HOW TO HIT Heavy Ball

[jeffreycounts]

Jeff-- thanks for you current article on the double bend. You mention the importance of moving the racket to the ball "inside out", and that this is the result of lifting the double bend. To get the "inside out" movement to the ball ( where the racket moves almost directly to the right at the start of the forward swing-- for a right hander, do you make a deliberate swing out in that direction (ie to the right), or is it truly just a straight lift ( like rolling/lifting bowling a ball straight), and the movement of the racket to the right is just a natural result of that straight up lift.

I hope the question makes sense. I guess the question could be summarized as : is the inside out movement of the racket just a natural result of lifting the double bend, or do you make a deliberate inside out movement with your arm as you start the swing.

Thanks

That's a very, very good question.

I think it comes from two things. One is the lifting movement which will definitely bring the racket around.

The other is you can see the wrist relax a bit outward. In the four clips I put in my article, you can the angle goes from 90 degrees between racket and forearm to about 35 degrees (I'm guessing) on contact. (I attached a markup of the 90 degree angle between racket handle and forearm). This gets the racket to travel outward and into the ball as well.

Also, the shoulder continue to rotate which brings things around as well.

So to answer your question... I don't think it's a deliberate swing outward. It's an indirect result of lifting and rotating the shoulders and relaxing the wrist just a bit.

[maahou]

Hi,

I'd like to thank Jeff Counts for all his articles on the forehand .
I had a beginner forehand , i tried to hit fast but the ball speed wasn't really fast .

Studying your articles , well documented with videos, and trying to do this on a court produced a huge progression for me : hitting really faster with consistency and farther to the opponent court .

There is just one thing which should be more developped for me , it's when do the pull/lifting occurs exactly , but it's just a little point near your excellent job.

Maahou.

[mntlblok]

To get the "inside out" movement to the ball ( where the racket moves almost directly to the right at the start of the forward swing-- for a right hander, do you make a deliberate swing out in that direction (ie to the right), or is it truly just a straight lift ( like rolling/lifting bowling a ball straight), and the movement of the racket to the right is just a natural result of that straight up lift.

I've been trying to figure this one out, too. I played with some stuff on my computer monitor and came up with this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7604265...7600094800395/
It's pretty amateurish, and based on Brian Gordon's comments to me, may not really be of much value.

*But*, anecdotally, I sure seem to correct some of my forehand flaws when I intentionally try to swing my hand inside out on the forehand. Otherwise, I tend to throw my elbow away from my body at contact. Intentionally swinging my hand inside out also makes me more likely to extend through the shot. Also, paradoxically (it seems to me), it makes it *much* easier for me to go cross court with the shot.

Speaking of Brian, I'm going up to Cincinnati next month to see how much it hurts to get hooked up to his wires for a 3D evaluation.

Kevin
Savannah

[BrianGordon]

Speaking of Brian, I'm going up to Cincinnati next month to see how much it hurts to get hooked up to his wires for a 3D evaluation.

Kevin
Savannah

Kevin-

Looking forward to the visit - I suspect you won't feel much pain - unless we use my new implantable auto feedback electrodes - Brian

[johnyandell]

That's great to hear. Put some of those implants in his brain and see if you can see what's wrong with that while you're at it...


Just kidding.

Hey Kevin, would you consider doing a write up of your experience with Brian? I think that would be quite interesting and possibly valuable. Something on the model of Giancarlo's experience with Pat Etcheberry.

[mntlblok]

That's great to hear. Put some of those implants in his brain and see if you can see what's wrong with that while you're at it...


Just kidding.

Hey Kevin, would you consider doing a write up of your experience with Brian? I think that would be quite interesting and possibly valuable. Something on the model of Giancarlo's experience with Pat Etcheberry.

Hey, I'm fully aware that my brain ain't right. It's just that it doesn't bother me.

I'd be honored to do a write-up of it. You'll, of course, have to edit it to death to get it down to a manageable size. I must say, though, that I found your long article on the Easter Bowl (which I read today) to be totally enthralling. And, it was nice to see the note from the lady who runs it.

I enjoyed the article about Etcheberry, too. Got me to wonderin whether Nadal could top 40 in that test. You don't reckon Etcheberry carried a big box of steroids with him down to Argentina, do ya? Sounds like he'd be a *really* fun guy to meet.

Kevin

[stroke]

What I find remarkable about Adam's forehand in this clip is how far out in front he meets the ball with the double bend fully intact. You see the same thing with Djokovic.

In order to meet the ball like this, you have to lift the entire double bend structure upwards as you come inside out.

I see this as really maximizing leverage and mass, which I personally think has a lot to do with the "heavy ball".

When I first started comparing top hitters to lower level hitters many years ago, I quickly saw that on contact things looked very different. The top hitters always had a hitting structure behind the ball while lower level hitters didn't. I was very surprised by this at first.

For anyone interested, I encourage you to do a little experiment. Get your arm and racket in the contact position like Djokovic and Adam. Double bend intact, well in front of the body. To get to that position, you really can't "swing" in any traditional sense. You have to rotate. You have to lift. Any other kind of motion will break down the hitting structure and will cause things to come across the body way too soon.

Jeff,

I really like your thoughts here about "a little experiment". I think you are spot on about getting in the contact position like Adam and Djokovic to feel for oneself that you have to rotate, not swing, to get there. Notice also how Adam is somewhat almost leaning back, his chest really bowed out, kind of like extreme upright posture, probably more so than Djokovic. GMann mentioned this chest thing in talking about Adam earlier when he was speculating on these players that have a forehand that explodes off the court, almost like a "kick" forehand, similar to a ball bounce from a kick serve. I think GMann is onto something there. Nadal has this extreme upright, shoulders back, chest out, look on his forehands(the ones where he has his feet set in his ideal hitting zone) and his forehand has a kick action to it. Moya, who I have always felt has one to the best looking forehands I have ever seen, also has this kick action on his forehands.