The Myth of the Dog

[ten1050]

This was an interesting article, however is there too much emphasis on what the arm is doing as opposed to what the lower body does? The legs and hips are the real engine that drives the groundstrokes. The arm simply transfers the power of the lower body into the racket and ultimately into the ball. Adults learning the game are generally preoccupied with what their arm is doing. They have the strength to manipulate the racket in an unproductive manner. Children, on the other hand, lack this arm strength and generally use their bodies more efficiently to hit the ball. All of the great players began playing at a very young age. I believe that young children develop better strokes because they are completely unaware of what their arm is doing. They use their lower body to propel the arm and racket.

Norman Ashbrooke

[bottle]

John -

Wouldn't you say because Del Potro keeps his racquet face more on edge (with less "pat") that he has more forward racquet speed and less vertical racquet speed? Thus his forehand has less spin and is a flatter ball. He does hit it amazingly well.

Sean

Pretty good.

[seano]

John -

Wouldn't you say because Del Potro keeps his racquet face more on edge (with less "pat") that he has more forward racquet speed and less vertical racquet speed? Thus his forehand has less spin and is a flatter ball. He does hit it amazingly well.

Sean

[stotty]

I think the article misses out something quite important in terms of the dog pat. The grip. I think once a player has a strong eastern grip or more, a certain degree of dog pat is far more likely. Sure there may be exceptions to this rule but, on average, the racket face is far more likely to be closed the more extreme the grip.

Back in the day, when grips were more moderate, players took the racket back on edge and brought it back forward on edge, give or take 5 or 10 degrees. Tiny racket heads might also have been a factor in my "on edge" theory because of dog pat would likely have played havoc with timing.

My question would be, can a player flip if the racket is NOT facing down to at least a significant degree? Face down has always been held up as critical position in the modern forehand. Can a player flip if the racket is on edge but is raised above the hand at the critical moment, as cited in a Don Budge clip in an earlier Tennisplayer article? My take is there is some flip but it's nowhere as good? Anyone care to comment on that?

But, yes, I thought it strange the article didn't raise the possible relation between grip and the degree of dog pat.

[bottle]

Everybody is going to have a different take even on an article as clear as this.

To me the forward arm rotation as seen in fourth video up from bottom (Roger in pink shirt) is rotation around the core.

Did everybody always understand that and I was the only confused one? Maybe or maybe not. In a forum post or maybe more than one Seano helped me understand this KIND of rotation.

Often, I think, I was trying to twist the arm or part of the arm or both as if the arm were an axle in a fixed Timken roller bearing as in a wheel of your car.

Sometime that might be what one wants but most of the time not.

Good shots can generate when shoulders starting forward can counter-rotate arm backward around the body and then sling it immediately forward around the body.

[seano]

John -

Excellent article, you fully and completely set up the problem of "pat the dog" as the key teaching point. You then further explain the proper swing mechanics with the keys being the set-up position of the the shoulder, arm, hand and racquet and the external/internal rotation of the shoulder. It has always killed me to hear teachers say "point your strings to the ground". So many people's forehands have had irreparable damage done with this horrible advise. As always, keep up the great work.

Sean

[johnyandell]

Would love to discuss my latest article, "The Myth of the Dog!"