Continue Reading
This is a preview of the article. The full content is available to TennisPlayer.net subscribers only. Create or login to your free account to view up to three articles per month.
How long is contact really? In my new book, The Art and Science of Ball Watching (Click Here) I explored Roger Federer’s unique ball watching technique. The book is aimed at finding a methodology to learn how to see contact–in as much as this is possible within the limits of physiology and nerve transmission speed. (Click Here to see an article on Tennisplayer, based on the book.) But in the course of writing the book I also became very interested in the mechanics of racket to ball contact. How long is contact really and do different strings and tensions affect the length of contact? Could changes in the length of contact be an explanation for the rise in ball speed and spin on the forehands in pro tennis? And another question–how does that apply to the rest of us? Rafael Nadal has averaged over 3500rpm on his forehand over his career, substantially higher than most players of his generation. But current younger players have equaled or exceeded that. At the same time they have increased maximum forehand speeds to supersonic levels. A study done for Tennisplayer by Jim Fawcette found a forehand by Matteo Berrittini that measured 129mph at 3930rpm….