What can you really see, if anything, in real time video?
If you have ever hit with Kyle LaCroix or seen him play you know he has a monster game and a monster, straight arm forehand. He posted some video in the Forum of his forehand a while ago that engendered a lot of discussion about his backswing and the movement of the racket to the start of the forward swing, and how this was or wasn't effecting his shot trajectory or spin capacity. (Click Here.)
I looked at that video and as with so many other clips people post I couldn't tell a thing. Regular video flashing by at regular speed. No better really than the naked eye.
And that's the classic problem, what I call the problem of the invisible game. The human eye is too slow to see the critical movements in something as explosive and complicated as a tennis stroke. I tried to read some of the comments, but, as usually happens, I couldn't evaluate them in relation to the real time video.
John Yandell is widely acknowledged as one of the leading videographers and students of the modern game of professional tennis. His high speed filming for Advanced Tennis and Tennisplayer have provided new visual resources that have changed the way the game is studied and understood by both players and coaches. He has done personal video analysis for hundreds of high level competitive players, including Justine Henin-Hardenne, Taylor Dent and John McEnroe, among others.
In addition to his role as Editor of Tennisplayer he is the author of the critically acclaimed book Visual Tennis. The John Yandell Tennis School is located in San Francisco, California.
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