Friday, January 28, 2011

The Basic Serve


The serve is a difficult stroke to master.  Why?  Because of two things: pronation and ball toss.  Pronation is the act of taking a “karate chop hand” and rotating your thumb towards your nose and then around until you can’t see your thumb anymore.  It sounds easy enough, but it isn’t easy once you go to hit the ball.  Your brain goes haywire and instead o pronation you invariably supinate.  Supination is the act of taking a “karate chop hand” and rotating your thumb away from your nose so that you end up in a “hitch hike “ position.  This works well for a second serve, but not so good for a first serve.

Pronation, if it is hit in an upward motion, produces a violent topspin that abruptly brings the ball down into the service box.  It is called a flat serve, even though it is a spin serve.  It is necessary for anyone under 6’6” in height, because of the small margin of error involved with trying to pound the ball down and over the net.

The second obstacle is the toss.  You have to hit the ball at its highest possible point.  Stretch your racket up over your head with your arm straight.  Now look up at the middle of your racket.  That is where you need to hit in order to have an effective serve.  Most people wait until the ball drops down low and they hit it with a bent arm.  Instead of trying to hit up with pronation, they hit down into the net or out of the service box.

When you have conquered the two aforementioned obstacles, then you need take your racket in your non-dominant hand and hold it like you would a hammer.  This “hammer” grip is the proper one for serving a tennis ball.

Stand at the baseline with your feet shoulder width apart.  If you are right handed step back with your right foot, leaving your left foot in place.  Your left shoulder should be aimed at the net. Place the racket edge on your right shoulder and toss the ball up in the air with your left hand and slightly to your right. When you swing the racket toward the ball act like you are trying to cut it in half with the edge of the racket, but at the last millisecond pronate, hitting the ball sharply and upward.  As your arm moves forward after the hit, bring it across your body like you are pretending to put a sword in a scabbard.

Now practice shifting your weight onto your back foot when you toss the ball and then to your front foot when you are hitting the ball.  Lastly, when you toss the ball, bring the racket quickly straight back and down behind you, then quickly up to shoulder before the ball drops down to low, shifting your weight back then forward to quickly attack the ball.

As you get better you will learn to hit the serve primarily with your body and not just with your arm.  If this doesn’t make sense to you, email me.
                                       

WATCHING THE BALL

About 12 years ago I was hitting the ball with a pretty good player in Olympia, WA.  He told me that I hit the ball well, but I did not watch the ball long enough.  I thought what good would it do me to look at the ball too long; it would stop me from admiring my shot.  I really didn't think that.  I thought"he really doesn't know my game and I shook my head yes and did not change a thing.  He was right!  It is not important for me to admire my shot, let others do that.  I could still look up on time to see the ball land in my opponents court.  What is more important is that I see the exact spot that I want to hit ball on and the angle of the ball coming off of the racket. 
Here an example:  In pool (billiards), if you take your eye off of the cue ball, then you may not hit the target ball in the right place.  If the target ball is hit wrong, it probably will not go in the pocket.  Same with tennis, hit the ball wrong and it may go into the net or out of bounds. So remember this acronym W.I.L. (Watch It Leave) and you will get better.

You might be thinking:  but if I look down that long, how will I know where my opponent is?  To which I answer: it doesn't matter, because you are less likely to mishit, therefore less likely to commit errors, forced or unforced, your opponent is more likely to commit errors than you.  Your opponent's errors will win you more matches than your winners!
Rodger Federer does this and how can you argue with his success!

Off the court, Keep your head up...on the court, keep your head down..at least for a couple of seconds.


                                                                          

Thursday, January 27, 2011

How To Hit a Backhand

Hit with your body and not with your arm.  Dr. Allen Fox, the coach who taught Brad Gilbert at Pepperdine, said that the most difficult thing for beginning players to do on the backhand side is to relax their arms and let their body swing the racket for them.  Whether you hit your backhand with one or two hands, whether you have an open or closed stance, it doesn't matter.  What matters is hitting the ball with your body and keeping the racket perpendicular to the ground.  In addition, do a shoulder shrug right before impact to impart to flatspin ( a hybrid topspin) on the ball.


                                    

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

How To Hit a Forehand

 I was taught to hit a forehand  in a way that is too dependent on the movement of your arm.  I have taught this way for years.  But know I know that it totally involves the movement of the body and that body movement moves your arm.  It is very natural, it is very powerful, and it lets you control the ball more.

You put the racket in your dominant hand.  You can take a closed or open stance.  Closed is standing almost perpendicular to the baseline.  Open stance is standing almost paralell with the baseline.  Both are with feet shoulder with apart.

Now hold the racket back behind you, preferably below your waist.  Make sure the racket stays straight up and down when you swing it. Let your body rotate and the racket will move naturally from the back to the front.  As you rotate forward raise your shoulder on the hitting side as if you were going "I don't know" with your body language.  If you raise it just before you hit the ball you will impart good topspin on it. Once you are able to rotate your body fast your arm will fling forward naturally and you mus catch the racket throat with your non-dominant hand.  You should now have a good forehand.