The "Body Fly" shot - a Fantasy

[don_budge]

tennis_chiro…excellent thread!

Perhaps HockeyScout is right and there is a whole new game out there ahead of us which I can't see, but I don't see any evidence that these fundamental laws of physics can be violated when the game gets really fast. That is what those final round matches in the Australian, French, Wimbledon and the US Open really show us. For the techniques to hold up under that extreme fire, they can't break the laws of physics. The human body is amazing and it can adapt and compensate and get away with a lot, but when the player on the other side of the net has the laws of physics on his side, you are in big trouble.

don

I just got done watching the finals of the Dubai tournament. There was zero "Body Fly" going on between the top two ranked players in the world. Now think about this little detail.

The way that the game is being played at the present is probably about as close to the conditions that would permit this sort of movement when swinging a tennis racquet and at the same time maintaining control of things. But what will happen if the courts are speeded up just incrementally as it appears that they were in Dubai. The mere idea of jumping or flying into shots becomes even more ludicrous. The bounce will be lower and therefore players will have to hunker down even closer to the ground.

Therefore…once again it is the responsibility of the teacher to teach fundamentals because adherence to fundamentals enhance a player's ability to adapt. Remember it is not the strongest or even the smartest that is more likely to survive…it is the one that adapts the best.

From the paradigm of don_budge...Roger Federer is the living proof of this and he proved it once again today as he adapted to the conditions and the circumstances of play the best. Given a sound foundation of fundamentals enhances the players ability to evolve as well. Again it is Roger Federer who illustrates this aspect of player development as he once again assumes a chameleon like quality late in his career to use the net attack to make himself more formidable against younger, stronger and faster opponents. Pay attention to our stalwart member…charles_darwin. Senior member. One single solitary post.

Plus the bigger racquet makes everything possible. But once again…it is the ability to adapt.

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change."

It gave me the impression too today that the lower the bounce the more it favours the weaker grip on the forehand and also the one hand backhand. With a little extra "scoot" on the ball it appears that the two handed shot is just a tad less effective particularly when a terrific slice is being applied to the ball.

This was a really great thread…it got a little touch and go here and there. But overall it appears to me that your point was extremely well made. The conditions these days with higher and slower bounce give the players a bit more time to coil but if there is some terrific heat being applied by the likes of Roger Federer and the court is quickened just a tad, it is going to be very difficult to get your legs under the shot let alone doing some kind of launch into it.

[klacr]

It gave me the impression too today that the lower the bounce the more it favours the weaker grip on the forehand and also the one hand backhand. With a little extra "scoot" on the ball it appears that the two handed shot is just a tad less effective particularly when a terrific slice is being applied to the ball.

Grip dictates contact point

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stroke]

I do not think there is a whole new game out there. Ion Tiriac, at the trophy presentation to Roger after he won the Madrid Open years ago, said Roger had the best technique ever on a tennis court. When you see Roger playing like he did in Dubai, it is hard to argue. I don't think we will ever see anyone in our lifetime better. I don't think he was taught that prototype type 3 forehand. He got there through tremendous talent. Michael Jordan was the best player in basketball ever 20 years ago. I think he still is.

[stotty]

I do not think there is a whole new game out there. Ion Tiriac, at the trophy presentation to Roger after he won the Madrid Open years ago, said Roger had the best technique ever on a tennis court. When you see Roger playing like he did in Dubai, it is hard to argue. I don't think we will ever see anyone in our lifetime better. I don't think he was taught that prototype type 3 forehand. He got there through tremendous talent. Michael Jordan was the best player in basketball ever 20 years ago. I think he still is.

I think Roger has played the best tennis ever. He's hit heights no one else has hit. He's had spells where he has blown Nadal off the court...just cannot sustain it. But those spells are the highest standard ever played...I think.

Interesting aside about the type 3:

I am always reining in "beyond the plane of the body" backswings. I get there in the end with kids. The thing is I have been coaching tennis for thirty years, with around twenty of those oblivious to the size of the backswing.

But get this...

Around 30 of those kids I coached over twenty years or so ago are grown up and playing in the county's leagues at some level or other. Not one male (girls yes) has a backswing that goes "beyond the plane"...not one.

Now some (probably many) of them must have had big backswings when they were kids.

Maybe it's a problem that resolves itself as males grow stronger. I feel I have evidence to suggest it might.