a full eastern, not too extreme and it does feel better more consistently. My base knuckle as well as the heel pad of my hand are on bevel 3. I have big hands and my grip is 4 5/8 plus a full overgrip on top of that.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

The question of course is how? How do I drop the racquet head below the ball. We can agree I need it, but what tip or visual aid can I receive to do it each and every time. I still have no problems from back of the court with consistency and I can roll the ball back high and deep but it is much more forced and not as free so it causes me to have to think about the execution as opposed to just doing it. How can I get it to be more natural?

Kyle, just a suggestion: hold the racket very loosely and the head will drop naturally...

[klacr]

Kyle,

Are you in a continental? Looks close.

It was closer in years past to a continental. Now it's an eastern.

When I played in college I could get away with a very conservative eastern/continental on lightning quick indoor courts plus serve and volley. I have made concerted effort in last year to make adjustment to a stronger eastern.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

The question of course is how? How do I drop the racquet head below the ball. We can agree I need it, but what tip or visual aid can I receive to do it each and every time. I still have no problems from back of the court with consistency and I can roll the ball back high and deep but it is much more forced and not as free so it causes me to have to think about the execution as opposed to just doing it. How can I get it to be more natural?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Go Spanish. Let the ball come to you. Move back to strike the ball around knee height or even below and get the racket brushing up. This, in theory, will force you to lower your racket head.

If I were you I would try to educate myself to let the ball drop until I got used to the feel of lowering my racket head.

It's easier said than done, of course. I have a continental grip on my forehand and cannot play high balls particularly well. I find it fun to make adjustments and try even so. Even at my age (51) I can always tweak something and adjust. A younger stallion like yourself should have no trouble.

[10splayer]

It was closer in years past to a continental. Now it's an eastern.

When I played in college I could get away with a very conservative eastern/continental on lightning quick indoor courts plus serve and volley. I have made concerted effort in last year to make adjustment to a stronger eastern.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Yeah, I saw your answer, and looked a little closer. Finally was able to stop the video at the correct time.

[klacr]

Kyle, just a suggestion: hold the racket very loosely and the head will drop naturally...

Good call Phil. I actually do hold the racquet quite loosely. That's one reason why my timing has always been pretty good. I hold it loose so I can feel the tip of my frame and always know where my racquet head is. But may need to hold it even looser.

I feel like if I can catch the ball early, on the rise and contact is above the net I can extend through the line of the shot and still make it with not a whole lot of spin and arc. But on defensive shots I have a habit of threading the needle a little too tight and not giving myself the ideal spin and margin

Loving the engagement on this thread already. Thanks Guys.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[klacr]

Go Spanish. Let the ball come to you. Move back to strike the ball around knee height or even below and get the racket brushing up. This, in theory, will force you to lower your racket head.

If I were you I would try to educate myself to let the ball drop until I got used to the feel of lowering my racket head.

It's easier said than done, of course. I have a continental grip on my forehand and cannot play high balls particularly well. I find it fun to make adjustments and try even so. Even at my age (51) I can always tweak something and adjust. A younger stallion like yourself should have no trouble.

Stallion is quite kind. Perhaps a Clydesdale is a bit more accurate.

Being 6'6", high balls have never really been an issue for me even with a conservative grip.

I do agree that "receiving" the ball and letting it come to me is one of the best ways, but do you feel that would be advantageous to my overall game, knowing I like to step in and take the ball early?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[10splayer]

Wish we could slow this down. But, what I see, (as it relates to getting under the ball) is an overly upright shaft at the moment of the pull....

If you watch a guy like Fed, he stands the shaft up in the backswing,(straight up and down) but as he lowers it, he lays it down a bit (towards parallel to the ground) before he pulls it.. You stand the shaft up in the backswing, and then seem to pretty much keep it standing up until you pull. That would make it very, vert difficult to get the racquet under the hand...

It would (at least to me) explain the whippy look to it, as the racquet head has a long way to go (to get under) in a very short time frame.

[GeoffWilliams]

He needs to step in and take the ball earlier, not later! More weight transfer, not less. Quicker time into net, not a slower time. More knee bend on the hitting foot step, not the spanish, fall back bs.

[gzhpcu]

Good call Phil. I actually do hold the racquet quite loosely. That's one reason why my timing has always been pretty good. I hold it loose so I can feel the tip of my frame and always know where my racquet head is. But may need to hold it even looser.

I feel like if I can catch the ball early, on the rise and contact is above the net I can extend through the line of the shot and still make it with not a whole lot of spin and arc. But on defensive shots I have a habit of threading the needle a little too tight and not giving myself the ideal spin and margin

Loving the engagement on this thread already. Thanks Guys.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

How about pointing the butt cap of the racket towards the oncoming ball and supinating your forearm?