My Unit Turn Revelation

[jeffreycounts]

Let's discuss Tim Mayotte's article "My Unit Turn Revelation"

[klacr]

My favorite of Tim's series so far.
There is a genius and complexity in the simplicity. The unit turn when done effectively is an absolute game changer. Agree with Tim about the Djokovic unit turn. Having seen Djokovic's return in real time, at first it did not appear to be anything special. Until you realized his opponent was not getting a single serve by him, Djokovic hit it flush on the strings each time and he remained on balance throughout. Again and again and again. Appreciating a player like Djokovic won't happen on one ball, it is gained through a series of shots, points, situations and technique that you can only see as a whole and the end result and marvel at. Djokovic makes it look boring and in a way that is part of his skill level.

The unit turn and its nuances can be overlooked and often is by many "established" coaches. Their is no flair or elaborate aesthetic to it, just solid fundamentals that has the potential and effect to change the whole stroke for the better when done properly.

Great work Tim.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[tpa]

One of the ways to learn is through visuals! Tim, have your student look at the preperation and movement of a good short-stop! His glove is balanced in front not below waist or above shoulder! As you said. Tennis bio-mechanics lag behind other sports
Dr. Robert Bregman Ph.D. Tennis Canada level 3 Coach

[bottle]

I love this too, but also think that everything under the sun should be reacted to. And when I look at furniture number one in the article, i.e., the first video, I see something that somebody could misinterpret. And if somebody can misinterpret something they will.

When we first learn the term "unit turn," we are taught that feet and hips and shoulders and arms all turn together. Here-- clearly-- Djokovic's shoulders start turning before his hips, and since this is a repeating video, he does that over and over again.

[stotty]

I though the article was terrific. Djokovic is the finest example because he has the best and cleanest unit turn of the lot. I go to Wimbledon every year and I have watched Djokovic perhaps more than any other player. He always seems to playing on the court and day I go! His return of serve when you watch it live is somehow even better than on TV. The thing is he hits them so clean and to such a good length, especially off the backhand wing. He hits 68%, according to the BBC stats, straight down the middle third of the court, and deep. He gets so many returns back. He seems to read servers a little better than others too.

And yes I remember Tim Mayotte the volleyer. I saw Tim play once at Wimbledon against a guy called Eddie Edwards. I can't remember which year or which round it was but I remember Tim coming into the net quick behind a good serve (more arching than bending of the knees as I remember). But the most stand out thing for me was how well Tim volleyed from deep in the court. I volleyed well but at my level I could never volley well from deep in the court. You have to be really good to do that. It's a quality to be admired in top players like Tim. Over the pond here we always thought Tim was in with a shout of doing well at Wimbledon. He had a game tailor-made for it.

Back to the article. The grip change is something that has been discussed a many times here on the forum. tennis_chiro has often stated it should be an integral part of the backswing. I think the clip of Dimitrov bears this out well.

It's a great article. I may have more to say here. I am going to watch Agassi and Connors to see where they sit on the return of serve continuum.

[don_budge]

Good solid stuff from Tim Mayotte. Fundamentally Correct (FC). More food for thought for the serious tennis coach or student of the game.