shoulder external rotation to produce racket drop

[tim3]

It is my understanding of your articles that the completed racket drop is mostly produced by external rotation of the shoulder. My problem is that there is no way for my shoulder to produce such a degree of racket drop purely by external rotation.
Just to see whether I have abnormal flexibility, I have checked the degree of external rotation of my friends, who have played tennis for years since their early adulthood, all of them have only 30 degree or so from the vertical. To my surprise, my 8 years old daughter, who have never played tennis or other sports involving throwing, has about 80 degree of active external rotation and can easily achieve 90 degree with little assistance. Therefore, I think the extreme degree of external rotation that pros possess require training at a young age. For us amateurs that pick up tennis much later, it is not possible to achieve that.
Currently, my racket drop is mostly external rotation (I acutally didn't know before reading your articles) but I can drop the racket further by flexing and elevating the elbow. My question is whether it is correct to do so. Thanks.

[johnyandell]

Exactly right. It's not just the external rotation that can position or does position the racket.


The higher elbow position is what you should do--the goal is to put that racket along your right side at the right angle. Yeah more external rotation is better but the best drop given the physicality of the player should be the goal.

[vmiller]

To my surprise, my 8 years old daughter, who have never played tennis or other sports involving throwing, has about 80 degree of active external rotation and can easily achieve 90 degree with little assistance.

Get her on the court!

[tim3]

Get her on the court!

She had actually played tennis for a few times but then stopped because of skin allegy to the hair of tennis ball. New balls, old balls, penn balls and slazenger balls were just the same.
I will certainly try to let her play again.

[tim3]

Exactly right. It's not just the external rotation that can position or does position the racket.


The higher elbow position is what you should do--the goal is to put that racket along your right side at the right angle. Yeah more external rotation is better but the best drop given the physicality of the player should be the goal.

Thanks for your advice.
I have practiced following your advice. I now understand what you meant by 'not just the external rotation that can position or does position the racket'.
I found that my serve actually contained steps that could further lower the racket drop. The problem was that I threw the racket up to the ball too soon, before it had sufficient time to reach the perfect position. I will work hard to correct this.

[gzhpcu]

Thanks for your advice.
I have practiced following your advice. I now understand what you meant by 'not just the external rotation that can position or does position the racket'.
I found that my serve actually contained steps that could further lower the racket drop. The problem was that I threw the racket up to the ball too soon, before it had sufficient time to reach the perfect position. I will work hard to correct this.

Looks like we are in the same boat here. You are describing my problem as well. John suggested the bigger backswing as a first step, and this has improved the situation. The next step I am working on is the higher elbow position. This is what I like about this site, the advice comes from practical experience and video observation.

[johnyandell]

Gentlemen good luck with the work.