Have a Question for Me?

[mntlblok]

Keifer antics

I actually like his antics--gives matches a little more unpredictability.

I actually get a kick out of them too and look forward to his interactions with Coria today. But, that deal with Grosjean at the Australian was way beyond antics.

Coria isn't above getting into staring/glaring contests with his opponents, but I found it most endearing when he high-fived Ginepri at the net after a long point at last year's U.S. Open.

Saw Coria interviewed on a practice court at the Nasdaq and he had a huge smile the whole time. He's one of my favorites on tour.

Kevin

[shootermcmarc0]

Great timing. Great movement....

His ball toss is really high, he does have great timing haha

[johnyandell]

Well can't say it was because of your request, specifically... But I agree he is very efficient, compact, balanced. Looks effortless. Great timing. Great movement. I actually like his antics--gives matches a little more unpredictability.

[jlkm2219]

Kiefer

Few months ago I asked for clips of Nikolas Kiefer. In my opinion, one of the best hitters in the tour.

Thank you.

[johnyandell]

Cool and thanks!

[shootermcmarc0]

Ever since I've been a subscriber, I've always been more than satisfied with each issue. The quality has always been high, I've never read any negative comments about this site. I'm always learning here.

[johnyandell]

Great! You know we'll try. To be honest I do get a little defensive at times because I feel we have so much material available nowhere else. I bristle a bit when people ask for the (relatively few) players we don't have.

[shootermcmarc0]

Yeah, thats what I meant, I didn't intend on putting any pressure on you to get footage of him or anything.

[johnyandell]

Shooter,

When can we "expect" clips??

I don't think you mean it quite the way it sounds. I think what you meant to say was "Is there a chance of... or do you plan to..." Expectation implies entitlement.

I'm sure this is just a semantic problem, but I won't be held to any "expectations" about players or content by subscribers--other than to keep the quality as high as possible of everything on the site.

We weren't able to film Ivan this year and I'm not sure when we will if ever--depends on circumstances.

However I think you can busy yourself with the other 20,000 clips on the site.

It's always interesting to look at new players. But one of the pitfalls is thinking "if I could just see so and so..." It's not like that.

[mdhubert]

racquet drop vs. trophy position

Hi John,

First I want to thank you because I think i've made a breakthrough in my serve motion thanks to you. I had an issue with my racquet drop, I couldn't find a proper one, and I followed your advice of adopting a classic motion like McEnroe and Philipoussis with the arm far away behind in the back swing. And I finally get the feeling I'm doing a decent racquet drop. I still have to shoot the movement to be sure but my motion is pretty fluid, especially on second serve, so I think the improvement is here. It's been a while I've been working on it and I think I (and some teaching pros who tried to help me) was too much focused on the "trophy position" that is highly advertised everywhere, and I think it is sometimes tough for beginners. I think you should focus on learning a movement that leads to the racquet drop first and then the trophy position will come later, when you have felt what shoulder rotation was like. If you look at Mac or Edberg serves, I think what is key is more the supination of the forearm in the backswing. Don't you think focusing too much on the trophy position can limit shoulder external rotation in certain cases ?

[stroke]

His serve looks like it would be a good one for John to evaluate also.

[shootermcmarc0]

When can we expect Ljubicic clips? His 1hander is quite fluid.

[johnyandell]

I don't know about his hand size. Looking at the picture of him holding the racket I guess it could also be a small grip but I'm not sure.

On the returns, he has what I call a modern eastern forehand grip. Pete's grip for the forehand drive. On his forehand groundstroke Roger shifts down that increment discussed in the articles.

[robertfirlus]

Roger Federer's Hand Size

John: Roger Federer has a very large hand...long fingers, long palm. Do you have any idea of his hand size? ...measured from the tip of his ring finger to his midpalm crease. Altho his racket grip size is said to be L3 I think conventional tennis wisdom suggests his grip size should be several sizes bigger than it is. John McEnroe also had long fingers and palm compared to most. Do you think this might affect Federer's tennis style...large hand versus small grip? (Go to Google Images/Federer and you can find an image of Federer holding those long fingers/palms in the air. Robert Firlus

[robertfirlus]

Federer's Grip on Ready Postion (Waiting serve)

John: You've may have noticed that Federer while waiting service twists his racket in a counter-clock-wise direction and then gets a grip just before his opponent serves. Do you have an idea of what grip he has when he is waiting serve. Is it sort of a neutral grip... or maybe continental....and then he goes to forehand grip or whatever. Robert Firlus