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
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi Andre,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all your great help and your in depth analysis since my lesson on how to improve my backhand. It feels like a brand new stroke and has inspired me to become almost obsessive to improve not only my backhand, but all aspects of my game to become a much better player. Thank you also for the really helpful chats after the Tuesday & Thursday night drill sessions and for restoring my enthusiasm & fun back into tennis which I had be missing for a while. Sometimes the "stress" of competitive tennis makes you lose focus & drive to enjoy yourself and having a break has helped me get back to why I love to play in the first place. I'm really looking forward to more of these awesome video posts in the future not only to help me but those that are looking to get more out of the game! Thanks again for all your advice and really appreciate your feedback. Becoming a "student" of the game is great and inspiring to learn more! See you on court!
Cheers,
Nathan
(PS: Watch out for that forehand return! - next video blog perhaps?)
Hi All! Nathan again!
ReplyDeleteJust adding to my previous comment to let you all know some more info about these videos. They were taken during my first ever backhand lesson and what you see is quite a change from how I used to "hit" my backhand (which was pretty average!). I guess thinking about it now, it would have been great to have perhaps posted a "before" video first of my old backhand so you could all see the dramatic improvement that Andre has helped me with.
Since then I have also bought a new racquet which has helped a great deal in my improvement by applying what I have learnt since the lesson and videos from 2 weeks ago. (I'm not suggesting you all rush out and buy new racquets!- I had my old ones for 3 and a half years!). My new racquet is now quite a bit smaller in head size from an very light, oversized and head heavy 117 square inch head racquet (heaps of power / much less control) to a medium sized, head light racquet, 100 square inch (less power / more feel and control / greater racquet head speed) which I thought was a perfect step for me to take in order to progress my game as my technique keeps on developing. I'm extremely happy with my new racquet and this has added even more enthusiasm for improvement. Andre, I'd be interested to hear your comments on this blog and I hope you don't mind what I've said.
See you all down the club soon for a hit!
Don't forget about the Tuesday & Thursday
drill sessions!
It's definitely helping me heaps!
Cheers,
Nathan
I saw nathan hitting against the wall and his backhand has improved tons from this video
ReplyDeletehttp://www.racquetresearch.com/
check out this website nathan
This site is for the best available objective data on racquet performance and prevention of tennis elbow. No vague sales puffery, condescending jocularity, or subjective playtest results -- just hard facts based on measurements and physics.
website that cuts through the bullshit of tennis rackets.
Here's an interesting question: why don't the touring pros use the same racquets that their sponsors sell to the public? The pros heavily customize to add mass and swingweight, even though the paint job would lead you to believe that they are playing with the same racquet you can buy. Why is such a fix necessary?
It has been estimated that half of all players over 30 suffer from tennis elbow. So it's important to have good information because the consequences of a bad racquet choice are worse than the waste of $300. But how can a player make an informed choice? Racquet ads are not very informative, and often deliberately misleading. You can't rely on what the pros pretend to use. Playtests depend on the personal opinion of the testers, and like all subjective tests are suspect for obvious reasons.
What's needed is a set objective performance criteria, some quantifiable and meaningful terms instead of ad hype and subjective playtests. Here are some scientific concepts and real performance criteria for tennis racquets:
Is a Lightweight Racquet a Good Idea?
No, a lightweight racquet is a dumb idea, as pro customizers attest. Weight is not bad. You need weight to return a "heavy" ball (lots of pace and spin). Wimpy racquets can't put much pace on the ball if you don't have time to develop a long stroke, such as when you are stretched wide. Pete Sampras uses a racquet that is 14 oz. and evenly balanced, and when he is going for a putaway, he chokes down so the swingweight is even higher.
LIGHT RACKETS ARE JUNK!!!
Nathan thanks for your great comments. I'm glad I could help you out. I think its great that you are on a mission to improve your shots. Victories, trophies, playing to be accepted or respected is all very good and can give us some satisfaction(at best), but it is all part of an extrinsic motivation dependable on results. Nothing compares to the personal satisfaction and great joy (intrinsic motivation) that we have when we improve our skills. When we start focusing on the means instead of results we feel no pressure, we are braver to take more risks, we are not afraid of the unknown and we are happy on court.
ReplyDeleteToo many players compete tennis either for status, respect or whatever, but how much are they really enjoying it? When I look at their swing I see tension everywhere, they are tight, stressed and their swing is rigid. If you try to persuade them to get better they will answer that they can't, they are not good, besides, they say -"What if my game gets worse on next social?"
Tennis players need to play more tennis(That's what the drills is all about!) And play means enjoy, just watch a 4 or 5 year old playing...
Richard, yes I think its a great site. I learned a lot from it. (www.racquetresearch.com)
ReplyDeleteA light racket gives you more acceleration but decelerates faster, gives you less protection against injury at contact.
I personally don't recommend rackets lighter than 300 g to any sort of players except maybe junior players or for some ladies, but that is just my view.
Another very important aspect is the balance of the racket. We want the rackets heavy but with lighter heads. When looking for a racket I always look at the balance. If a racket has more than 33.0 cm then it means that the head is starting to get too heavy.
My racket is heavy (330g), with a balance of 31.0 cm and that means the head is light.
I guess the worst combination is a racket light with a very heavy head. The surprising thing is that we see those rackets on court by the hundreds, but no pros would ever use it! strange hey?
Check the site it is in fact very good