Welby is a true master

[davehagler]

Many modern players have trouble moving forward because their early training emphasized lateral movement to such a great degree that when they get a short ball they turn and try to run to the ball "sideways" to the net. Fifty years ago Welby Van Horn said if you are moving forward your left foot should stay on the left and your right should stay on the right. You turn on your last right footed step (righty forehand) or left footed step (righty backhand). If a player does not have balance, forget it. Too many players would rather hit the ESPN "shot of the day" than win the match.

It is sad to me to see juniors who are great athletes who have poor fundamentals. These players "dead end," often needlessly because they were asked to figuratively run before they could walk. Does it not make sense to master a skill and then increase variability and complexity? This is why many of the great old coaches are still great.

[JoeTennis]

Welby

No question, the guy's a legend. Among those who know his name, he's considered a coach's coach. My old coach learned the game from him while teaching under him at his camp in Connecticut back in the 70's. Purist, man! Up there with Hopman, I think! Thankfully, Van Horn has passed down a lot of skills over the generations in the sport.

Is it just me or is a lot of solid, classic tennis technique being re-introduced in today's game? High-speed video is confirming the time-honored principles of balanced and penetrating strokes. A lot of current tour coaches look like they push more of an all-court game, and less western a grip/stroke structure as compared to the nineties.

Hopefully it is not just a Federer fad. Our man, John Yandell deserves a good amount of credit for this, too.

There are tons of us who would like to see this trend continue.
More one-handed backhands. More net play. More all-courters playing well on clay like Henman, Federer, Stich and Rafter have done at times.

Is this enough of a trend to raise a generation of juniors who grow up wanting to play like great tennis players and not big bangers? Or will the lowest common denominator baseline game that works in juniors continue to prevail?

[makhan67]

Lateral movement (side to side) is great for pounding ground strokes. I agree that juniors (and even seniors) are too afraid going to the net partly because the "transitional" strokes such as slice approach shot and volley smash combination are not practiced that much. I strongly believe that even the dedicated baseliner should learn the transitional game and the associated movement patterns. There are many good drills to implement. I will list one which is very popular among my players:

-- It works with 5 to 6 players.

-- Player A and B at one baseline (passers).

-- Player C at net on the other side (intercepts passing shots with volleys).

-- Player D at other baseline (deuce court) ready to approach with forehand down the line on a ball fed by the coach,

-- Player E and F in line waiting for their turn to approach after D.

Action:

The coach feeds a short ball to player's D forehand who must approach down the line and proceed to the net.

The point is now played between A and B (baseliners) and C and D (netmen). If C and D win the point, the second ball is to C (volley), and the point is then played out between CD (net) and AB (baseline), if CD win the point, the third feed is a lob to D who must smash and the point is played out between CD (net) and AB (baseline). If CD win this point also (3 in row), they run over to replace A and B, and AB run over to join the que to become E and F, and the drill continues. However, if there is an error on CD side, C will rotate back to the que, D will become C, and E will become D, and the drill will continue.

The above is a great drill because the kids love it and it teaches you the forward (vertical) movement. Except serve, and return of serve, this drill has everything including movement!