Interactive Forum August 2017 Johanna Konta Groundstrokes

[jeffreycounts]

Johanna Konta Groundstrokes

She's been in the top ten for almost two years. Born to Hungarian parents in Australia, Johanna Konta moved to the UK when she was 14 and became a British citizen in May 2012. She's been to the semifinals of the Australian Open and now Wimbledon.

So take a look at her groundstrokes. Of interest on her forehand: her backswing, outward extension, and that exaggerated wiper/wrap deceleration. On her backhand, check out her grip. hitting arm structure and stance variations.

And on both sides, what about her posture? Tim Mayotte referenced it in his July article (Click Here), what do you think?

[jeffreycounts]

Johanna Konta Groundstrokes

[bottle]

What a good choice for a feature. Not my personal style but one could start serious evaluation by noting her tiny little last instant adjustment steps in some of her two-handed backhands.

[bottle]

This Thread Needs Spicing Up

Perhaps one should bring Nasty Nastase into the discussion along with his widely condemned recent mistreatment of Konta (I forget the details). But I have been re-reading Peter Burwash's old and very good book TENNIS FOR LIFE, the introduction to which emphasizes how penniless Burwash was when he first came on the tour.

The sportswriter John Tullius quotes Burwash as saying, "Then Nastase and Tiriac used to give me the scraps off their plates. They were on the Rumanian Tennis Federation expense account, and so they'd order extras and give it to me. I don't care what they say about him, if it wasn't for Nastase I would have starved to death. So I'd have a peanut-butter sandwich and a glucose tablet for breakfast, a glucose tablet at lunch, and then Nastase would take care of me at dinner."

[bottle]

Forehands

How can one player (Konta) be all bod to ball and all arm from ball; and another, the late Ellsworth Vines, have been all arm to ball and all bod from ball-- all in the same game? Okay Okay I realize Vines was still putting arm on ball while he pivoted through it but nevertheless think the essential distinction holds and applies to a lot of other players as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcY4...?v=HcY4pkX5GC8

[bottle]

Poor Johanna

Everybody hates her, not just Nasty. But why, when she so obviously is a nice person in addition to being the number one woman player in Great Britain? Is it mainly because she trained in Spain? Or that people in general and not just Nasty are nasty?

[haegliloo237]

I love her. She is extremely good moving to all directions and positioning herself in the best possible (broad) stance. Additionally she is hitting the ball always in front of the body having a quite big angle of the raquetface to the ball at contact point giving her a lot of topspin. These fundamental things together with her strong mental behavior and a very good serve put her in my opinion into the position she is.

[bottle]

Nice, thanks, and I accept everything you say. A sober assessment. I love her too.

[bottle]

Requiring Further Comment: Konta's Virtuoso Backswing on Forehand Side

She follows conventional prescription to keep left hand on racket but with a difference: left hand is slightly off the racket!

Also, in at least one sequence, she double clutches with left hand so that it smooths the waters, then comes back, then smooths the waters again.

Totally free form, in other words, which is great evidence that this player is using "feel" to guide herself rather than some synthetic idea or rule.

[bottle]

No Ego, Amigo

What if no ego was attached to a stroke opinion? Would we come closer to the truth of what was happening?

Probably. I agree with those who think that tennis mechanics are so complicated that there is always a degree of subjectivity in their interpretation.

Beyond that, I go with Stotty's assertion that often he will see something, but only after someone else has pointed it out.

We all are pretty blind and less knowledgeable than we think, right? And suggestible. Someone says something and we see it, but later change our mind, deciding we were overly influenced.

This has happened to me in the case of the Konta forehand. And I'm grateful that it has been up here for long enough for me to be able to give it extra looks.

I was influenced early by haigiloo's contention that Jo gets extra topspin from the way she take the ball out front.

Me, I interpreted this as stoppage of the shoulders to create extra whip in the arm.

I even started hitting a few forehands that way and thought them pretty effective or at least interestingly different from my other forehands if I were looking for variety of armament.

Now though I see much more whirl in Konta's body, before, during and after contact-- which would make her more like Federer than a Braden stopped forehand or Braden stopped serve, or a classic forehand where shoulders don't even get parallel to net by contact.

(Am talking about Konta's forehand here. Will have to think about her good serve another day.)

Perhaps the key is not to look at Jo's mechanics at all but rather the fierce commitment that produces them-- so very impressive!

[don_budge]

Quick nosedive out of the U. S. Open in the first round as the #7 seed.