Student Feedback

[bowt]

Hey Guys,

5 months back I posted this video of one of my students Mary-June:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS5gDdOwiBc

I recorded this video today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT5Z...ature=youtu.be
You can instantly see the massive improvements in her shots

I would really appreciate some feedback/opinions on her fh/bh/serve. Would love a comment from John!

Thanks,

Richard

[hockeyscout]

Age?

[GeoffWilliams]

Pretty good improvements! Sweet little girl.

[bowt]

just turned 9

[bowt]

https://youtu.be/qaAbs7KDQQE another

[johnyandell]

bowt,

On your girl on her forehand: the turn looks way better. My question is about her Jack Sock backswing where the racket tip is tilted forward for so long.
Was that something she was taught? Pretty compact backswing for a kid that age (much more compact than the boy you posted). Still more of a WTA or type one swing but she is really young.
Her backhand: that looks pretty darn good as well. the takeback is slightly high by ATP standards but...where I am not an expert is application for kids this age.
Serve: Eventually if not immediately she needs a serving grip. After that it would be interesting to see what happens with all the other factors--waiter's tray etc.

On Alfie:

The kid seems to have really good timing and hands. Looks quite athletic. the backswing as I am sure you have noticed is large at this point.

[stotty]

She coming along well.

Her grip on the forehand is looking quite extreme. On the third forehand in the sequence she seems to have nudged her grip further round than on the previous two...looks full western. I'd take a look at that and place her on semi-western or even eastern. Once a grip gets too extreme with kids it's murder to change back to moderate if left too long.

On her forehand, her palm still faces out towards her opponent on her left arm stretch. No women do this in the archive. Does this cause her any noticeable problems when playing a wide ball and trying to hit cross court? Just curious...

Love the backhand...no problems here.

Her serve is raw but she's off to a decent start. Very Djokovic how she raises her front toe as she descends into her wind up. I like the raised hands and racket to start the motion. Good to see there is the very beginnings of weight transfer taking place.

Overall, a terrific job on your part. It's great to see good fundamentals taking shape. I commend you most highly for that. Well played.

[bowt]

thanks for the feedback guys

[bobbyswift]

On the backhand her left elbow is tucked into her lats. Her shoulders at contact need to be addressed. If you look at contact left shoulder is elevated where hers right is higher. I would also prefer a contact point closer to left arm straight right bent. She never straightens left right bends too early. But biggest issue is her left arm in gravity drop not getting outside her core as I first mention.

[klacr]

Kudos to you bowt for getting kids hitting like this at a young age. The intensity and love for the game is quite evident when you look at their eyes. These kids are the next generation of tennis players. Maybe not pros, but that's ok, as long as they continue to play and enjoy it throughout their lives.

The previous posts touched on the main issues, backswing size, grips, high take back on backswing. I'm confident all these issues can be addressed and improved.
Make sure Alfie keeps that head still and chin down on that forehand during contact. He looks very athletic and his timing is pretty good.

It will be progressive development and at kids this age is exciting to see. Just make sure you get her in the right habits and the repetition is provided. Enjoy the process.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[hockeyscout]

We're following this site with a great deal of interest here from the Ukraine.

Its interesting watching here how tennis coaches want their players to hit the ball, and how coaches from other sports (like us) have a totally different value system on what is important to us in our specific player evaluation system.

We watched the video, and our internal discussions were focused on:

1.

Her propensity for buckling, and how we think her internal impingement (shoulder) may also damage her rather delicate labrum in the long haul. We wonder about her propensity for power long term.

2.

A few other concerns, intra-muscular leverage, high level of muscle tension in her anterior chain, incorrect pelvic posture, anterior pelvic tilt issues, hip thrust (major issues in woman's tennis), weak glutes and hip - ankle extension issues.

What I mentioned about are BIG WEAKNESSES with us (and we are getting better somewhat). Every athlete is in a race to master these fundamentals, and those who don't will simply not be good enough, or even want to play even club level tennis because the sport does not feel good (and they will lack durability, which is so important).

We have an architecture that we follow for athletic development, so our athlete is set up with the proper pathways required to perform the functional movements to be a true hybrid athlete (world class in three or more disciplines - I cannot state how important this is by the way).

Strokes (according the Armageddon theory of teaching principals) are a result of functional muscle setups, posture, hip placement and how well pathways have been set up in the chain before a ball has ever been hit (in our opinion).

Thanks for posting, it was enlightening to see what tennis coaches (everyone) posted here, even if it is contrary to the technical fundamentals of Armageddon (which is what we think tennis will be in 2021 to 2030).

Nether less, we play against tennis player who are coached by traditional tennis coaches, so its necessary to learn your blueprint to be able to take advantage of it in competition using our Armageddon model of play.

One thing you may want to add to those players arsenal - world class equipment, body shot and warrior mentality -- and I gotta say we sure Geoff Williams is the man to talk to here on tennisplayer.net in regards to those important fundamentals.

Thanks for posting.

[hockeyscout]

BTW - here is a good video to show your students. This girl is nine. This video was done three years ago, and the girl is now twelve and ranked as the number seven girl in the USA. So, she's a high ender and a potential top 100 pro I think if she can simplify her game and learn how to hit the ball properly. Type of kid who is in the mix.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br-T4_lQ2T4

I'd say their are 20 - 30 girls in Russia - Ukraine hitting better than this girl right now (the 2007, 2006 and 2005's are just special over here). So competition is pretty steep here in the eastern block (its the best crop of woman since Kournikova and Sharapova), and I think we'll see real dominance again in the woman's game from this corner of the world in five to eight years.

I know it fires up my girls when they see top players, so it may help your kids to see what possibilities lie ahead of them in terms of how everyone else plays throughout the world.