Spring Event by Jeff

[jerryo]

Excellent artical and analysis concerning what is really happening at and after contact.

It is articles like this, and the analysis that accompany them ,that makes TENNISPLAYER the best instructional web site.


Jerry O'Hara

[jeffreycounts]

Jerry,

Thanks for the kind words about my article.

Years ago before video was around to analyze, I was under the wrong impression that you just needed to swing fast into contact and the rest of the stroke would take care of itself. I was quite wrong about that! I'm glad you enjoyed seeing how the pros extend through the ball (and up) to really get their bodies into the shot.

Jeff

[gzhpcu]

Yes, thanks Jeff, and thinking about it, it really makes sense, because Force = mass x acceleration. With the double bend and extension and moving forward and up, you have more force, because even though acceleration is lower than when whipping the ball with your arm, mass is much, much higher... also extending forward with the wrist laid back is easier to time as well...

[jeffreycounts]

Yes, thanks Jeff, and thinking about it, it really makes sense, because Force = mass x acceleration. With the double bend and extension and moving forward and up, you have more force, because even though acceleration is lower than when whipping the ball with your arm, mass is much, much higher... also extending forward with the wrist laid back is easier to time as well...

Phil,

That's exactly my conclusion. The laid back wrist allows the powerful shoulder muscle and double bend to push through contact (and lift), maximizing Mass. When people have forehand problems, they usually aren't getting any mass into the ball because they are trying to whip and snap.

To be honest I would have never predicted this, but video really speaks a hidden reality that our naked eye completely misses.

Thanks for the F = M * A formula. I agree completely.

Jeff

[jhm36]

Hi Guys,

Put me down as another person who's having success with more of the double-bend, laid back wrist and push/drive through the ball with more extension to the target area.

I had been kind of working on this before the article came out, mainly as a way to flatten out my forehand, but when I read the article I decided to emphasis it more in my game and it's helped, especially, for me, my forehand down the line on a relatively high balls. Feels a bit odd getting more power but with less arm whip. It's giving my partner some trouble in fact. She's not expecting my forehand to be that strong.

I imagine that as I work on this more I'll be able to make better use of it on the lower balls, but right now this is certainly working on this higher balls.

Nice article.

[jeffreycounts]

Thanks Jim,

I agree completely that it feels strange getting power from less effort, but that's the beauty of physics, in my opinion.

Also I would like to suggest (perhaps in a future article) that after lifting and extending, the shoulder and hand will turn over, as John has so thoroughly elaborated in his forehand articles.

It's just that the windshield wiper motion is coming from the entire double bend - the shoulder and the hand together. There is lots of mass there. When you see the finish of pro forehands you see the entire body has rotated through the ball -- shoulders, arm, hand, torso. So I always think of even the extreme "whip-like" shots as really body drives through, up, and over the ball.

Check out the Kuerten pic. His shoulders are actually perpendicular to the net. His shoulders and upper body have come completely through the ball. This is a fully body drive through the ball, in my opinion. To be honest it looks like a round house knockout punch to me. Take a guy like Nadal, who has the physique of a boxer. I am convinced that it's not just "racket head speed" that makes his forehand great, but that he gets that powerful shoulder and body into every ball as well.

Great to see my article registered with what you are trying to do!

Jeff