As soon as I recorded Ian's shots I was extremely surprised to see how much Ian has changed his forehands since last time I've recorded back in September 2010.
Some of the changes that Ian's has done in the past 5 months, seem to be more similar to how the pros hit their forehands. I'll analyze them with no rush. I' need some time to "digest" these videos and to try to understand the following improvements to be made.
The first video is a forehand return where Ian was returning James De Clerk's first serve (maybe at 130 km/h).
The second video is the following shot of the rally.
17/03/11 - Forehand Return (1st serve)
The interesting aspect to compare between these two videos is that when returning, Ian has much less time available for the preparation of his forehand.
The return of serve is the shot that Ian struggles the most. He tends to hit the ball too far back (late). He needs to improve his footwork and leg drive through the shot, shorten his swing, or even maybe standing further back when returning serves (although standing back wont improve his footwork, just his timing).
17/03/11 - Forehand Inside in
This second video is a masterpiece. Independently of how much Ian has to improve his technique, when you climb so high in relation to where you've started you gotta look down and ENJOY THE VIEW!
It is too early still for me to analyze Ian's forehand. There are a few points here and there on Ian's technique, but before I start "shooting in the dark" I rather wait for the magic to sink in.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I am always very impressed with ians forehand because its so unique and he is able to generate alot of power
ReplyDeleteI think his footwork can be improved alot when he is set when the ball bounces I dont really see a defined position.
I think thats a product of why his left arm falls away early, maybe his body rotation
his position is still really good looks great
ill post again if I can see more
http://members.westnet.com.au/sansom/roger.jpg
ReplyDeleteand the time at which roger has started his forward swing is alot earlier
ReplyDeleteits difficult to describe without looking at the video but ians preparation isnt fast enough when the ball bounces
its almost as if ians swing is late hitting the ball too far behind him
movement getting back into the right position then unloading
I agree with you Richard, I think that Ian is hitting the ball too far back (specially because he has a straight arm technique) too often on his forehands. Ian's overall swing is probably a bit too big for his footwork.
ReplyDeleteno straight arm tennis player has a large swing because they dont need it
ReplyDeletenadal and federers swing is deceptively large because of the large turns and inverted racket tip but really these players have small backswings
brenton bacon is a player with a really simple swing as well and he generates an extremely heavy fast shot
I dont think ian needs to focus on his swing size tho maybe he just needs to be aware of it (see some videos of straight arm technique) think about hitting more tennis balls into the court high % of shots in. Ian throws away points because of mistakes
I really think his shoulder rotation isn't timed with his forward swing. For me getting in position with legs helped this tremendously
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete