Bounce Hit: The Greatest Exercise Ever

[don_budge]

Years ago...I wrote this for Kyle LaCroix in a thread the blew the collective minds on the forum when he posted his strokes. The good old days. December 5, 2014. A great drill that can yield technical improvement.

For a Measly Buckskin you have the best Bang for the Buck

And then there was the forehand and serve. These adjustments. Wow. Need some more reps. Forehand is taking one step back to take two steps forward. Just feels weird. Huge variance of shot quality today. Gotta keep at it.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Forehand first. One thing at a time. More than likely you are trying to get yourself lined up like Roger Federer. This represents a huge change in the rhythm of your stroke and it sort of makes sense with the comment that you make about huge variance of shot quality.

In order to dial in on the "consistency" and rhythm of the stroke…that is, repeating the same motion over and over identically without variation please try the following.

In Sweden the word for bounce is "studs" and the word for five is "fem". So here is the six step process for hitting the "Federfore". Look at the Roger Federer video clip to verify the various positions of feet and body and racquet as you get your ducks in a row to move forwards into the shot and finish:

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/...tanceFront.mov

1 Ready position…in your case you know it is a forehand so cheat to the side of forehand with your grip, your racquet and your body balance.

2 Set the racquet…turn with the shoulders so that the racquet face is facing the oncoming ball that has just left the face of your opponents racquet. The strings are the eyes of the racquet and they are searching for the ball just as your own eyes are.

3 Bounce position…turn your shoulders so that the racquet face is facing the wall or fence ninety degrees to the net. You already do this very nicely.

4 Get in position…this is the position where you are ready to go forwards. Merely sit a bit more into your seat and allow the racquet to come down from you high backswing…some say "pat the dog". I do not…I go with the Ben Hogan explanation for using the lower body. Pay attention to where you place your feet.

5 Racquet meets ball…there is one point in time and space where it will be perfect for all of your motion to meet the ball for that "sweet" shot feeling. Super important that you recognize this magic moment. Another issue that you have created by altering your swing…there is a new sweet spot. You might want to experiment with strengthening your grip here in order to find this new sweet spot. The old grip tends to encourage a less than forward ball impact position.

6 Follow through…Keep your eye on the ball for a count of one after you hit the ball so that your shoulder will stop turning and your arm and racquet will come swinging through the ball. Holding that back foot down or doing the Welby Van Horn Swivel.

The Nike Swoosh…you know the symbol. That symbolizes the swing in any sport. At the point just before your racquet meet the ball the racquet should be making that "swooshing" sound…that is where you want to meet the ball every single time. When the racquet has maximum acceleration through the path of the ball.

For the rhythm end of it you are going to say out loud or say to yourself if you feel self-conscious…but you don't and you are going to be passing on this great advice to every single student.

When the ball bounces you shall say "stuts" and have your racquet at least back in position 3 where the racquet face and your shoulders (and hips) are perpendicular to the net. Then when you find the "magic moment" you are going to say "fem" every time your racquet comes into contact with the ball.

You will be surprised how this will help to train you to watch the ball. You want to say "stuts" precisely at the moment when the ball strikes the court. You want to say "fem" precisely at the moment when the ball meets your racquet. The verbal confirmations will mark these beats in the swing and shortly you should find yourself with a nice repeating "swoosh" through the ball. You can further take this verbal reminder to another step with the student by having them say "split" when the opponents racquet meets the ball. This is a big challenge to the student to "keep their eye on the ball" during the entire flight and path of the ball. Also a higher level of concentration is reached when you try to be more and more precise with the timing of the audio and the timing of the impact of the ball on the ground and on your racquet. don_budges inner tennis.

I find that a very interesting aspect of this exercise is that it has really helped me to stay with the ball when it bounces and after that to my racquet. I tend to lose sight of the ball when it bounces…almost as if I flinch. Particularly on my backhand. But after doing this exercise it has helped me to train my eyes on the ball throughout the whole process.

People are different. For instance…for some reason I am able to make a swing change in my golf swing on the practice tee and able to take it directly to the course. Others have to practice a bit more. The key is to understanding what is to be accomplished before you begin to work on something. Visualization…imagination. This will enable you to find the goal quicker.

I have tried to explain as best I can…but often the words must be accompanied with demonstration in which case you might want to book a private lesson with me when you make it to Europe. Maybe you can make do with the Federer clip. Food for thought…Bro. It will cost you one American dollar.

[stroke]

Years ago, Scott Murphy wrote "2 Secrets of Timing" on this site, which is certainly in tune with this.

[johnyandell]

yes but combining that with technical improvement--the other half of the puzzle...

[stotty]

I quite like the idea of getting rid of self-interference.

[doctorhl]

Fantastic! Used this concept for years to adapt quickly to surface changes. I often would engage drilling partners in baseline "rhythm " hitting as a warm up, which focused on never changing the speed of the swing , even if a half volley. The bounce- hit concept simplifies and essentially accomplishes the same thing. You become aware of the varied time interval between "bounce" and "hit" on different surfaces or receiving different stroke spins/speeds. You then subconsciously seem to adjust your spacing and your swing speed to create a more consistent time interval between the two mental cues. Never could get much interest in the concept as it was viewed for beginners. Glad to see Sean resurrect it!!

[johnyandell]

Let's discuss Sean Brawley's article, "Bounce Hit: The Greatest Exercise Ever"