Future Trends in Tennis: Part 2

[gzhpcu]

In the mid 80’s I played doubles against Roland Stadler at the city of Zurich tennis championships. We managed a couple of games, but they smeared us. Very unorthodox player.

[don_budge]

By the way...about Gene Mayer who is used as an example in the article. He rose to number whatever on the basis that he was using a Prince Racquet when no other pros were thinking about using them. The first to use them were opportunistic. Opportunists. It says something about him too. It isn't good.

[don_budge]

Here is Roland Stadler vs Stefan Edberg

Roland Stadler...experimented with longer racquets to compensate for his limited reach...I thought his racquet looked to be much longer than normal. Did anyone else notice that?

"Roland Stadler was a swiss tennis player in the 80´s who played double-handed on both sides and promoted that. he wrote at least one book about it, maybe more, saying that playing double-handed was much less stressful for the body,...
http://www.stadler-tennis-team.ch you can also find him on wikipedia
he experimented with longer racquets to counter the disadvantage of a limited reach, and obviously convinced Donnay to build a limited range of longer racquets for him. i know of two, the Roland Stadler Revolution 740 and the Roland Stadler Revolution 820. they look a lot like the Pro Cynetic1 of that era, if you know that. but as the name said, the 740 was 74cm and the 820 was 82cm long
very flexible racquets, interesting on groundstrokes, impossible on volleys and serve(would need a long adjustment period)"

The 740 is the equivalent of 29.13 inches for those not familiar with the metric system. The 740 actually means 740 millimetres. The 820 is equivalent to 32.3 inches. Considering that the "standard size" racquet is 26 inches...well I just did the math for you. Cheating? Etiquette anyone?

As far as a two forehand player...it isn't going to happen. When I first started to play tennis I would play two forehands but my coach put an end to that real quick. It is what you call unorthodox. Now unorthodox might just get you somewhere initially...because of the novelty. But in the end there are always limitations to the unorthodox. In this case the limitations are unsurmountable and I am rather surprised that a coach of Chris Lewitt's stature is going down this road. Be that as it may...I wish him all the luck.

[chrislewit]

i think it will take something special to see the 2 fh on both sides thing, happen: someone talented & is trained with 2fh from the beginning.
side note: even kim, in the vid in the article uses a 2hbh when under pressure... which seems to support what the toptennistraining guys said, eg. main reason to not use 2 fh, is the delay in switching grips in fast exchanges (but then again, i bet the "all conti grip" players in the old days, used to say the same about anything not conti)

Exactly. The grip change concern can be overcome. We have found a way to do it with some of our ambi players.

[chrislewit]

I'm fascinated by this and Chris does like to provoke. The next great champion is playing differently from the current ones. As a coach of a future champion you have to have the blasphemous or heretic streak to go against the status quo and be a visionary. I understand what Chris is saying and he has given many great examples. So the million dollar question is...How? How will you teach this style and what drills will you use to turn this idea into a workable and proven model? I believe that we are going to see some radical stuff in the coming years and hope that you are on the front lines. I will be the first to congratulate you when we see a champion with two forehands.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Thanks Kyle. I believe that Future Tennis is very possible, I’ am just not sure how long it will take for the trend to take hold. I will do my part by influencing and coaching but not sure how many decades before a tipping point arrives.

It could be beyond our lifetime.

The pace of technology and social acceptance are hard to predict.

[chrislewit]

We had an unorthodox player in Switzerland, Roland Stadler. He reached the final of Gstaad in 1986. Double handed forehand and backhand, very abbreviated serve. Played doubles against him years ago in the city of Zurich championships.

Hi. Did Roland Stadler have two double handed backhands or did he have one double handed forehand and one double handed backhand?

I am interested in the grip variations.

Thanks for sharing.

Chris

[klacr]

How in the world did Edberg jump so far in the court and literally hit his first volley at the “T” on clay? Will we ever see anyone successful again by doing that kind of serve/ volley play on a consistent basis?

He had remarkable quickness but the returns were mostly being chipped back allowing him more time.
There are videos in the stroke archive of Richard Krajicek serving and volleying and getting further into the court after landing than anyone I've ever seen and inside the service line to hit the volley. Great stuff.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[gzhpcu]

How in the world did Edberg jump so far in the court and literally hit his first volley at the “T” on clay? Will we ever see anyone successful again by doing that kind of serve/ volley play on a consistent basis?

Pat Rafter came pretty close, but no S&V player today... too bad..

[nytennisaddict]

How in the world did Edberg jump so far in the court and literally hit his first volley at the “T” on clay? Will we ever see anyone successful again by doing that kind of serve/ volley play on a consistent basis?

i always thought he intentionally spun his serve in (with excellent placement), to give himself more time to come in... also seems like the returns are being chipped back, vs. crushed.
he's still splitting a couple feet before the service line
regarding how far he gets in after the serve... i thought that was one of advantages of the pinpoint stance? not sure if that was debunked or not (didn't really pay attention, since i didn't choose pinpoint because i'm an s&v'er)

[edit] look at the edberg (pinpoint) vs. fed (platform), side by side pics... fed goes more up,... edberg is going more up and into the court, and is landing already tilted forward (like a sprinter's lean)

[doctorhl]

How in the world did Edberg jump so far in the court and literally hit his first volley at the “T” on clay? Will we ever see anyone successful again by doing that kind of serve/ volley play on a consistent basis?

[gzhpcu]

Here is Roland Stadler vs Stefan Edberg

[nytennisaddict]

Let's get your thoughts on Chris Lewit's article, Future Trends in Tennis: Part 2

i think it will take something special to see the 2 fh on both sides thing, happen: someone talented & is trained with 2fh from the beginning.
side note: even kim, in the vid in the article uses a 2hbh when under pressure... which seems to support what the toptennistraining guys said, eg. main reason to not use 2 fh, is the delay in switching grips in fast exchanges (but then again, i bet the "all conti grip" players in the old days, used to say the same about anything not conti)

[don_budge]

Let's get your thoughts on Chris Lewit's article, Future Trends in Tennis: Part 2

I haven't read it yet. Maybe I will. But I have read some of these "future trends" courtesy of Chris. Frankly I find them rather...how do I put this? Ridiculous? But as far as I am concerned do whatever the hell you want with the game. Time marches on. In the name of PROGRESS! They ruined it with the futuristic racquets. It was so funny to watch all of the cowards and the herd run swiftly to purchase their new shiny, graphite Prince Graphites. The bigger the better! Michael Chang took the cake with his 110...making up in racquet for what he lacked in what God blessed him with.

It is no longer tennis and the game cannot be compared with the game that I grew up with as a boy. How lucky was I? Very lucky. The kids nowadays never knew the difference. Soon tennis will be a video game. The more technology and ideas like Chris Lewitt's pushes the original further and further into the dust bin. It sort of amazes me how the human race operates. It doesn't set the bar too high.

[gzhpcu]

We had an unorthodox player in Switzerland, Roland Stadler. He reached the final of Gstaad in 1986. Double handed forehand and backhand, very abbreviated serve. Played doubles against him years ago in the city of Zurich championships.

[klacr]

I'm fascinated by this and Chris does like to provoke. The next great champion is playing differently from the current ones. As a coach of a future champion you have to have the blasphemous or heretic streak to go against the status quo and be a visionary. I understand what Chris is saying and he has given many great examples. So the million dollar question is...How? How will you teach this style and what drills will you use to turn this idea into a workable and proven model? I believe that we are going to see some radical stuff in the coming years and hope that you are on the front lines. I will be the first to congratulate you when we see a champion with two forehands.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton