Technique-less motion vs more motion-tennis

Less motion in learning technique in tennis means learning quicker and extending your enjoyment of tennis into later years by putting less stress on your body. More motion puts more stress on your body parts and takes away enjoyment of the game as you grow older unless you adapt to less motion.

Less Motion

Less motion simply means focusing more on the basics of the stroke. Racket back early, turning sidewise and combining weight shift with leverage produces a compact, precise motion putting minimum stress on ligaments, muscles and joints. As we grow older our ligaments, muscles and joints become stiffer and less flexible. A simple technique of racket back, turning sideways and contacting the ball off the side of the front foot in ground strokes produces this.

More Motion

More motion such as an open stance, western grip, and looping the back swing puts much more stress on the ligaments, muscles and joints. As we grow into our later years, with all these body parts becoming stiffer, less muscle mass and less flexible joints and movement, we can’t produce the power necessary to make this type of technique effective. This kind of technique, with  more motion generating more power take much more time to develop in timing the ball to good contact.

Very few players will rise to the ranks of professional. All players can play the game into their 80’s and 90’s. As we get older and our bodies become stiffer and less flexible our movement is compromised as well. Learning simpler techniques and combining our weight shift with proper applied leverage can allow us to continue to enjoy tennis, lessening the risk of body injury.

Don’t be distracted by how the pros hit their shots. Enjoy the athleticism of the pros as they play, but don’t try to play like the pros unless you have 10 years, start when you are 6 or 7, and have put in about 10,000 hours of practice culminating in winning the NCAA D1 tennis title. Then give yourself two years on the professional tour spending an average of $150,ooo each year. At the end of that time either hang it up or move up in the rankings where your competitive earnings are paying your way.

Less is more. Don’t put time into more which produces less enjoyment. Tennis is a lifetime sport.

Second Serve-Tennis

A second serve in tennis is associated with consistency. This normally means, at the higher levels of the game, using more spin while still accelerating the serve motion through the ball.

Grip

The grip is key in hitting a second serve. The Eastern grip does not allow the racket face to meet the ball at an angle proficient with putting spin on the ball. The  continental or one-handed eastern backhand bevels the racket face as your forearm pronates to contact the ball causing it to spin. Depending on the angle of pronation the ball will either have side spin(slice) or topspin.

Slice Serve

The pronation of the arm on the slice serve is similar to the action of throwing your racket at the side windscreen while your body is launching upwards and forwards. The racket will move across the back of the ball from left to right (right handers) or right to left (left handers) causing the ball to rotate sideways. As the ball moves through the air with wind pressure moving it down and sideways, the spin takes effect on contact with the court. The ball stays lower and moves sideways. By increasing the speed of the swing, thus increasing the rotation, the spinning effect pulls the ball down into the court and has a greater consistency of staying in.

Topspin Serve

The pronation of the arm on the topspin serve takes place from behind the back launching the racket in an upward motion causing the racket to meet the ball starting at the bottom of the ball and brushing upward towards the top. This is quite an awkward motion to undertake as the back has to arch and the ball toss is arcing up to a position that, if allowed to bounce, would land behind your left heel. If you happen to hit upward on the right side of the ball you will effect a slice topspin that will thrust itself forward and sideways on contacting the court. If you hit upward directly in the middle of the ball you will effect a true topspin similar to your forehand topspin, although that also could have some sidespin on it depending on how you contact the ball. If you hit from left to right up the back of the ball on your topspin second serve, you will have executed an American twist which means the ball will bounce opposite of the slice and with topspin as well. Playing a left handed player can be a cause of much consternation as we right handers are not used to the ball bouncing into, or away, from us with the opposite spin than we normally encounter.

Learning a second serve helps your game in many ways, some of which are:

-when serving in a pressure situation you are able to hit through the ball knowing the increased spin will have a higher consistency of landing in.

-you can use a second serve for a first serve when in a 30-40, or ad-out situation thus taking pressure off yourself by getting the first serve in.

-using spin can throw off the timing of your opponent causing a weaker return than normal.

Taking the time to learn a new grip for a second serve or practicing to get more speed, especially on a ‘kick’ serve, will add a new dimension to your game and is well worth the time spent learning it. It will also help your first serve (flat) by increasing your pronation, adding more power to your motion and speed to the ball coming off your racket.

Humidity-altitude-temperature-affect tennis

It seems simple. A tennis court for singles is 78 feet long and 27 feet wide, a service line 21 feet from the net and a centre line. A player has a strung tennis racket averaging 27 inches and a tennis ball with dimensions of 2.57-2.70 inches and a weight of 1.9802.10 ounces. How difficult can it be. It seems straightforward. Put the ball into play with a serve, either allow it to bounce once after the serve or volley it out of the air. Put it all together and you can play a game of tennis. Of course-the scoring: 0,1,2,3,4; when 3 all – play win by 2 points in a row.  Rename the points:love,15,30,game,deuce. That’s it. Tennis in a nutshell. Or is it?

Humidity

humidity-the amount of water vapor in the air. Higher humidity reduces the effectiveness of sweating in cooling the body by reducing the rate of evaporation of moisture from the skin.

Playing in drier conditions is much more fun than playing in humid conditions. Your body moves easier through the air and the ball feels lighter coming off the racket. When the humidity is higher your body feels sluggish and doesn’t move as quickly around the court. The ball feels heavier coming off the strings and the experience is not nearly as enjoyable. It takes more work to play in humid conditions as opposed to drier.

Altitude

altitude- the term is commonly used to mean the ‘height above sea level’ of a location, in geography the term elevation is often preferred for this usage.

Playing in Bogota (9,350 feet) and playing in Monterrey (1770 feet) are two different experiences. Higher altitude means less oxygen and less resistance for the tennis ball. Sea level means more oxygen and denser air creating more resistance for the tennis ball. Depending on where you were raised means adjusting to different conditions when playing at either higher altitude or sea level. Both have challenges.

Temperature

temperature- an objective comparative measure of hot or cold.

Temperature affects the body, the strings in your racket and the tennis ball. Your body under colder conditions is not as pliable and you are more likely to pull a muscle or move slower until your muscles become warmer and even then you could cool off quicker and risk injury if you don’t keep moving. Under warmer conditions your muscles stay warmer and more pliable, allowing you to move, stretch and recover easier and quicker. When playing in extreme heat you must be careful to hydrate and watch for heat symptoms such as heat exhaustion (white spots on cheeks) and heat stroke (stop sweating-get to shade-ice the back of your neck-get medical help).

The tennis ball is affected by temperature as well. Colder weather has the effect of a lower bounce – higher temperatures causes a higher bounce due to the reaction to temperature change of gases inside the tennis ball.

These three:humidity, altitude and temperature can create another dimension of understanding in your approach to your tennis game. Understanding some or all could improve your enjoyment of the game.

Racket stringing-tension-tennis

In my years of teaching I have found one of the most underrated aspects of club players is their attention to stringing. Much attention is focused on lessons and techniques with little paid to the strings that are key to the feel and control they give in contacting the ball. In many cases I would ask the player if they played a musical instrument with strings such as a guitar, violin, etc. When they acknowledged with a, ‘yes’, I would then ask if they took care of the strings on their instrument by keeping them fresh and the tension correct. We would then translate that into their tennis racket and the tension and newness of the strings they used. The basic rule in the tennis industry with club players is to string your racket each year the number of times you play per week. If you play once a week restring your racket once a year – twice a week, twice a year, etc. When the pros came to play the tournament at our club each year some (the better players) would restring their rackets before every match.

Tension

When a racket is purchased ‘off the shelf’ consumers don’t consider how the racket was pre-strung. The manufacture of the racket gives a large number of unstrung rackets to a ‘stringer’. This stringer knows he will not be directly responsible for how they play or break after sale. His main focus is putting the cheapest string and lowest tension into each frame he strings. He is paid on a per racket basis, normally. This means he wants to use cheaper string and lower tension (higher tension could cause the strings to break before sale) to increase his profit margin. Whenever I recommended to someone, buying a racket, I would tell them to go to one of the retail outlets, find a top end racket of last years model (the manufacturer will sell off his supply to retail outlets at low prices to make room for his newer inventory) and the retailer will offer this top end racket at sale prices while still making a profit. Then you take your racket to the local pro shop and have an experienced stringer ask what type of player you are and he/she will recommend a string and tension that will suit your game. After a few restrings you will become comfortable with the type of string and tension you like to play with.

Players who need to save on cost will use a thicker, stronger string that will not break as quickly but will not have the ‘feel’ of a softer, more pliable string. Gut conveys more vibrations through the strings, up the racket into your arm and shoulder. This significantly helps you to determine the distance and trajectory of your ball placement(feel).

There is much more that goes into your choice of the type of string and number of times per year you restring your racket. Just remember that strings stretch and dry out, even if you don’t use them. It is not how many times you play with new strings that determines when you restring your racket, but the freshness and type, with tension, that puts the ‘feel’ back into your game.

Don’t hold back on experimenting with string and tension. Depending on your personality you may find an enjoyment in the game of tennis that you have been missing.

Grass tennis court

Grass tennis courts

Grass tennis courts are amazing to play on. When I first stepped on a grass tennis court in White City, New South Wales, Australia, I felt I was playing on a carpet surface similar to the one in my parents living room. It was awesome. I felt like I had come home. Some players adapt to a favorite surface. It took one time for me to realize – grass was it for me.

Grass courts have changed from the time (mid 70’s) I played to now. Those changes came around 1995. The grass used before that year was different. The length of the grass was longer. Also, the soil was not rolled as much then, so presented a different kind of game – more serve and volley than in the present day game.

Ugly is Good?

Again, back in my day, the expression to use when playing grass tennis was, ‘ugly is good’. It simply meant to expect the unexpected on the bounce. The soil was softer and if not rolled consistently there could be unpredictable bounces. The grass was longer and depending on the player opposite you could be facing a ‘slice and dice’ kind of player, which on grass could present fits when trying to field their shots. Underspin lent a difficulty to playing the ball that, when it made contact with the grass, skidded and stayed low. Anyone with a bad back did not want to call grass their favorite surface.  A drop shot, executed at the right time, did not want to come up to a normal height on its bounce. The grass and soil acted as a ‘sponge’ and took the energy out of the bounce so it stayed very low. Serve and volley was the way to go back then.

Nowadays, the grass is a different texture and the soil is harder. The grass is also shorter and in 2001 the mix was changed again, to acommodate the longer rallies with the harder soil composition that caused more groundstroke rallies. Serve and volley on grass has largely become a thing of the past, with the change in grass and soil. Now serve and volly is mixed in once in awhile, but not used on a point by point basis as in the past.

Another aspect of grass court tennis is the wear and tear on the grass. Players in the past would wear out the serve area and the ‘t’ at the service line due to serve and volley. Now the baseline has become the predominate area of wear and tear with only some occurring at the ‘t’.

Grass court tennis used to be incomparable to other surfaces. With moisture (or not) on the grass, wear and tear on the surface of the grass itself, humidity versus drier conditions affecting the ball travelling through the air, it is still a different experience, but maybe not as much as in the past. This coming from a player who loved the ‘ugly is good’ play on the grass courts back in the day. Today it allows for groundstrokes to be predominate and loses the excitement of taking the ‘risk’ of creating low bounces with drop shots, underspin approach shots, etc.

As you can see I am a big fan of grass court tennis. How about you? Do you have a favorite surface? Have you ever played on grass?

Tennis Ball-Rubber Base-Felt-Endurance

The materials that go into making a tennis ball are at first glance rather straight forward. When doing some research on it, each web site I visited showed much the same process. The ITF also has strict regulations on what a tennis ball should and should not do in its performance testing.

Yellow Tennis Ball

In 1974-75 I was part of Penn’s tennis ball testing staff. This basically consisted of me receiving a delivery of tennis balls at different times from the factory that were not for resale. Each batch of balls came with a number of questionnaire forms. I was to give out a can of these balls to members chosen by myself. Many times I would test a can myself with a fellow pro. We would then play a certain number of sets with said balls.  Following our play we were to fill out one of the questionnaires. I then returned these, with the used tennis balls to the testing facility for them to read the results.

At the time I was tennis director at the East Orange Tennis Club in East Orange, NJ, which consisted of 12 red clay courts. In 1975 I received a batch of tennis balls from Penn to test. These balls were special. They were to be used at the French Open that year. After putting the balls to the test, my eyes were further opened to the differences that could be built into the performance of tennis balls. I had given a can to some A players in the club, some of whom had played Davis Cup in years past and one who had been ranked #1 in the country as a junior, although now married with children. These players played nine sets with these balls and they still looked like new. It illustrated to me the difference tougher materials, built into the felt and make up of the ball, could make with the pros who hit with much more power and spin along with longer rallies on the red clay at Roland Garros.

It also opened my eyes in regards to the retail market the ball companies market to. Going into a Sports Authority, buying a Penn ball at a much cheaper price, also meant the ball not lasting or performing at the level of a tournament player tennis ball. The price point of tennis balls is pin-pointed with regard to the quality and longevity of  its lasting performance. Market research also takes into account the public’s ‘patience’ point in targeting how long and how much a player will pay to play with one can. As a tennis director with a pro shop I remember times when a shipment of good  quality tennis balls would wear out quicker than normal. It caused me to question if that also wasn’t built into the retail plan of a major tennis ball company to be implemented circumspectly.

How many of you put much thought into what kind of tennis ball you play with? Do you see the professionals now take three or four balls before each point and choose two before putting the ball in play? The playability of the wear and tear makes a difference in the choice of shot, or ‘tempo’ of the pace, when struck. How important is this quality of the tennis ball in your playing. Each ball – Wilson, Penn, Dunlop, Babolat, etc. tends to have slight differences in their playability. Do you have a favorite?

French Open-tennis ball speed-court surface

The tennis court surface plays a big part in a players choice of shots, strategy and conditioning. The French Open is called a clay court surface. It is really white limestone covered with a layer of powdered red brick dust. This is to promote drainage in case of rain.

In my early days in New Jersey I was Head Pro at the East Orange Tennis Club, which consisted of 12 red clay courts. This was in the mid seventies when clay courts consisted of real clay covered with powdered red shale. Real clay is not porous and has no ‘sliding’ qualities to it when played on – hence the application of crushed red shale to promote sliding on the surface. At that time, if it rained – depending on the amount of rain – the courts would be out of play, sometimes for a couple of days. The water would ‘sit’ on top of the clay. It had no where to go.  We would have to wait for it to evaporate as the clay underneath the crushed shale allowed no drainage. Sometimes, to speed tournament play, we would add a slight amount of flammable liquid to the water lying on the surface and light it on fire to speed the evaporation and get the court back into playable condition. The only problem occurred if the flame got too close to the lines laid on the court and they melted.

This type of surface had to change to accommodate the media attention the French Open attained as a Grand Slam event. Players and spectators did not want to wait for long periods of time, after rain, to return to play. Thus the white limestone with powdered red brick dust.

Ball speed off the court surface

With the granular content of the court, the ball making contact with the court surface has different bounce characteristics. Depending on the kind and amount of spin used by the player, the ball will bounce differently on ‘red clay’. A players ‘style’  of hitting makes some players stronger, or weaker, depending on the amount of spin they use. Their mental understanding and patience, due to extended rallies on the slower surface, also plays a part.

I have only touched on the player, and playing surface, qualities, The French Open challenges. This article hopefully challenges you to look closer at each players position on the court, their hitting style and mental approach to the game based on the ‘red clay’ experience.

Learning Serving Basics-Tennis

Serving could easily be the most important stroke in tennis. Not to belay the other aspects of the game – they all come together to make a complete player. However, the serve is such an important component of a players game. Confidence rises and falls with the accuracy,spin, and speed of your serve.  You don’t get the opportunity to win a point in a game if you can not get your serve in the correct area. With it you get the opportunity to control the point from the outset depending on the accuracy,spin, and power of  your serve. Men love the power aspect of the serve. Ladies love to have a good looking technique in the execution of their serve. The higher the level of play and the better the technique, the better chance you have of winning the point.

Beginner Level

1. Racket in the back scratching position:  serving is similar to throwing a ball. This is the most important aspect of the throwing action. If the racket is not in a downward (back scratching) position maximum momentum and spin will never be achieved. In comparing  throwing and serving, there is a difference in the position of the elbow, as your arm moves forward, beginning the throwing action. In throwing a ball the elbow moves forward, whereas in the serving motion the elbow stays back and extends upward with the culmination of the forearm and wrist making the final thrust to the ball.
2.  Standing sideways to the back drop(fence) on the tennis court, from a back scratching position(the racket touching the lower middle back), extend the arm and racket in a throwing action up as high as you can reach and stop the head of the racket at the apex. That will be the contact point once you toss the ball in the act of serving. Now, putting the racket down into the ‘back’ position, place a ball in your ball tossing hand. With an underhand toss, gently(keeping your tossing arm straight) release the ball(the release point is just above eye level) to that contact position you just measured, and with an upward throwing motion(controlled) of the racket arm catch the ball against the fence. This is as close to serving as you can get and still practice the correct toss and contact point with the racket.
3. The grip: this is probably the hardest aspect of the serve to learn. A continental grip is non-negotiable if you want to play the ‘A’ game. Without it you won’t be able to generate the power and spin that comes with the pronation of the forearm prior to contact. The biggest problem with starting with this grip is pronation is not achieved. The arm stiffens and does not want to pronate. It has to be learned. It does not come naturally. Without pronation, the elbow precedes the extension of the upper arm and full leverage cannot be achieved. Take a slower approach and gradually moving the grip to the continental over time is advised.

   The foregoing would be the beginning of teaching the serve to a first time student.

Self Taught Beginner

Assuming this player wants to just learn how to have fun in playing the game of tennis, I would take a different approach. Learning to serve with the correct technique takes much patience and a lot of time. By the time the technique has been learned, the frustration with just wanting to play tennis and have fun has worn off and the player has moved on to ‘golf’?

With this kind of player I would take a much easier approach and have them toss the ball in front of them and ‘bunt’ the ball into play.  If they are athletic and good at throwing I would have them use a modified western grip, or even allow a western grip, with a throwing motion. The importance of this type of teaching would be to encourage participation in the sport of tennis. If the player is ‘of a mind’ to improve and wants to put more time into the serve, that would be where the points made in the first part of this blog would be introduced.

I love the game of tennis and all it offers, especially to the beginner and the club players. Beyond that, without the ‘love of tennis’ it gets too serious and other things come into play – parents, winning?? Play hard, play smart, and have fun.

Physical-Emotional-Pain-Tennis

There isn’t much written material when you do a search for playing with physical/emotional pain in professional tennis.

Physical

That physical pain is a part of a professional tennis players career should be a given. That’s why I was so surprised to ‘not’ find much written about it. The only article I found was from back in 2013. there may be others but they didn’t come up with my search. On reflecting about it, and the nature of tennis being a one on one (singles), or two on two (doubles), the more sense it made. Professional tennis players don’t want their opponent to know the extent or an injury. Make no mistake about it. These players play with pain day in and day out. It is an accepted part of the trade. The extent of the injury will determine whether a player will take the risk to play that tournament. The level of the tournament also measures into the athletes ‘acceptance of risk’ it will take to play a tournament. For example, a player with a slight sprain may elect to play the US Open and not play in a tournament that is a Future’s or Challenger event.

Emotional

A physical injury has a great impact on the emotional state of a professional. If the injury is slight and the player can play with it; i.e. a blister on the foot or hand, they have to have the mental toughness to block out the nagging pain that comes with using it. On the other hand, a serious injury; top five – can force a player to take time off to heal.

The overall effect of a serious injury has an overall debilitative effect on the athlete that has as much to do with their emotional response as their physical recuperation. As much as your mind tells you the injury has healed and you are healthy to compete again, the emotions can have an overall effect of making you ‘hold back’ when you re-enter competition. The emotional recovery from a serious injury is just as important – if not more – than the physical healing process. Depending on the level of tournament, or your ranking, your physical return may take longer or shorter, but emotionally there will be a time of adjustment before you really believe you are healed.

When we watch professional tennis we really are not aware of injuries in the match being played. We tend to ‘not’ think of players playing with some kind of pain, but they are. It goes with the territory. After my playing days and turning teaching pro, I taught for 20 years with knees that the ATP Doctors in New York said I should have replacements of, as they were bone on bone. As we watch the players in these events, they are playing with some kind of pain, noticeable or not. They don’t want the injury to be ‘outed’ due to competition, or betting. However, we all are disgusted when a player calls an injury time out at a crucial time out in the match because they are trying to throw their opponent off their game.

It is a remarkable effect of professional athletes – tennis professionals-that as an independent contractor in their profession, pain is normally present at some level in their body.

Have you ever thought about this aspect of professional tennis and the cost in pain? How about you? Do you think you would accept that as part of your profession and still have the desire to compete professionally?