Here are Nathan's new forehands.
Last time we were on court we've made a lot of progress. I suddently realized that Nathan was hitting most all of his forehands with a neutral stance and was only using his opens stance very seldom or when he was forced to do that.
So all of these shots look very different from previous forehands.
I think the open stance is working really well for Nathan. He is getting low for the power position which means that now he is using his leg drive on his forehands.
Nathan is taking too much time to rotate the shoulders and at the end there is not enough shoulder turn in the power position. The shoulders should turn more than perpendicular to the net.
Sometimes the cause for that late preparation is footwork. Video number 1 is a example of that, with a late split step it is much more difficult to prepare in time.
Another reason why Nathan tends to prepare so late is because Nathan's swing is quite big. There is quite a big upward movement of the racket and left hand. Both racquet and left hand go higher than Nathan's head. We can see that in the side videos.
Another extremely important element on Nathan's forehands is the amount of extension he is having on his forehands. From the side view we can see how far in front from the body is the racquet hand going after contact. To calculate Nathan's extension we need to see the distance between Nathan's left hand at contact and his hand on the point where it was furthest in front.
In the next video, between contact point and the point where the hand was further in front of the body (second 17) there was only a gain of a few cm, maybe 5cm . The elbow remained very closed to the body which means that there wasn't much hand and racquet rotation on his followthrough which is extremely important to create topspin.
The last video is very interesting. Nathan is hitting his forehand much more in front of the body and his shot looks better. His left hand and elbow are more in front of the body on the followthrough. The reason why Nathan was able to hit more in front was because on this shot the ball was slower and it was hit on the way down while on the previous two videos the ball was hit on the rise. We can say on those shots Nathan was rushed to hit it and wasn't able to hit it more in front.
This is where Nathan is going to improve his forehands. He is going to prepare earlier so he can hit it in front (just like the last video) even on more challenging balls where Nathan has to hit it on the run and on the rise. For that he needs a good split step and to improve his footwork.
I'm sure there is so much more to see on Nathan's forehands. It is such an interesting shot. I'm happy to see someone really keen to improve his skills and
I think Nathan is on the right track.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Video Analysis
The biggest difficulty that I have when analyzing ones shots is that I rely mainly on words to explain and describe a certain technique. What is easily seen on video can be extremely hard and painful to explain through language. For us to see the problem of the forward swing of a player can take us 30 seconds but to explain it accurately in a way that can be understood without any doubts, can take more than a week and still there might be room for confusion.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Nathan's Serves
Before analyzing Nathan's serves I better update one more video from the side that may help understanding his technique
Although three videos are not enough to understand thoroughly Nathan's serving technique we can see some tendencies:
Until the power position all seems to go very well with Nathan's serve. I think Nathan on the toss can keep his right arm stretched at the moment of release of the ball. Its probably only a minor change there but maybe would improve his tossing consistency if it is a problem.
As a curiosity, Nathan tosses the ball higher than any player that I have measured. The ball remains on the air on serve number 1 for 1.2 seconds (240 frames), on serve number 2 for 1.13 seconds (227 frames) and on serve number 3 1.13 seconds (227 frames).On all of these serves the ball stays on the air for longer than Richard 1.1 second. On the serve comparison post in June you can check the different height of ball toss of Federer, Sampras, Roddick, Richard, Brenton and myself.
Does that mean that Nathan needs to get his toss lower? maybe but not necessarily. Only nathan can answer that question.
I think the most important aspect that Nathan has to improve in his serve is to try and get a lower position of the racket on the drop. If you watch the 3rd video side view you can freeze the footage between second 52 and 58 you can easily see that Nathan's left hand is always higher than his left elbow. Have a look on what Federer does in the same drop position:
Notice how Federer's right hand is lower than his elbow. That is one common element of all pros and all good servers of the game. I'm currently trying to improve my drop and I have already felt such a great improvement with my serve. It feels very different and somehow on a few serves I notice that the ball bounced higher than normal. My serve will be on the next posts and I do believe we will see a huge improvement.
Nathan's forehands
Theese are Nathan's forehands. What can be improved?
First of all, these four videos do not show us all of Nathan's habits on the forehand side, since he normally hits better shots. However they are still important to comprehend Nathan's technique and how to improve it.
Of course the more videos we have the better we can understand it. To improve our habits we first need to understand them.
After watching all these four videos it was very clear to me that The May Videos were much better than the October Videos. How can this happen? Shouldn't we be always improving our game?
We are always improving but that doesn't mean that our technique is always better every day we are on court. Sometimes when we want to improve a certain part of our swing we end up changing more than that and the result is that our swing gets worse momentarily. Sometimes that's a price to pay for getting better. Without the courage to leave your comfort zone and travel a bit into the unknown you will never really improve much your swing.
Nathan's Forehands in May:
On this video we can see that Nathan's Unit turn is quite sound. The racket and shoulders seem to turn at the same speed.
When the ball bounces we reach the power position. In this video I can see that Nathan is a bit late because his left hand is still not quite ready to go forward. We can see the left hand going back after the bounce.
As a result Nathan seems to be swinging a bit too far back with the left elbow too far back at contact. As a result after contact there is only forearm movement and the extension is very limited. Notice on a ll videos how Nathan finishes with his left elbow very close to the body.
Nathan's Forehands in October:
These two videos don't seem so good. Nathan's unit is worse. The racket head was a bit lower than before, just after the ready position and start of the unit turn, and there was more upward movement of the racket and hands and less turn of the shoulders. As a result the power position seems very rushed and there is much less shoulder turn.
The contact is still late with the left elbow tucked in and although Nathan was trying to bring his elbow forward on the followthrough, didn't really change much because it was a bit artificial because it was much after the extension and so it had no effect on the shot.
First of all, these four videos do not show us all of Nathan's habits on the forehand side, since he normally hits better shots. However they are still important to comprehend Nathan's technique and how to improve it.
Of course the more videos we have the better we can understand it. To improve our habits we first need to understand them.
After watching all these four videos it was very clear to me that The May Videos were much better than the October Videos. How can this happen? Shouldn't we be always improving our game?
We are always improving but that doesn't mean that our technique is always better every day we are on court. Sometimes when we want to improve a certain part of our swing we end up changing more than that and the result is that our swing gets worse momentarily. Sometimes that's a price to pay for getting better. Without the courage to leave your comfort zone and travel a bit into the unknown you will never really improve much your swing.
Nathan's Forehands in May:
On this video we can see that Nathan's Unit turn is quite sound. The racket and shoulders seem to turn at the same speed.
When the ball bounces we reach the power position. In this video I can see that Nathan is a bit late because his left hand is still not quite ready to go forward. We can see the left hand going back after the bounce.
As a result Nathan seems to be swinging a bit too far back with the left elbow too far back at contact. As a result after contact there is only forearm movement and the extension is very limited. Notice on a ll videos how Nathan finishes with his left elbow very close to the body.
Nathan's Forehands in October:
These two videos don't seem so good. Nathan's unit is worse. The racket head was a bit lower than before, just after the ready position and start of the unit turn, and there was more upward movement of the racket and hands and less turn of the shoulders. As a result the power position seems very rushed and there is much less shoulder turn.
The contact is still late with the left elbow tucked in and although Nathan was trying to bring his elbow forward on the followthrough, didn't really change much because it was a bit artificial because it was much after the extension and so it had no effect on the shot.
Agniuska's forehands
Agniuska has a very interesting forehand. She is the first female player that I've recorded that hits the ball with a straight arm technique. Other players with the same technique, check Brenton and Ian's forehands on this blog and Nadal on the pro game.
The first detail that I look on anybody's swing is the unit turn. It is the most important part of the motion during the preparation phase.
As soon as Aga recognizes that her next shot will be a forehand she starts bringing the racket and hands up. It is only after a lot of frames that I can detect the turn of the shoulders which means that the shoulder turn is not the main motor on Aga's forehand.
By the time that the shoulders reach a perpendicular position to the net there was already a lot of independent movement of the hands and racket and so the swing becomes extremly big.
Aga has been improving her swing to make it smaller and more compact, and more shoulder turn. When studying Aga's forehands I've discovered some important differences between the 5 videos.
After watching all the videos go back with the cursor and try to freeze the videos when Aga has the racket on the furthest point to her left, just before the forward swing. You'll see that on video 1 on that moment you can see Aga's right hand on the left side of the body.
On video 2 I can see an improvement since the hand now is behind the body and it is not visible on that moment. That is the shorter swing Aga was trying on court and I think refining swing number 2 is the way to go.
Video 3 the swing is even bigger than video 1. Now at that moment you can see the hand and most of the arm on the left side of the body. The swing is huge and because of that Aga makes contact very late. I believe this video shows how Aga used to swing her forehands, her old habit. We can say video 2 is a newer habit.
Video number 4 Aga is running and its not so easy to compare with the previous shots but is similar to video 1
Video 5 is a side view video. we can see how far back the racket goes but we can't see how far it goes to the left of the body. However the angle of the racket on the end of the backswing is probably similar to videos 1 or 3.
It is easy to see on video 5 that at contact Aga is hitting the ball too late, then the elbow collapses and bends and the extension is very short.
So how can Agniuska improve her forehands?
Agniuska has already a strong forehand. She can hit it fast, and with topspin but it is still a bit unreliable sometimes. I think Aga has to shorten her swing to make sure that she has the point of contact much more in front. Actually players who hit the forehands with a straight arm technique make contact more in front of the body than players with the normal double bend technique.
Refining video 2 is the way to go. On video 2 the racket was kept lower at the turn and the left hand when released from the racket was just a bit higher than the shoulder. So the hands were lower on video 2 than on all the other videos. As I've mentioned earlier the racket didn't go as high and as far to Aga's left side of the body as the other shots. Due to a smaller and more compact swing Aga was able to make contact more in front of the body. Hitting the ball more in front will be essential for Agniuska so she can extend the racket through the line of the shot.
I'm sure Agniuska will keep improving her swing and blast us off the court with her killer forehand. Stay alert!
Video 1:
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5
The first detail that I look on anybody's swing is the unit turn. It is the most important part of the motion during the preparation phase.
As soon as Aga recognizes that her next shot will be a forehand she starts bringing the racket and hands up. It is only after a lot of frames that I can detect the turn of the shoulders which means that the shoulder turn is not the main motor on Aga's forehand.
By the time that the shoulders reach a perpendicular position to the net there was already a lot of independent movement of the hands and racket and so the swing becomes extremly big.
Aga has been improving her swing to make it smaller and more compact, and more shoulder turn. When studying Aga's forehands I've discovered some important differences between the 5 videos.
After watching all the videos go back with the cursor and try to freeze the videos when Aga has the racket on the furthest point to her left, just before the forward swing. You'll see that on video 1 on that moment you can see Aga's right hand on the left side of the body.
On video 2 I can see an improvement since the hand now is behind the body and it is not visible on that moment. That is the shorter swing Aga was trying on court and I think refining swing number 2 is the way to go.
Video 3 the swing is even bigger than video 1. Now at that moment you can see the hand and most of the arm on the left side of the body. The swing is huge and because of that Aga makes contact very late. I believe this video shows how Aga used to swing her forehands, her old habit. We can say video 2 is a newer habit.
Video number 4 Aga is running and its not so easy to compare with the previous shots but is similar to video 1
Video 5 is a side view video. we can see how far back the racket goes but we can't see how far it goes to the left of the body. However the angle of the racket on the end of the backswing is probably similar to videos 1 or 3.
It is easy to see on video 5 that at contact Aga is hitting the ball too late, then the elbow collapses and bends and the extension is very short.
So how can Agniuska improve her forehands?
Agniuska has already a strong forehand. She can hit it fast, and with topspin but it is still a bit unreliable sometimes. I think Aga has to shorten her swing to make sure that she has the point of contact much more in front. Actually players who hit the forehands with a straight arm technique make contact more in front of the body than players with the normal double bend technique.
Refining video 2 is the way to go. On video 2 the racket was kept lower at the turn and the left hand when released from the racket was just a bit higher than the shoulder. So the hands were lower on video 2 than on all the other videos. As I've mentioned earlier the racket didn't go as high and as far to Aga's left side of the body as the other shots. Due to a smaller and more compact swing Aga was able to make contact more in front of the body. Hitting the ball more in front will be essential for Agniuska so she can extend the racket through the line of the shot.
I'm sure Agniuska will keep improving her swing and blast us off the court with her killer forehand. Stay alert!
Video 1:
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Nathan's Backhand II
Nathan's backhand in May:
Nathan's backhands in October:
After watching the previous video from May I was really happy to see how much you've improved your backhand since then.
See how much more shoulder turn you have now in the next videos.
In fact an increased shoulder turn is indeed the major improvement of Nathan's backhands. See how much back can we see at the time of the ball bounce on the next video. Notice as well that Nathan's racket is reaching the usual "behind the pocket" technique that we see in all the pros backhands. This position happens when the racket head is just about to accelerate forward. The racket is normally parallel to the baseline and from the front view we can see the last third of the racket head on the other side of the body. If you freeze the next video at the second 20 you'll see the racket behind the right elbow at the other side of the body.
This is a extremely important position to achieve where the none playing hand has a vital task in positioning the racket ready before the forward swing.
Check Guga's pocket position:
At contact Nathan's left arm is not stretched although the arm extends a few frames after contact which makes it hard to see with the naked eye. I think Nathan should try to hit his backhands further in front, and changing to a stronger grip would help.
Have a look at the great master:
Nathan's backhands in October:
After watching the previous video from May I was really happy to see how much you've improved your backhand since then.
See how much more shoulder turn you have now in the next videos.
In fact an increased shoulder turn is indeed the major improvement of Nathan's backhands. See how much back can we see at the time of the ball bounce on the next video. Notice as well that Nathan's racket is reaching the usual "behind the pocket" technique that we see in all the pros backhands. This position happens when the racket head is just about to accelerate forward. The racket is normally parallel to the baseline and from the front view we can see the last third of the racket head on the other side of the body. If you freeze the next video at the second 20 you'll see the racket behind the right elbow at the other side of the body.
This is a extremely important position to achieve where the none playing hand has a vital task in positioning the racket ready before the forward swing.
Check Guga's pocket position:
At contact Nathan's left arm is not stretched although the arm extends a few frames after contact which makes it hard to see with the naked eye. I think Nathan should try to hit his backhands further in front, and changing to a stronger grip would help.
Have a look at the great master:
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Richard / Hewitt comparisson
After watching your forehands on video, Richard I realized how similar they look when comparing it with Hewitt. Of course it is completely impossible for you to try and replicate exactly Hewitt's forehand and it would be counterproductive to do so since every player has his own particular and unique style to hit the ball.
However I do believe that you can understand much better Hewitt's way of hitting the forehand since you already have some common elements.
So where are the commonalities and the differences between these two swings?
1
2
3
4
Both players start the unit turn with a big upward movement of the racket and right hand. They both bring their right elbows roughly at about right shoulder height with the right hand getting even higher than the head. So we can say both players start their forehand with a big swing.
A slight difference and probably not an important one is that Hewitt seems to elevate his elbow a bit higher and his racket tip is less vertical than yours (pictures 5 and 6). A major difference though can be seen comparing pictures 1 and 2. Hewitt achieved more shoulder turn on his power position which means that somewhere in your unit turn your forearm drove the racket back hurting your full turn. I had pointed out to you before that your unit turn can be improved. You have been improving it quite a lot in the last year and it is much better than what it used to be.
5
6
When reaching the power position, Hewitt brings his left hand higher than yours and he maintains that throughout the swing. Your left hand is a bit lower and it gets lower by the time you reach the hitting arm position. (picture 4)
On the backswing Hewitt's hand and racket reaches further back and more behind the body while yours they stay more on the right side which is great as long as you improve your full shoulder turn (1, 2).
7
8
Although your power position could have more full shoulder turn (back to the net), i think the major aspect to work on your game besides that is on the start of your forward swing till you reach the hitting arm position.
If you look at your picture number 9 and the at 11 you'll see a major drop of the elbow, right hand and left hand. Notice how the right elbow tucked in close to your torso. Comparing it with Hewitt's pictures 10 and 12 we can see how Hewitt didn't drop his hands and he still kept his elbow quite far from the body on picture 12.
Picture number 4 gives us the front view of the hitting arm position.
It is very clear that Hewitt is now roughly perpendicular to the net (3) and you have already opened your shoulders much more.
9
10
11
12
At contact Hewitt is hitting the ball much more in front with the right elbow very far from the body. In comparison, your contact is much less in front and your elbow is very close to the body.
By hitting the ball more in front Hewitt has a natural extension on the followhtrough. His racket and hand rotates still with the elbow and hand quite far in front of the body.
13
14
15
16
Overall I think your forehand is getting stronger. Turning more your shoulders during the unit turn and keeping your hands at the same height during the forward swing with the elbow further away from the body are two elements that you can improve on your forehand. The later one will make you hit the ball earlier, more in front which will naturally improve your extension.
However I do believe that you can understand much better Hewitt's way of hitting the forehand since you already have some common elements.
So where are the commonalities and the differences between these two swings?
1
2
3
4
Both players start the unit turn with a big upward movement of the racket and right hand. They both bring their right elbows roughly at about right shoulder height with the right hand getting even higher than the head. So we can say both players start their forehand with a big swing.
A slight difference and probably not an important one is that Hewitt seems to elevate his elbow a bit higher and his racket tip is less vertical than yours (pictures 5 and 6). A major difference though can be seen comparing pictures 1 and 2. Hewitt achieved more shoulder turn on his power position which means that somewhere in your unit turn your forearm drove the racket back hurting your full turn. I had pointed out to you before that your unit turn can be improved. You have been improving it quite a lot in the last year and it is much better than what it used to be.
5
6
When reaching the power position, Hewitt brings his left hand higher than yours and he maintains that throughout the swing. Your left hand is a bit lower and it gets lower by the time you reach the hitting arm position. (picture 4)
On the backswing Hewitt's hand and racket reaches further back and more behind the body while yours they stay more on the right side which is great as long as you improve your full shoulder turn (1, 2).
7
8
Although your power position could have more full shoulder turn (back to the net), i think the major aspect to work on your game besides that is on the start of your forward swing till you reach the hitting arm position.
If you look at your picture number 9 and the at 11 you'll see a major drop of the elbow, right hand and left hand. Notice how the right elbow tucked in close to your torso. Comparing it with Hewitt's pictures 10 and 12 we can see how Hewitt didn't drop his hands and he still kept his elbow quite far from the body on picture 12.
Picture number 4 gives us the front view of the hitting arm position.
It is very clear that Hewitt is now roughly perpendicular to the net (3) and you have already opened your shoulders much more.
9
10
11
12
At contact Hewitt is hitting the ball much more in front with the right elbow very far from the body. In comparison, your contact is much less in front and your elbow is very close to the body.
By hitting the ball more in front Hewitt has a natural extension on the followhtrough. His racket and hand rotates still with the elbow and hand quite far in front of the body.
13
14
15
16
Overall I think your forehand is getting stronger. Turning more your shoulders during the unit turn and keeping your hands at the same height during the forward swing with the elbow further away from the body are two elements that you can improve on your forehand. The later one will make you hit the ball earlier, more in front which will naturally improve your extension.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Improving Richard's forehands - Unit Turn and Preparation
These are your forehands. I've uploaded 12 shots to make sure we have most of your technical habits. I agree with all of your comments Richard and I think you are having such a great awareness of your technique that it will be possible for you to find an even better forehand.
One of the general aspects of your forehand is that your overall swing seems to big. But the problem might not be the size of your swing...
There are a lot of pros with big swings and the first that come to my mind was Hewitt. By looking closely at Hewitt's forehands I just realized how similar it is to your swing, Richard. (as a curiosity your serve resembles Hewitt's serve in a lot of aspects. Very interesting...)
So the best way for you to know where you need to improve your shots is by comparing it to your best forehand technical model, Hewitt.
Hewitt has a big swing, even bigger than yours since his racket and right hand gets back even further on the backswing. I'll get to that later.
Here in this picture we can see one the great main difference between Hewitt and Richard's forehands. Hewitt's left arm is helping more to turn the shoulders during the unit turn. The left shoulder is under the chin and as a result Hewitt's shoulder turn is much better.
I think you should try and reach that initial position on the unit turn where your left shoulder touches your chin, that will increase your shoulder turn straight away.
One of the general aspects of your forehand is that your overall swing seems to big. But the problem might not be the size of your swing...
There are a lot of pros with big swings and the first that come to my mind was Hewitt. By looking closely at Hewitt's forehands I just realized how similar it is to your swing, Richard. (as a curiosity your serve resembles Hewitt's serve in a lot of aspects. Very interesting...)
So the best way for you to know where you need to improve your shots is by comparing it to your best forehand technical model, Hewitt.
Hewitt has a big swing, even bigger than yours since his racket and right hand gets back even further on the backswing. I'll get to that later.
Here in this picture we can see one the great main difference between Hewitt and Richard's forehands. Hewitt's left arm is helping more to turn the shoulders during the unit turn. The left shoulder is under the chin and as a result Hewitt's shoulder turn is much better.
I think you should try and reach that initial position on the unit turn where your left shoulder touches your chin, that will increase your shoulder turn straight away.
Monday, October 11, 2010
I'm back again
Hi guys, have been very busy lately but I have some great footage to show you. Richard's forehand, Nathan's backhand, forehand and serve and Agniuska's forehand. Stay tuned...
Friday, July 30, 2010
Ian's forehand : The Floreat Rafa
Check Ian's forehand from the side view. Although is a bit too far and the video is a bit dark it was by far the best footage that I recorded of Ian's forehand.
It is a forehand that is very similar with Nadal on some aspects.
The major flaw on Ian's forehand is the excessive independent movement of the right hand and forearm in relation to the right elbow and shoulder that happens between the unit turn and power position (from seconds 0,11 and 0,22).
As you can see on this picture Nadal has the elbow back and there was no independent movement of the forearm and left hand. Nadal pretty much keeps the structure of the arm very compact and just rotates more his shoulders until he achieves the power position:
Brenton is another player that hits his forehand with a stretched arm technique. Watch how Brenton keeps his left elbow back and there is no independent movement of the forearm and left hand. Watch the distance from the left elbow to Brenton's torso at the 13th second.
07/05/10
It is a forehand that is very similar with Nadal on some aspects.
The major flaw on Ian's forehand is the excessive independent movement of the right hand and forearm in relation to the right elbow and shoulder that happens between the unit turn and power position (from seconds 0,11 and 0,22).
As you can see on this picture Nadal has the elbow back and there was no independent movement of the forearm and left hand. Nadal pretty much keeps the structure of the arm very compact and just rotates more his shoulders until he achieves the power position:
Brenton is another player that hits his forehand with a stretched arm technique. Watch how Brenton keeps his left elbow back and there is no independent movement of the forearm and left hand. Watch the distance from the left elbow to Brenton's torso at the 13th second.
07/05/10
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Junior players - Forehands on fire
We have here 3 different junior players with their unique way of hitting their forehands. I'll be analyzing them in the next few days.
Milos Forehands
This is Milos Forehand. Milos has been improving his forehand and it is much stronger than what it used to be in the past. Milos is capable to hit great forehands but sometimes it lacks consistency. Footwork is a main issue for Milos and quite often Milos is not in a good position to hit the ball. Milos prefers to hit his shots with an open stance and likes to hit the ball just behind the baseline. Actually all of his shots are being hit in the same area of the court just behind the baseline. As soon as Milos starts stepping in more to the ball (and waiting less) with a neutral stance and even stepping back away from the baseline to play his shots safer he will become a stronger player.
24/07/10 - 1
Milos starts his preparation with a unit turn. When his shoulders become perpendicular to the net he releases the left hand from the racket and he stretches it out to the ball to reach the power position. On the previous shot Milos was late for the power position since his right foot wasn't ready to load by the time the ball bounced on the court.
24/07/10 - 2
24/07/10 - 3
The previous two shots the ball was a bit more difficult for Milos. They were deeper and they were both hit on the rise. On both shots Milos was rushed and the left arm that was stretching out collapsed a bit to soon although on both shots Milos was still able to hit a reasonable shot.
24/07/10 - 4
Milos needs to make his swing more compact. He can elevate his right hand on the unit turn while elevating the right elbow making sure that it is not so tucked in to his torso. If we focus our eyes on Milos right hand we can see that it goes at the same height throughout the whole swing. Another important element is the position of the right hand on the power position. Milos has his right hand on the left side of his body and with his arm almost stretched back which makes his swing too big and horizontal and again with the right elbow tucked in to the torso. The majority of the pros have the right hand more on the right side of the body and have a higher position of the right elbow. As I'm writing this we have been changing it on court already. The results will come...
24/07/10 - 5
24/07/10 - 6
The previous shot Milos was running to his forehand on a difficult ball and instead of doing a big step with his right foot before contact he closed his stance therefore he didn't hit it as good as he could have.
So this was Milos forehands. Milos hit hundreds of better shots that were not recorded on video.His forehand is much better than what it was before and who knows how far can Milos go.
I can't wait to put his shots on the blog again in a couple of months. I think you're gonna be surprised!
24/07/10 - 1
Milos starts his preparation with a unit turn. When his shoulders become perpendicular to the net he releases the left hand from the racket and he stretches it out to the ball to reach the power position. On the previous shot Milos was late for the power position since his right foot wasn't ready to load by the time the ball bounced on the court.
24/07/10 - 2
24/07/10 - 3
The previous two shots the ball was a bit more difficult for Milos. They were deeper and they were both hit on the rise. On both shots Milos was rushed and the left arm that was stretching out collapsed a bit to soon although on both shots Milos was still able to hit a reasonable shot.
24/07/10 - 4
Milos needs to make his swing more compact. He can elevate his right hand on the unit turn while elevating the right elbow making sure that it is not so tucked in to his torso. If we focus our eyes on Milos right hand we can see that it goes at the same height throughout the whole swing. Another important element is the position of the right hand on the power position. Milos has his right hand on the left side of his body and with his arm almost stretched back which makes his swing too big and horizontal and again with the right elbow tucked in to the torso. The majority of the pros have the right hand more on the right side of the body and have a higher position of the right elbow. As I'm writing this we have been changing it on court already. The results will come...
24/07/10 - 5
24/07/10 - 6
The previous shot Milos was running to his forehand on a difficult ball and instead of doing a big step with his right foot before contact he closed his stance therefore he didn't hit it as good as he could have.
So this was Milos forehands. Milos hit hundreds of better shots that were not recorded on video.His forehand is much better than what it was before and who knows how far can Milos go.
I can't wait to put his shots on the blog again in a couple of months. I think you're gonna be surprised!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
William's Forehand
Here is William's Forehand
William starts his preparation with a unit turn. He turns his shoulders with both hands on the racket until the shoulders are perpendicular to the net. Then he releases the left hand, and stretches his left arm out for the power position. His timing for the power position is really good. His body is low and his knees are quite bent.
19/07/10 - 1
19/07/10 - 2
I think William's preparation is great. He gets his racket ready for the power position with such a simple motion. He might need to elevate a bit more his right hand (like Milos) during the unit turn.
19/07/10 - 3
Where William doesn't go quite so well with his forehand is after the power position. His hitting arm position seems a bit suspicious. The racket head is not coming low enough in time for the contact. Maybe he gets late just off the power position. As a consequence his wrist is not laid back enough and doesn't seem to be very strong at contact therefore his extension on the followthrough is compromised.
19/07/10 - 4
He needs to produce more topspin on his forehands. He will do that with a better hitting arm position if he brings the racket head a bit lower and earlier on the forward swing, and by using more hand and arm rotation on the followthrough (wind screen wiper). He might be holding the racket to tight and that doesn't allow racket head acceleration on the forward swing, contact and followthrough..
19/7/10 - 5
Videos 4 and 5 show us another element that William has to improve on his game, FOOTWORK!
William has a tendency to wait too much with the open stance behind the baseline. He needs to move better and wait less for the ball. On shot number 5 he would do much better if he was faster on his feet and if he had gone around the ball and stepped in with the left foot forward (neutral stance).
19/7/10 - 6
On the side view videos we can see how William some times leaves his right foot with his toes pointing forward and that forces William to have a smaller full turn and to rotate his hips and shoulders a bit to early on the forward swing.
19/7/10 - 7
And that was William's forehands. I do like his forehand quite a lot and I am sure he will keep improving his best shot. Its gonna be very interesting to compare his forehands on his next forehand analysis.
William starts his preparation with a unit turn. He turns his shoulders with both hands on the racket until the shoulders are perpendicular to the net. Then he releases the left hand, and stretches his left arm out for the power position. His timing for the power position is really good. His body is low and his knees are quite bent.
19/07/10 - 1
19/07/10 - 2
I think William's preparation is great. He gets his racket ready for the power position with such a simple motion. He might need to elevate a bit more his right hand (like Milos) during the unit turn.
19/07/10 - 3
Where William doesn't go quite so well with his forehand is after the power position. His hitting arm position seems a bit suspicious. The racket head is not coming low enough in time for the contact. Maybe he gets late just off the power position. As a consequence his wrist is not laid back enough and doesn't seem to be very strong at contact therefore his extension on the followthrough is compromised.
19/07/10 - 4
He needs to produce more topspin on his forehands. He will do that with a better hitting arm position if he brings the racket head a bit lower and earlier on the forward swing, and by using more hand and arm rotation on the followthrough (wind screen wiper). He might be holding the racket to tight and that doesn't allow racket head acceleration on the forward swing, contact and followthrough..
19/7/10 - 5
Videos 4 and 5 show us another element that William has to improve on his game, FOOTWORK!
William has a tendency to wait too much with the open stance behind the baseline. He needs to move better and wait less for the ball. On shot number 5 he would do much better if he was faster on his feet and if he had gone around the ball and stepped in with the left foot forward (neutral stance).
19/7/10 - 6
On the side view videos we can see how William some times leaves his right foot with his toes pointing forward and that forces William to have a smaller full turn and to rotate his hips and shoulders a bit to early on the forward swing.
19/7/10 - 7
And that was William's forehands. I do like his forehand quite a lot and I am sure he will keep improving his best shot. Its gonna be very interesting to compare his forehands on his next forehand analysis.
Ian's Forehand
This is Ian's forehand. Ian has been improving his forehand quite a lot since the past year. What can we see from Ian's forehand and what can we learn from it? How can Ian improve his forehand?
I am lucky I had already two comments about Ian's forehands. They have been very helpful.
Ian hits his forehand with a straight arm configuration just like Nadal and sometimes Federer. Ian can hit it with a reverse forehand but unfortunately the reason why Ian hits the reverse is because he has a tendency to be late due to his late shoulder turn on his preparation.
20/7/10 - 1
Ian's preparation on the forehand apparently started with a unit turn, but seeing it on super slow motion we can see clearly that the racket moves faster than the shoulders. His first movement is upward and by the time the left hand is released from the racket you can still see the right shoulder and part of the chest. To be fare Ian has been improving that element of his forehand quite considerably during the past year. While before was very clear that his unit turn was poor even with the naked eye, now only at 200 frames per second we can be sure of that.
20/7/10 - 2
So Ian starts by moving his hands up and then he turns he shoulders. The problem is that he has no time to finish his shoulder turn. On his power position he could have his shoulders more turned. On the majority of Ian's shots the power position is a bit late as it was pointed out by Richard on the comments for this post.
20/7/10 - 3
One of the elements that I like the most about Ian's forehand is that he has a compact forehand. His right hand is kept on the right side of his body throughout the swing just like the pros.
20/7/10 - 4
Watching all of his videos there is one common major aspect that is very clear. All of Ian's forehands, the ball is hit on the way down. Some of the balls are short and bouncing on the service line and Ian is still waiting for the ball with an open stance. Open stance is the best stance to use when the balls are either too fast or deep or when the contact is high, normally above waist height. Shot number 4 Ian is making contact below the waist, with a slow coming ball. He waited with an open stance and to make things harder he didn't get his body low enough. Notice the tension on Ian's head just during contact. He is lowering his head to compensate for his body being so elevated. I, (as any pro), would certainly go around the ball and would use an neutral stance bringing the left foot forward on that shot.
This is a major flaw on Ian's game and in most of all junior players (we saw how William and Milos had the same problem). The flaw's name is footwork as been pointed out in the comments to this post by Richard and a Tennis West coach. Juniors need to practice going around the ball with little steps and step in to the ball with a major left foot step, but for that they need to leave the safer baseline and adventure the middle of the court. They need to be more agile and more explosive out of the split step.
20/7/10 - 5
Ian has a powerful forehand and a very compact one. I think he might have the best forehand of all my junior students. I can't wait to see his improvements on his next post. Keep rocking those forehands Ian, let it all out!
I am lucky I had already two comments about Ian's forehands. They have been very helpful.
Ian hits his forehand with a straight arm configuration just like Nadal and sometimes Federer. Ian can hit it with a reverse forehand but unfortunately the reason why Ian hits the reverse is because he has a tendency to be late due to his late shoulder turn on his preparation.
20/7/10 - 1
Ian's preparation on the forehand apparently started with a unit turn, but seeing it on super slow motion we can see clearly that the racket moves faster than the shoulders. His first movement is upward and by the time the left hand is released from the racket you can still see the right shoulder and part of the chest. To be fare Ian has been improving that element of his forehand quite considerably during the past year. While before was very clear that his unit turn was poor even with the naked eye, now only at 200 frames per second we can be sure of that.
20/7/10 - 2
So Ian starts by moving his hands up and then he turns he shoulders. The problem is that he has no time to finish his shoulder turn. On his power position he could have his shoulders more turned. On the majority of Ian's shots the power position is a bit late as it was pointed out by Richard on the comments for this post.
20/7/10 - 3
One of the elements that I like the most about Ian's forehand is that he has a compact forehand. His right hand is kept on the right side of his body throughout the swing just like the pros.
20/7/10 - 4
Watching all of his videos there is one common major aspect that is very clear. All of Ian's forehands, the ball is hit on the way down. Some of the balls are short and bouncing on the service line and Ian is still waiting for the ball with an open stance. Open stance is the best stance to use when the balls are either too fast or deep or when the contact is high, normally above waist height. Shot number 4 Ian is making contact below the waist, with a slow coming ball. He waited with an open stance and to make things harder he didn't get his body low enough. Notice the tension on Ian's head just during contact. He is lowering his head to compensate for his body being so elevated. I, (as any pro), would certainly go around the ball and would use an neutral stance bringing the left foot forward on that shot.
This is a major flaw on Ian's game and in most of all junior players (we saw how William and Milos had the same problem). The flaw's name is footwork as been pointed out in the comments to this post by Richard and a Tennis West coach. Juniors need to practice going around the ball with little steps and step in to the ball with a major left foot step, but for that they need to leave the safer baseline and adventure the middle of the court. They need to be more agile and more explosive out of the split step.
20/7/10 - 5
Ian has a powerful forehand and a very compact one. I think he might have the best forehand of all my junior students. I can't wait to see his improvements on his next post. Keep rocking those forehands Ian, let it all out!
Monday, July 5, 2010
The myth of bad habits
I encounter a lot of people who come to me and say that they have a lot of bad habits with their technique and that they feel there is nothing they can do about it .
Well a bad habit (if there is such thing) is a million times better than having no habit.
What is a habit? a habit is just the best way that our mind and body found to perform, with the awareness that we have at the time. With a limited awareness he have a limited habit. Habits are not bad or good. They are just as they are.
You cannot improve a habit, you can only find a new habit, perhaps a better habit!
How can you improve the habit of rolling your wrist on your forehand? Its impossible, as soon as you stop rolling the wrist you found a new habit, but you didn't improve it.
This is really important because we do not need to unlearn a habit before changing and finding a new habit. All we need to do is to be aware of our habits and find new ones. The same way a baby doesn't need to unlearn the habit of crawling to begin a new habit of walking, in fact during a transition stage he does both, then later he just drops the habit of crawling.
So how can find better habits on the tennis court?
First of all we have to be aware of what we do. For that we need to practice more until we know how we hit the ball and we can watch ourselves on video or even in the mirror. If you don't know that you have a funny walk, how are you gonna find a different walk?
There is no need to feel helpless on court, we just need to know what we're doing!
Well a bad habit (if there is such thing) is a million times better than having no habit.
What is a habit? a habit is just the best way that our mind and body found to perform, with the awareness that we have at the time. With a limited awareness he have a limited habit. Habits are not bad or good. They are just as they are.
You cannot improve a habit, you can only find a new habit, perhaps a better habit!
How can you improve the habit of rolling your wrist on your forehand? Its impossible, as soon as you stop rolling the wrist you found a new habit, but you didn't improve it.
This is really important because we do not need to unlearn a habit before changing and finding a new habit. All we need to do is to be aware of our habits and find new ones. The same way a baby doesn't need to unlearn the habit of crawling to begin a new habit of walking, in fact during a transition stage he does both, then later he just drops the habit of crawling.
So how can find better habits on the tennis court?
First of all we have to be aware of what we do. For that we need to practice more until we know how we hit the ball and we can watch ourselves on video or even in the mirror. If you don't know that you have a funny walk, how are you gonna find a different walk?
There is no need to feel helpless on court, we just need to know what we're doing!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Serve comparison: 3 coaches, 3 pros
What is it that distinguishes a good serve from an outstanding serve? where are the secrets? Where to look at? The first task is to find objective data. The second task is to understand it.
Here we are going to compare our serves (Brenton, Richard and mine) with Federer, Roddick and Sampras.
In the future I will post more pros serves and and some of their data which might be very interesting.
The coaches:
07/05/10 ------------------------05/03/10
The pros:
Here are some interesting facts about the different serves from Brenton, Richard, Andre, Federer Roddick and Sampras :
Point of release of the ball on the toss:
Roddick: above the head
Brenton: above the head
Sampras: just above the head
Andre: just above the head
Federer: just above the head
Richard: eye level
Time the ball is on the air (between the release and contact):
Richard: 1.1 seconds (220 frames)
Federer: 0.96 seconds (193 frames)
Sampras: 0.91 seconds (182 frames)
Brenton: 0.73 seconds (147 frames)
Roddick: 0,73 seconds (146 frames)
Andre: 0.72 seconds (145 frames)
Time with both feet on the air:
Federer: 0,35 seconds (71 frames). Start 19 frames before contact. Finish 51 frames after contact.
Roddick: 0,35 seconds (70 frames). Start 23 frames before contact. Finish 47 frames after contact.
Brenton: 025 seconds (50 frames). Start 18 frames before contact. Finish 31 frames after contact
Sampras: 0,24 seconds (48 frames). Start 20 frames before contact. Finish 27 frames after contact.
Richard: 0,24 seconds (48 frames). Start 13 frames before contact. Finish 34 frames after contact
Andre: 0,175 seconds (35 frames). Start 14 frames before contact. Finish 20 frames after contact.
On the time of release, where is the player looking at:
Brenton: he is looking up, to where is going to toss
Richard: he is looking up, to where is going to toss
Andre: he is looking up, to where is going to toss
Federer: at his opponent!
Roddick: at the ball
Sampras: at the ball
Here we are going to compare our serves (Brenton, Richard and mine) with Federer, Roddick and Sampras.
In the future I will post more pros serves and and some of their data which might be very interesting.
The coaches:
07/05/10 ------------------------05/03/10
The pros:
Here are some interesting facts about the different serves from Brenton, Richard, Andre, Federer Roddick and Sampras :
Point of release of the ball on the toss:
Roddick: above the head
Brenton: above the head
Sampras: just above the head
Andre: just above the head
Federer: just above the head
Richard: eye level
Time the ball is on the air (between the release and contact):
Richard: 1.1 seconds (220 frames)
Federer: 0.96 seconds (193 frames)
Sampras: 0.91 seconds (182 frames)
Brenton: 0.73 seconds (147 frames)
Roddick: 0,73 seconds (146 frames)
Andre: 0.72 seconds (145 frames)
Time with both feet on the air:
Federer: 0,35 seconds (71 frames). Start 19 frames before contact. Finish 51 frames after contact.
Roddick: 0,35 seconds (70 frames). Start 23 frames before contact. Finish 47 frames after contact.
Brenton: 025 seconds (50 frames). Start 18 frames before contact. Finish 31 frames after contact
Sampras: 0,24 seconds (48 frames). Start 20 frames before contact. Finish 27 frames after contact.
Richard: 0,24 seconds (48 frames). Start 13 frames before contact. Finish 34 frames after contact
Andre: 0,175 seconds (35 frames). Start 14 frames before contact. Finish 20 frames after contact.
On the time of release, where is the player looking at:
Brenton: he is looking up, to where is going to toss
Richard: he is looking up, to where is going to toss
Andre: he is looking up, to where is going to toss
Federer: at his opponent!
Roddick: at the ball
Sampras: at the ball
Monday, June 14, 2010
The secrets of the ball toss - the 2 arcs
Every now and again we may find a new common element that all the pros do for a certain stroke and that is a great discovery that allow us to understand the game so much better.
A few years ago after reading John Yandell's article about the myth of the toss I've learned that all the pros toss the ball for the serve with an arc. In other words, for a right handed player the toss goes from the right to left. It is a simple and easy discovery but it is one of the most important elements for the development of a good serve. It is one of the aspects that Brenton needs to improve on his game. I know is working on it...
A few days ago I was analyzing my own serves and discovered that I was tossing the ball in an arc but the ball, after it was released from my left hand, was going back towards the baseline. Then as I was experimenting new serves I started to toss the ball in an arc but the ball was going forward. As a curiosity I've studied the toss of the pros and what I found was very surprising:
We can say that the pros toss the ball with two arcs right to left and back to forward. Again another simple discovery but with huge repercussions. I was very surprised because I knew some players toss the ball with the left arm parallel to the baseline, like Sampras, Agassi, Safin and of course you think that with the arm parallel to the baseline the ball should be straight and parallel as well. But no, even those players toss the ball forward and it didn't change for either first or second serves.
Knowing as a fact that all the pros toss the ball with a forward arc, allowed me to improve my serves greatly. I understood that one of my faults was that on the toss I was releasing the ball to late, higher than all the pros and that was bringing the ball backwards. I felt a great difference of speed and leg drive on my serves straight away.
A few years ago after reading John Yandell's article about the myth of the toss I've learned that all the pros toss the ball for the serve with an arc. In other words, for a right handed player the toss goes from the right to left. It is a simple and easy discovery but it is one of the most important elements for the development of a good serve. It is one of the aspects that Brenton needs to improve on his game. I know is working on it...
A few days ago I was analyzing my own serves and discovered that I was tossing the ball in an arc but the ball, after it was released from my left hand, was going back towards the baseline. Then as I was experimenting new serves I started to toss the ball in an arc but the ball was going forward. As a curiosity I've studied the toss of the pros and what I found was very surprising:
We can say that the pros toss the ball with two arcs right to left and back to forward. Again another simple discovery but with huge repercussions. I was very surprised because I knew some players toss the ball with the left arm parallel to the baseline, like Sampras, Agassi, Safin and of course you think that with the arm parallel to the baseline the ball should be straight and parallel as well. But no, even those players toss the ball forward and it didn't change for either first or second serves.
Knowing as a fact that all the pros toss the ball with a forward arc, allowed me to improve my serves greatly. I understood that one of my faults was that on the toss I was releasing the ball to late, higher than all the pros and that was bringing the ball backwards. I felt a great difference of speed and leg drive on my serves straight away.
Visual learning
In order to understand the best way to execute any skill or technique we have to look exactly to what the pros are doing. There are certain things that all the pros do differently. Other things that there is a certain tendency in the pros game. And then we have the commonalities that all the pro players do, maybe with one or two exceptions.
Understanding those common elements of technique in all the pros gives us the knowledge and power to improve our own game.
When I'm analyzing my own or someone's strokes I isolate one certain element of the skill and compare it with all the pros. What is it exactly that I'm doing that all the pros aren't doing? That way my analysis will be as objective as possible. For instance I will not waste my time to explain why I prefer Federer's forehand grip to Nadal's or vice-versa. I'm more interested in knowing what are their common elements in their forehands.
Understanding those common elements of technique in all the pros gives us the knowledge and power to improve our own game.
When I'm analyzing my own or someone's strokes I isolate one certain element of the skill and compare it with all the pros. What is it exactly that I'm doing that all the pros aren't doing? That way my analysis will be as objective as possible. For instance I will not waste my time to explain why I prefer Federer's forehand grip to Nadal's or vice-versa. I'm more interested in knowing what are their common elements in their forehands.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Dave's Backhand
Here we have Dave Brown with his topspin backhands.
04/06/10
When watching the videos for the first time the general view is that Dave has a good level of mastery on his backhand. The better the player is, the harder it is to analyze his strokes. With the HS video we can zoom in and find out where are the problems. We can only change and improve the imperfections of our technique when we know exactly what they are.
04/06/10
Dave starts his motion with a unit turn (great improvement!). His racket head is kept close to the left shoulder and the right hand goes up while David turns his shoulder.
04/06/10
The position of the right elbow on the full turn is indicating that he is not getting enough body turn.Actually from the side view if you freeze on the full turn you can see that the right elbow is just a little bit behind the right shoulder and they are almost parallel to the baseline.
04/06/10
After the full turn as David starts to bring the racket down towards the forward swing. On the next video the hands describe a loop coming down together and that seemed very strange when I first saw it. As I was comparing it with my own swing and other pros I've realized that what the pros do differently is that on the down swing they keep the right hand more leveled and drop more the left hand and racket head.
The next videos with a higher contact ball David doesn't do the same sort of loop with both hands and that aspect looks much better. Actually on the higher balls, in the beginning of the forward swing just before he releases his left hand David is getting his racket positioned almost parallel to the baseline much more than on previous shots.
04/06/10
A critical element on David's backhand is that on the drop when the left hand is released from the racket, the racket head doesn't get low enough before going forward towards contact, especially on the lower balls. It can be a consequence of not getting low enough with the knees before accelerating to the ball. Perhaps Dave can keep the left hand just a little bit longer on the racket and that might allow the racket to come lower.
However on this higher balls David's extension is not quite as good as on the low balls. His eyes are on the contact point and as they follow the ball during the follow through so his head is not still and it helps to bring the left shoulder forward.
04/06/10
It is not easy to analyze someone's shots specially if the player has a high level of mastery. The problem comes down to language. It is extremely hard to describe a tennis shot and it is so much easier to understand it through pictures or videos where the images get memorized on our brain. No matter how accurate my analysis are at the end they are just my perspective at the time. The videos are what really counts.
04/06/10
When watching the videos for the first time the general view is that Dave has a good level of mastery on his backhand. The better the player is, the harder it is to analyze his strokes. With the HS video we can zoom in and find out where are the problems. We can only change and improve the imperfections of our technique when we know exactly what they are.
04/06/10
Dave starts his motion with a unit turn (great improvement!). His racket head is kept close to the left shoulder and the right hand goes up while David turns his shoulder.
04/06/10
The position of the right elbow on the full turn is indicating that he is not getting enough body turn.Actually from the side view if you freeze on the full turn you can see that the right elbow is just a little bit behind the right shoulder and they are almost parallel to the baseline.
04/06/10
After the full turn as David starts to bring the racket down towards the forward swing. On the next video the hands describe a loop coming down together and that seemed very strange when I first saw it. As I was comparing it with my own swing and other pros I've realized that what the pros do differently is that on the down swing they keep the right hand more leveled and drop more the left hand and racket head.
The next videos with a higher contact ball David doesn't do the same sort of loop with both hands and that aspect looks much better. Actually on the higher balls, in the beginning of the forward swing just before he releases his left hand David is getting his racket positioned almost parallel to the baseline much more than on previous shots.
04/06/10
A critical element on David's backhand is that on the drop when the left hand is released from the racket, the racket head doesn't get low enough before going forward towards contact, especially on the lower balls. It can be a consequence of not getting low enough with the knees before accelerating to the ball. Perhaps Dave can keep the left hand just a little bit longer on the racket and that might allow the racket to come lower.
However on this higher balls David's extension is not quite as good as on the low balls. His eyes are on the contact point and as they follow the ball during the follow through so his head is not still and it helps to bring the left shoulder forward.
04/06/10
It is not easy to analyze someone's shots specially if the player has a high level of mastery. The problem comes down to language. It is extremely hard to describe a tennis shot and it is so much easier to understand it through pictures or videos where the images get memorized on our brain. No matter how accurate my analysis are at the end they are just my perspective at the time. The videos are what really counts.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Improving my serve
I've been really keen to improve my serves in the last two weeks and I recorded myself again and what I've discovered was very surprising.
This was my serve last August, the same I've posted before:
The main aspects that I wanted to improve was to keep the right leg back without bringing it forward keeping the right hip more perpendicular to the net at contact, to have more shoulder rotation at the start of the wind up. I've also concentrated on keeping my weight more on the back leg until at least the completion of the toss .
This was not a bad serve, I kept the right leg more time on the ground but still it collapsed and my hips at the contact were almost parallel to the net. The flight of the ball on the toss was arced but vertical:
03/06/10
The next serve was a bit better.I've loaded a lot of weight on the back leg on the windup and kept the right leg behind without collapsing it. At contact my hip is much more perpendicular to the net. The problem was that the ball at contact is still over my head and very little in front of the baseline. The flight of the toss was a bit forward but arced:
03/06/10
The next serve wasn't very good. Didn't correct the problems there. Notice how the flight of the toss is backward, meaning that the ball as soon as it is on the air is going a bit back:
03/06/10
Again one more interesting serve. Although the ball goes backwards on the toss and I hit it just over the line of the baseline I managed to keep my hips more perpendicular and my right leg back. I am getting somewhere:
03/06/10
On this serve I've tried a new shorter windup. My backswing is much shorter and the racket goes up earlier. I think it gives me more racket acceleration although it forces me to change other aspects. The ball goes back, the hip was more horizontal at contact but I feel the backswing is better:
03/06/10
Big change on the next serve. I'm experimenting a bit and with the high speed video it is easy to see the differences. On this one I've turned my shoulders before the toss. The tossing arm is going parallel to the baseline, just like Sampras used to do it. The difference was that Sampras, on the toss, must release the ball earlier otherwise he wouldn't be able to hit it in front of his head (still need to confirm that).
I was very happy with the result. My legs didn't collapsed at all, My hip is much more perpendicular to the net. However the contact seems to be a bit behind the head and just a bit in front of the baseline. The good thing is that what I need to do next is becoming more and more clear...
03/06/10
Two days later, after watching all of my previous serves I've noticed that I need to toss the ball more in front. In fact the flight of the toss on all of the pro players that I have observed is arced and goes forward, the contact point is further in front than the point of release of the ball on the toss, even for second serves. I was not aware of that. I think it is a big thing.
This next serve is a great improvement. The flight of the ball goes forward and at contact I'm hitting the ball much more in front of the baseline. However the contact is still not in front of my head. The hips were more perpendicular:
05/06/10
Almost the same as before. As I was serving this last three serves (including the previous one) I visualized Federer's serve and although I can explain why there is something about the way I start my motion that reminds me of Federer,(if only the final result could remind me of him). That's how powerful visualization can be.
05/06/10
and another one:
05/06/10
Conclusions:
Recording my serve on high speed video allowed me to have a great awareness of what I'm really doing. I am very happy because I know what I need to do. Players sometimes take years to correct these problems and I am changing it in weeks. The changes are huge and surprisingly it didn't take me so many serves as I thought I would need. it is a proof that we can all do those changes if we put our mind into it. The hardest part is knowing exactly where the problem is, and that's where the HS video is gold.
What I need to do after watching all of my videos is to try and keep the flight of the toss going forward and that means releasing the ball of my hands a bit earlier. I want to make sure that at contact the ball is not so close to the baseline and a little in front of my head. I will keep experimenting with the shorter backswing. It is a great improvement and the video allowed me to know exactly where and how to improve. I can't wait to go on court again...
This was my serve last August, the same I've posted before:
The main aspects that I wanted to improve was to keep the right leg back without bringing it forward keeping the right hip more perpendicular to the net at contact, to have more shoulder rotation at the start of the wind up. I've also concentrated on keeping my weight more on the back leg until at least the completion of the toss .
This was not a bad serve, I kept the right leg more time on the ground but still it collapsed and my hips at the contact were almost parallel to the net. The flight of the ball on the toss was arced but vertical:
03/06/10
The next serve was a bit better.I've loaded a lot of weight on the back leg on the windup and kept the right leg behind without collapsing it. At contact my hip is much more perpendicular to the net. The problem was that the ball at contact is still over my head and very little in front of the baseline. The flight of the toss was a bit forward but arced:
03/06/10
The next serve wasn't very good. Didn't correct the problems there. Notice how the flight of the toss is backward, meaning that the ball as soon as it is on the air is going a bit back:
03/06/10
Again one more interesting serve. Although the ball goes backwards on the toss and I hit it just over the line of the baseline I managed to keep my hips more perpendicular and my right leg back. I am getting somewhere:
03/06/10
On this serve I've tried a new shorter windup. My backswing is much shorter and the racket goes up earlier. I think it gives me more racket acceleration although it forces me to change other aspects. The ball goes back, the hip was more horizontal at contact but I feel the backswing is better:
03/06/10
Big change on the next serve. I'm experimenting a bit and with the high speed video it is easy to see the differences. On this one I've turned my shoulders before the toss. The tossing arm is going parallel to the baseline, just like Sampras used to do it. The difference was that Sampras, on the toss, must release the ball earlier otherwise he wouldn't be able to hit it in front of his head (still need to confirm that).
I was very happy with the result. My legs didn't collapsed at all, My hip is much more perpendicular to the net. However the contact seems to be a bit behind the head and just a bit in front of the baseline. The good thing is that what I need to do next is becoming more and more clear...
03/06/10
Two days later, after watching all of my previous serves I've noticed that I need to toss the ball more in front. In fact the flight of the toss on all of the pro players that I have observed is arced and goes forward, the contact point is further in front than the point of release of the ball on the toss, even for second serves. I was not aware of that. I think it is a big thing.
This next serve is a great improvement. The flight of the ball goes forward and at contact I'm hitting the ball much more in front of the baseline. However the contact is still not in front of my head. The hips were more perpendicular:
05/06/10
Almost the same as before. As I was serving this last three serves (including the previous one) I visualized Federer's serve and although I can explain why there is something about the way I start my motion that reminds me of Federer,(if only the final result could remind me of him). That's how powerful visualization can be.
05/06/10
and another one:
05/06/10
Conclusions:
Recording my serve on high speed video allowed me to have a great awareness of what I'm really doing. I am very happy because I know what I need to do. Players sometimes take years to correct these problems and I am changing it in weeks. The changes are huge and surprisingly it didn't take me so many serves as I thought I would need. it is a proof that we can all do those changes if we put our mind into it. The hardest part is knowing exactly where the problem is, and that's where the HS video is gold.
What I need to do after watching all of my videos is to try and keep the flight of the toss going forward and that means releasing the ball of my hands a bit earlier. I want to make sure that at contact the ball is not so close to the baseline and a little in front of my head. I will keep experimenting with the shorter backswing. It is a great improvement and the video allowed me to know exactly where and how to improve. I can't wait to go on court again...
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Backhands,backhands,backhands
This week is all about backhands. I'll analyze Nathan's one handed backhanded, Richard's double handed backhand, and my double handed backhand.
Monday, May 24, 2010
My double-handed backhand
This is my double handed backhand, my new baby. Maybe you have already see me hitting it on court every now and again.
I've always admired the way Agassi used to hit his backhands. Very natural with a very compact swing. When I go on court I hit my double handed much better after watching some videos of Agassi. Yes, the visual channel is that powerful.
Looking at my swing, I start my preparation with a Unit turn. It looks that I am going to hit a one handed since my left hand takes a bit of time to drop close to the right hand. My hands move back at the same height throughout the swing, the same as Brenton (another extremely important aspect).At the end of the backswing my racket is far away from body, much more than on my one handed. Then as the racket comes down it opens a bit and comes down a bit below the ball with just a small drop. I seem to hit the ball flat with both arms stretched at contact just like Agassi and Nadal.
I am not sure where to improve first but I have been trying to make my swing shorter an more compact. Agassi is the model.
I'll be back with a better swing.
What do you think about it?
I've always admired the way Agassi used to hit his backhands. Very natural with a very compact swing. When I go on court I hit my double handed much better after watching some videos of Agassi. Yes, the visual channel is that powerful.
Looking at my swing, I start my preparation with a Unit turn. It looks that I am going to hit a one handed since my left hand takes a bit of time to drop close to the right hand. My hands move back at the same height throughout the swing, the same as Brenton (another extremely important aspect).At the end of the backswing my racket is far away from body, much more than on my one handed. Then as the racket comes down it opens a bit and comes down a bit below the ball with just a small drop. I seem to hit the ball flat with both arms stretched at contact just like Agassi and Nadal.
I am not sure where to improve first but I have been trying to make my swing shorter an more compact. Agassi is the model.
I'll be back with a better swing.
What do you think about it?
Richard's Backhand
Richard is on a mission to improve his backhand. He is trying to change his arms configuration at contact. Richard wants to have a stretched left arm like the majority of the pros (and maybe even stretched right arm at contact).
We've been discussing it for a while and it is not easy to find a clear path to follow. Should we change the stroke or should we just try to improve what we have? I think that Richard will change his backhand because he has a clear picture of what he wants his backhand to be like. There is one junior player at our club, his name is Lasse and he has a great backhand. He keeps his left arm straight and possibly even his right arm at contact. Richard is focused and obsessed with his backhand so I think he should change. I'll ask Lasse to record his backhand and to post it on the blog, how does that sound Richard?
Last time we've been on court Richard was a bit disappointed because he thought that he was hitting with the left arm stretched. When we looked at the video later it was clear that he still wasn't. Richard thought that maybe he couldn't change it and I begun to have some doubts as well.
However looking at the new videos and comparing it with the videos that I took of him two months ago there are a few differences and the shot seems much better. And that has led me to believe that Richard is in fact on the right track and he just needs a bit more time.
What to change now:
On most of the shots that Richard steps with a neutral stance he brings his right foot perpendicular to the net. I've pointed out to him long time ago but he still hasn't change that. Maybe he hasn't change that because he still doesn't believe it affects him too much. The big problem appart from injury of course, is that stepping in with the foot like that forces Richard to rotate too early his shoulders and hips. The backhand down the line is out of the question with the foot like that, and even when he goes crosscourt he is loosing a lot of power and control.
What has changed:
By trying to hit with a straight left arm, Richard has improved his extension and followthrough and his swing looks more compact. Richard is finding the hitting arm position with less loop of his hands and that I think it is a good improvement, just feels more compact.
20/05/10
20/05/10
20/05/10
20/05/10
20/05/10
20/05/10
We can see clearly how much Richard has improved his backhand in the last year. Check the followthrough for example on the next three footage.
First after he hits it, he is looking at the ball over his left fore arm.
08/02/09
Much more extension after contact:
05/03/10
More extension, check the followthrough.
20/05/10
We've been discussing it for a while and it is not easy to find a clear path to follow. Should we change the stroke or should we just try to improve what we have? I think that Richard will change his backhand because he has a clear picture of what he wants his backhand to be like. There is one junior player at our club, his name is Lasse and he has a great backhand. He keeps his left arm straight and possibly even his right arm at contact. Richard is focused and obsessed with his backhand so I think he should change. I'll ask Lasse to record his backhand and to post it on the blog, how does that sound Richard?
Last time we've been on court Richard was a bit disappointed because he thought that he was hitting with the left arm stretched. When we looked at the video later it was clear that he still wasn't. Richard thought that maybe he couldn't change it and I begun to have some doubts as well.
However looking at the new videos and comparing it with the videos that I took of him two months ago there are a few differences and the shot seems much better. And that has led me to believe that Richard is in fact on the right track and he just needs a bit more time.
What to change now:
On most of the shots that Richard steps with a neutral stance he brings his right foot perpendicular to the net. I've pointed out to him long time ago but he still hasn't change that. Maybe he hasn't change that because he still doesn't believe it affects him too much. The big problem appart from injury of course, is that stepping in with the foot like that forces Richard to rotate too early his shoulders and hips. The backhand down the line is out of the question with the foot like that, and even when he goes crosscourt he is loosing a lot of power and control.
What has changed:
By trying to hit with a straight left arm, Richard has improved his extension and followthrough and his swing looks more compact. Richard is finding the hitting arm position with less loop of his hands and that I think it is a good improvement, just feels more compact.
20/05/10
20/05/10
20/05/10
20/05/10
20/05/10
20/05/10
We can see clearly how much Richard has improved his backhand in the last year. Check the followthrough for example on the next three footage.
First after he hits it, he is looking at the ball over his left fore arm.
08/02/09
Much more extension after contact:
05/03/10
More extension, check the followthrough.
20/05/10
Nathan's Backhand
Nathan is on a mission to improve his backhand. In just a few weeks I've witnessed a great improvement, far greater than what I had anticipated. Nathan used to pull back his racket independently from the shoulder turn (very poor unit turn) and his swing looked very big and clumsy. In these next videos, Nathan has already changed his preparation. He now starts it with a unit turn keeping his racket very close to the right shoulder and that his helping him to have a more compact swing.
Looking at the videos we can see clearly where to improve next on Nathan's backhand:
Grip: Nathan's grip is not strong enough, it is very close to a continental grip. In fact the grip Nathan is using would be very suitable for a sliced backhand and that explains as well why the racket is kept open for a big part of the swing. Having a week grip is one of the main factors responsible for not extending the hitting arm after contact during the followthrough and that is what happens to Nathan's backhand. If you freeze the cursor a few frames after contact you'll see that the arm is bended.
Release of the right hand: One of the most important elements (and very often neglected) to hit a compact backhand is to make sure that the non hitting hand doesn't release the racket too early. All the pros release the other hand from the racket on the lowest point of the backswing, very close to their back pocket or hip, when the racket is pretty much horizontal and is almost parallel to the baseline. Although the front angle view on Nathan's backhand videos is not the best to see exactly when Nathan releases his right hand it is easy to guess that his right hand does in fact go out to soon because the racket does not reach a parallel position on the lowest point of the backswing. That's why Nathan is hitting the ball with backspin (slice)and not topspin.
I've been on court with Nathan after the videos, and it seemed to me that Nathan already improved this particular element of his swing.
Keeping the head still during contact and the extension and stretching the shoulders and keeping the opposite arm back after contact and during the extension and followthrough are very important aspects to master the one handed backhand.
Footwork, weight transfer: While observing the videos it seems that Nathan can improve his swing if he can stay lower while moving into the ball, if he can do a bigger last step so he can become more balanced and transfer more power into the ball. Of course to do that he needs time and a good split step and a better athletic foundation (stance lower and wider) would help him greatly.
Another point that is extremely important not just to Nathan but to any player is the ability to hit the ball with open stance. That will allow Nathan to improve his preparation because he will start to rotate his upper body and shoulders before bringing his right foot across.
As I am writing this analysis I am conscious that Nathan has already fixed some of his technical issues and I am sure that in the coming weeks you will be able to witness Nathan rock and rolling his backhand. Watch out!
12/05/10
12/05/10
12/05/10
Looking at the videos we can see clearly where to improve next on Nathan's backhand:
Grip: Nathan's grip is not strong enough, it is very close to a continental grip. In fact the grip Nathan is using would be very suitable for a sliced backhand and that explains as well why the racket is kept open for a big part of the swing. Having a week grip is one of the main factors responsible for not extending the hitting arm after contact during the followthrough and that is what happens to Nathan's backhand. If you freeze the cursor a few frames after contact you'll see that the arm is bended.
Release of the right hand: One of the most important elements (and very often neglected) to hit a compact backhand is to make sure that the non hitting hand doesn't release the racket too early. All the pros release the other hand from the racket on the lowest point of the backswing, very close to their back pocket or hip, when the racket is pretty much horizontal and is almost parallel to the baseline. Although the front angle view on Nathan's backhand videos is not the best to see exactly when Nathan releases his right hand it is easy to guess that his right hand does in fact go out to soon because the racket does not reach a parallel position on the lowest point of the backswing. That's why Nathan is hitting the ball with backspin (slice)and not topspin.
I've been on court with Nathan after the videos, and it seemed to me that Nathan already improved this particular element of his swing.
Keeping the head still during contact and the extension and stretching the shoulders and keeping the opposite arm back after contact and during the extension and followthrough are very important aspects to master the one handed backhand.
Footwork, weight transfer: While observing the videos it seems that Nathan can improve his swing if he can stay lower while moving into the ball, if he can do a bigger last step so he can become more balanced and transfer more power into the ball. Of course to do that he needs time and a good split step and a better athletic foundation (stance lower and wider) would help him greatly.
Another point that is extremely important not just to Nathan but to any player is the ability to hit the ball with open stance. That will allow Nathan to improve his preparation because he will start to rotate his upper body and shoulders before bringing his right foot across.
As I am writing this analysis I am conscious that Nathan has already fixed some of his technical issues and I am sure that in the coming weeks you will be able to witness Nathan rock and rolling his backhand. Watch out!
12/05/10
12/05/10
12/05/10
Monday, May 17, 2010
Brenton Bacon
Thanks Brenton, for sharing your high speed videos with all of us in my blog. Brenton plays state league for Sorrento and he's the number two in the team.
In the next couple of days I'll be analyzing Brenton's technique. I'll start with the Backhand, then Forehand and serve.
In the next couple of days I'll be analyzing Brenton's technique. I'll start with the Backhand, then Forehand and serve.
Brenton's Serve
The serve, although more complex, is the easiest shot to analyze because there is no footwork involved and so there is less variety with one's technique.
When I first saw Brenton's serves on video I was very surprised to find so many imperfect elements on his swing, especially after being on court with him. Trying to return his serves is not an easy task.
07/05/10 (foot fault!)
07/05/10
I'll start my analysis on these aspects: toss, stance, trophy position, leg drive and contact.
Toss: The first I saw from Brenton's serve was that the toss wasn't curved. It was straight vertical. You can see it from the front angle video. All the pros toss the ball with an arc that goes from the right to the left or left to the right if you're left handed. Maybe it Could be that Brenton was still warming up his serves, or it was just a fluke after all the trajectory of the toss can only be seen from the front angle and I have only two serves. I have a feeling that it was not a fluke, and it makes since specially with the stance that Brenton uses .
Stance :
Brenton serves with an extreme lateral pimpoint. He brings his back foot not only to the side but it is even in front of the front foot. It seems that Brenton is reaching out towards the toss. Players who use the lateral pinpoint such as Ivanisevic, Rafter and Safin, plant the back foot on the side but behind the front foot.
Trophy position, leg drive, contact:
To execute a good serve you need to make sure you have a trophy position. The trophy position consists in having the tossing arm up, the racket tip pointing up, the elbow in a sort of an "L shape", and the knees at the maximum bend, and the shoulders and torso rotated. Players reach the trophy position when the ball is pretty much at the highest point of the toss.
At the first sight it seems that Brenton has nothing wrong with his trophy position, but I think that is not quite so, and it would be impossible to find it with a normal video or with the naked eye. When the left arm and racket comes up into the "L shape" the tossing arm is already dropping and his knees have started to extend a little bit earlier. In fact the knees extend before Brenton has reached the maximum drop of his racket. The consequence is that when the knees explode the racket still has a long way to go till the contact is made. When Brenton makes contact his knees are bended and that means Brenton has lost already some leg drive on contact.
07/05/10
How to improve:
I think the first thing Brenton should change is his toss. A toss with an arc and more towards the head or his right side (he's left handed). He should still keep the ball in front of his head at contact just like he is doing.
Changing the toss would make it easier to make sure that his back foot doesn't come in front of his front foot. I think there seems to be an advantage with the normal pinpoint stance where the back foot is located just behind the front foot. He could even try the platform stance for his serve, where the back foot doesn't come forward.
Next, Brenton gotta make sure that his racket come up a bit earlier till he reaches the power position. That would probably make sure that the knees explode just a bit before the contact is made.
07/05/10
I have little doubts that Brenton can improve his serve a lot, and I'm sure he will. I reckon that if he is serving over 180 km/h with little leg drive, means the 200 km/h mark is more than accessible. Good luck Brenton and keep blasting those balls!
07/05/10
When I first saw Brenton's serves on video I was very surprised to find so many imperfect elements on his swing, especially after being on court with him. Trying to return his serves is not an easy task.
07/05/10 (foot fault!)
07/05/10
I'll start my analysis on these aspects: toss, stance, trophy position, leg drive and contact.
Toss: The first I saw from Brenton's serve was that the toss wasn't curved. It was straight vertical. You can see it from the front angle video. All the pros toss the ball with an arc that goes from the right to the left or left to the right if you're left handed. Maybe it Could be that Brenton was still warming up his serves, or it was just a fluke after all the trajectory of the toss can only be seen from the front angle and I have only two serves. I have a feeling that it was not a fluke, and it makes since specially with the stance that Brenton uses .
Stance :
Brenton serves with an extreme lateral pimpoint. He brings his back foot not only to the side but it is even in front of the front foot. It seems that Brenton is reaching out towards the toss. Players who use the lateral pinpoint such as Ivanisevic, Rafter and Safin, plant the back foot on the side but behind the front foot.
Trophy position, leg drive, contact:
To execute a good serve you need to make sure you have a trophy position. The trophy position consists in having the tossing arm up, the racket tip pointing up, the elbow in a sort of an "L shape", and the knees at the maximum bend, and the shoulders and torso rotated. Players reach the trophy position when the ball is pretty much at the highest point of the toss.
At the first sight it seems that Brenton has nothing wrong with his trophy position, but I think that is not quite so, and it would be impossible to find it with a normal video or with the naked eye. When the left arm and racket comes up into the "L shape" the tossing arm is already dropping and his knees have started to extend a little bit earlier. In fact the knees extend before Brenton has reached the maximum drop of his racket. The consequence is that when the knees explode the racket still has a long way to go till the contact is made. When Brenton makes contact his knees are bended and that means Brenton has lost already some leg drive on contact.
07/05/10
How to improve:
I think the first thing Brenton should change is his toss. A toss with an arc and more towards the head or his right side (he's left handed). He should still keep the ball in front of his head at contact just like he is doing.
Changing the toss would make it easier to make sure that his back foot doesn't come in front of his front foot. I think there seems to be an advantage with the normal pinpoint stance where the back foot is located just behind the front foot. He could even try the platform stance for his serve, where the back foot doesn't come forward.
Next, Brenton gotta make sure that his racket come up a bit earlier till he reaches the power position. That would probably make sure that the knees explode just a bit before the contact is made.
07/05/10
I have little doubts that Brenton can improve his serve a lot, and I'm sure he will. I reckon that if he is serving over 180 km/h with little leg drive, means the 200 km/h mark is more than accessible. Good luck Brenton and keep blasting those balls!
07/05/10
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Brenton's Forehand
Brenton's Forehand. Brenton starts his preparation with a unit turn. As his shoulders start to rotate, the left hand starts going up till about shoulder height with the racket head only a lit bit higher. Then the hand and racket starts to drop with the strings facing the ground on an angle. From that point, Brenton starts preparing his hitting arm position and then he makes contact in front of his body with the arm stretched.
Brenton, like Nadal, Verdasco, Philippoussis, Schrichapan among other players, hits his forehand with a stretched arm technique at contact. This technique allow players to hit more in front and with more powerful rotations. Normally their shoulders rotate 180 degrees or more, where the back shoulder normally finishes pointing to the net. At contact players have their shoulder parallel to the net and after contact and during their followthrough they rotate another 90 degrees. In Brenton's case that doesn't happen. Brenton contacts the ball with the shoulders parallel to the net but after contact his back shoulder doesn't rotate forward. He muscles the shot with his left fore arm without support of his shoulders.
The question we have to ask is why doesn't Brenton rotate his shoulders more. I think the reason is because his knees extended too early before contact and so he is unable to use enough leg drive into his forehand. In other words when the knees are ready to explode his racket swing still seems a bit late, and when the racket finally catches up some power from the legs are lost because the knees extended too early.
So are the knees extended too early or is the racket swing late? I think his swing is late because it is too big.
After watching Brenton's videos over and over again and comparing it with the pros I noticed that Brenton's forehand swing seems too big because he drops his left hand from shoulder height, to waist height before going up again to contact. If Brenton can keep his left hand and racket higher for longer without dropping as much before accelerating towards the contact, his entire swing would be much more compact and therefore his knees would probably extend at a better timing and he would be able to rotate the shoulders more after contact.
Another important aspect of Brenton's forehand that is related with the previous one is that when the right hand leaves the racket after the unit turn, the arm is kept in a semi extended position and drops as well (with the left hand). I believe if Brenton can extend his right arm out more and keep it from dropping until his got a maximum bend of the knees (power position), that would as well contribute to make his forehand more compact.
Anyway this is just my perspective and although I've been spending some time analyzing Brenton's forehand, there is still a lot to see and to find. That is the magic of the high speed video, if you keep looking at it and comparing it with the pros you might get every now and again a great insight. The data is there for us to find the answers. On court we gotta go through the effort and try to change, but that is where the fun is...
When I was rallying with Brenton I felt the weight of his ball, heavy topspin. I think that if Brenton can hit the ball so well with his technique now, it is scary to think how his technique might turn out if he improves his already powerful forehand.
On this shot Brenton steps in with the right foot (neutral stance). Notice how the front foot is pointing directly to the net to help out the rotation. The right foot should have been in a angle and not pointing directly to the net since it would be very hard for Brenton to hit it down the line. This low and short balls are tougher for all the players who hit with a stretched arm technique.
07/05/10
As a curiosity we can see Brenton's racket through the strings, just after the unit turn.
Keep an eye on Brenton's left hand throughout the swing. It goes up to shoulder height, drops till waist and then goes up again till contact. I think Brenton can improve if he can make it more impact.
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
Watch how Brenton starts his preparation with a simple turn of the shoulders. Great unit turn!
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
Brenton, like Nadal, Verdasco, Philippoussis, Schrichapan among other players, hits his forehand with a stretched arm technique at contact. This technique allow players to hit more in front and with more powerful rotations. Normally their shoulders rotate 180 degrees or more, where the back shoulder normally finishes pointing to the net. At contact players have their shoulder parallel to the net and after contact and during their followthrough they rotate another 90 degrees. In Brenton's case that doesn't happen. Brenton contacts the ball with the shoulders parallel to the net but after contact his back shoulder doesn't rotate forward. He muscles the shot with his left fore arm without support of his shoulders.
The question we have to ask is why doesn't Brenton rotate his shoulders more. I think the reason is because his knees extended too early before contact and so he is unable to use enough leg drive into his forehand. In other words when the knees are ready to explode his racket swing still seems a bit late, and when the racket finally catches up some power from the legs are lost because the knees extended too early.
So are the knees extended too early or is the racket swing late? I think his swing is late because it is too big.
After watching Brenton's videos over and over again and comparing it with the pros I noticed that Brenton's forehand swing seems too big because he drops his left hand from shoulder height, to waist height before going up again to contact. If Brenton can keep his left hand and racket higher for longer without dropping as much before accelerating towards the contact, his entire swing would be much more compact and therefore his knees would probably extend at a better timing and he would be able to rotate the shoulders more after contact.
Another important aspect of Brenton's forehand that is related with the previous one is that when the right hand leaves the racket after the unit turn, the arm is kept in a semi extended position and drops as well (with the left hand). I believe if Brenton can extend his right arm out more and keep it from dropping until his got a maximum bend of the knees (power position), that would as well contribute to make his forehand more compact.
Anyway this is just my perspective and although I've been spending some time analyzing Brenton's forehand, there is still a lot to see and to find. That is the magic of the high speed video, if you keep looking at it and comparing it with the pros you might get every now and again a great insight. The data is there for us to find the answers. On court we gotta go through the effort and try to change, but that is where the fun is...
When I was rallying with Brenton I felt the weight of his ball, heavy topspin. I think that if Brenton can hit the ball so well with his technique now, it is scary to think how his technique might turn out if he improves his already powerful forehand.
On this shot Brenton steps in with the right foot (neutral stance). Notice how the front foot is pointing directly to the net to help out the rotation. The right foot should have been in a angle and not pointing directly to the net since it would be very hard for Brenton to hit it down the line. This low and short balls are tougher for all the players who hit with a stretched arm technique.
07/05/10
As a curiosity we can see Brenton's racket through the strings, just after the unit turn.
Keep an eye on Brenton's left hand throughout the swing. It goes up to shoulder height, drops till waist and then goes up again till contact. I think Brenton can improve if he can make it more impact.
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
Watch how Brenton starts his preparation with a simple turn of the shoulders. Great unit turn!
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
Monday, May 10, 2010
Brenton's Backhand
Brenton has a very compact backhand. He is a great model for everyone willing to improve their double handed backhand. Brenton starts his preparation with a Unit Turn. As Brenton turns his shoulders the racket moves back and both hands stay at the same height throughout the backswing. These are two of the most important aspects for anybody who wish to master the double handed backhand, (Unit turn and hands moving back at the same height)and Brenton does it greatly. As soon as the ball bounces, Brenton has a full turn and he is ready to start the forward swing. His racket head is vertical and his right elbow is very close to the body. As soon as he starts his forward swing the racket head starts to drop. Brenton has a very small drop of the racket head when he establishes the hitting arm position, (just like Safin).
On contact Brenton seems to have a flex flex configuration of his arms. That is just one of the four different ways that players may have their arms at contact. Players like Juan Carlos Ferrero, Dementieva and Safin hit as well with a flex flex variation. After contact, Brenton's racket follows the line of the shot for a few frames before going outward and up.
Where to improve?
I believe no matter how good we are that we can always improve, no matter at what and tennis is no exception.
After looking with some detail at Brenton's backhand and after comparing it with lots of pros, the first thing that pops out is Brenton's extension and followthrough. I think Brenton can improve his extension that is, having the racket following the line of the shot for more time or more frames after contact. When I look at Nadal's footage and other pros I can see that on their followthrough the right shoulder finishes up at the chin and their extension seems to be longer. However it is hard to be sure about it and at the end my analysis just represent my interpretation of the videos. It would be great to know from Brenton what he thinks about his backhand, to know when it works well and when it doesn't, and sort of contact height he prefers.
There is one aspect of Brenton's backhand that almost escaped my analysis. Its a much more clear aspect than Brenton's extension. The answer remains in Brenton's feet. Brenton hits the ball normally with a neutral stance where his left foot steps in (45 degrees to the net). After making contact and just after they reach full extension, normally players pivot with the left foot until it points to the net or even to the line of the shot, bringing as well the right leg out, before recovering back to the center of the court. I've noticed that Brenton seems to hold the left foot down for too long after his full extension, and by doing so he doesn't allow his right leg (and hip) to come forward. For that reason on the high contact balls, Brenton seems to be a bit unbalanced with his weight going backwards. The pros on the high contact balls, just after contact they stretch the front knee, pivot the front foot and bring the back leg to the side and they are are ready to recover to the center.
Check the hands going back together as the shoulder turns!
On this backhand the front foot is pointing to the net, and the reason may be because Brenton was forcing a backhand for the video. I think in a real situation he would have moved differently.
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
Great unit turn!
Brenton seems unbalanced on this high contact ball. Notice how the front foot didn't pivot after contact, and the back leg didn't came across.
07/05/10
If you freeze the video after the split step when the feet land in the court you can see a big wide stance. Feet are much wider than shoulders. That's a great athletic foundation.
Another high contact ball. Brenton again is a bit unbalanced. The front foot doesn't pivot and the back leg comes across, but it seems a bit late.
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
On contact Brenton seems to have a flex flex configuration of his arms. That is just one of the four different ways that players may have their arms at contact. Players like Juan Carlos Ferrero, Dementieva and Safin hit as well with a flex flex variation. After contact, Brenton's racket follows the line of the shot for a few frames before going outward and up.
Where to improve?
I believe no matter how good we are that we can always improve, no matter at what and tennis is no exception.
After looking with some detail at Brenton's backhand and after comparing it with lots of pros, the first thing that pops out is Brenton's extension and followthrough. I think Brenton can improve his extension that is, having the racket following the line of the shot for more time or more frames after contact. When I look at Nadal's footage and other pros I can see that on their followthrough the right shoulder finishes up at the chin and their extension seems to be longer. However it is hard to be sure about it and at the end my analysis just represent my interpretation of the videos. It would be great to know from Brenton what he thinks about his backhand, to know when it works well and when it doesn't, and sort of contact height he prefers.
There is one aspect of Brenton's backhand that almost escaped my analysis. Its a much more clear aspect than Brenton's extension. The answer remains in Brenton's feet. Brenton hits the ball normally with a neutral stance where his left foot steps in (45 degrees to the net). After making contact and just after they reach full extension, normally players pivot with the left foot until it points to the net or even to the line of the shot, bringing as well the right leg out, before recovering back to the center of the court. I've noticed that Brenton seems to hold the left foot down for too long after his full extension, and by doing so he doesn't allow his right leg (and hip) to come forward. For that reason on the high contact balls, Brenton seems to be a bit unbalanced with his weight going backwards. The pros on the high contact balls, just after contact they stretch the front knee, pivot the front foot and bring the back leg to the side and they are are ready to recover to the center.
Check the hands going back together as the shoulder turns!
On this backhand the front foot is pointing to the net, and the reason may be because Brenton was forcing a backhand for the video. I think in a real situation he would have moved differently.
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
Great unit turn!
Brenton seems unbalanced on this high contact ball. Notice how the front foot didn't pivot after contact, and the back leg didn't came across.
07/05/10
If you freeze the video after the split step when the feet land in the court you can see a big wide stance. Feet are much wider than shoulders. That's a great athletic foundation.
Another high contact ball. Brenton again is a bit unbalanced. The front foot doesn't pivot and the back leg comes across, but it seems a bit late.
07/05/10
07/05/10
07/05/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)