Thoughts about Tennis Tradition...

[llll]

OK Steve and Don,
I am going back to serve and volley....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY0u59ArtoI

Don't have to run as much...

was this from monte carlo or rome??

[tennis_chiro]

The linchpin

What I never understood is why the arm should go down, then up, and not just up...
Doesn't seem like a core fundamental to me....

Whatever rhythm a server adopts (and I have some that I prefer over others, but that's less important), he must synchronize the "rock" of his weight transfer whether it is front to back to front (Agassi, Newcombe, Smith or my favorite: Stich), or back to front (Sampras) or whatever; he must synchronize the rhythm of that rock with the action of his hands in the toss. It is that "rocking motion" that hold the whole thing together. The server must be able to repeat it perfectly and indefinitely; otherwise the serve will break down under pressure.

This was a large part of the problem Sharapova was having with her abbreviated motion. Obviously, an abbreviated motion works great for Roddick and Gonzales and Nadal (I don't think it is any easier on the shoulder as is quoted for the usual reason for adopting it, but that's another story); but their rhythms are absolutely perfectly repeatable. When Sharapova switched to the short motion for a while, she lost the synchronization of her hands with the weight transfer and she was lost. She is almost back to where she started now.

Gonzales's little move with his hands gave him the synchronization that he needed between his hands and his rock; it "fit". Be sure your motion fits your motion to the rhythm of your "rock".

don

[don_budge]

Forward press...

Many golfers make a little move before they actually initiate their swing called a forward press. It sort of helps get things in motion from a static position...for rhythm's sake. Your inner Gonzales won't necessarily be identical to the real Gonzales...just a facsimile. It's all about you, Phil.

[gzhpcu]

What I never understood is why the arm should go down, then up, and not just up...
Doesn't seem like a core fundamental to me....

[bottle]

He sure never squeezes the two halves of his arm together. That's what's discouraging to me.

[tennis_chiro]

Watch very carefully

why down together, up together? gonzales didn't do it? what is HGH?

Phil,
Be careful with that. gonzales actually does drop both hands and then lift them, but he only drops the right hand a couple of inches. But by the time his shoulders reach about 45 degrees (6 clicks after the ball leaves his hand and 9 clicks before we see the ball leaving the racket face), he is in an almost classic down-and-up rhythm; he is just comes into the trophy position with a little more racket head momentum because the right hand is trying to catch up for where it lagged just a little bit as the left hand started up. But remember to look at up and down relative to a horizon of the shoulder level, not pure horizontal. Viewed through that perspective, there is also less of a "staggered" nature to even Sampras's rhythm.

http://www.tennisplayer.net/members/strokearchive/golden_legends/pancho

But watch very carefully. You will see a little lag, but Gonzales's hands do move down together and up together; just not exactly; there is a little lag on the part of the right hand. If someone is trying to model this motion, I encourage them to keep the hands synchronized; the difference, then, from the classic down together-up together is that the down part is very shallow. But I strongly suggest you try to keep those hands synchronized …as Gonzales's become about 6 clicks before ball contact. His "stagger" is actually very subtle.

don

[bottle]

Re # 6, what happened to Olof? Was he caught in a shoe lace in a shoe store and so missed his starting time? Or is it simply that, because of all the socialism, the standard of living has dropped so low in Sweden that nobody can afford new shoes?

Now, Steve, you say you want to write, but your writing is too personal. We publishers seek a more homogenized kind of writing-- something more boring, actually, along the lines of a shop/sex manual, and we'd like to know if you are the 25-year-old son that John McEnroe was talking about during French Open coverage yesterday, the one who is attending the Columbia University Graduate School of Writing and possibly has an excellent book for sale?

Additionally, we believe it isn't enough that you tell us about Olof, which couldn't be his real name anyway, but you must, you simply must tell about hitting with J. Donald Budge and Aaron Krickstein because celebrity is all.

Well, this is Bottle speaking now, and I have to say, I was practicing my serve when out of nowhere a tall, lithe Lithuanian lady opened the gate and stepped into my space, and Lithuania is close enough to Sweden to be dangerous, and I would avoid all Hungarians.

About Olof-- by using that name you mean to imply that he is "a stupid Swede," right? I'm glad you won his match for him, and I'd say, don't feel bad about beating up on a 15-year-old. I'm 71 and recently, in a board game, beat a 7-year-old of Czech extraction who regularly beats his father. Pinned his queen, I did.

Afterwards, I started to feel guilty, too, especially since, when I wasn't looking, he went to his father, our host, and cried.

It's hard though when you haven't played chess in 18 years to throw the game.

[llll]

Interesting article about the state of Serve and Volley Tennis

http://essentialtennis.com/spotlight/2011/05/313/

I find it a little sad that serve and volley tennis seems to be a dying art, at least at the pro level.

I have been using the serve and volley pretty successfully at the 4.0 NTRP level. I am aspiring to eventually get to the 4.5 level. Does anyone have any experience with successfully serving and volleying at this level?

Blake

great article
brought a tear to my eye
to answer your question at 4.0 -4.5 serve and volley and especially all court tennis will work.jmho

[gzhpcu]

Good action on the volley...nice and simple. Left foot meets the ground precisely at the same time the ball is meeting the racquet.

I watched the serve many times. I feel that you have the proper physique and a nice combination of flexibility and strength to hit a nice serve. All that is lacking is the motion...the right mechanics. See how the left hand goes up immediately with the toss. Down together, up together.

How adaptable are you to change?

Maybe a spot of HGH wouldn't hurt either. I like the sound of the birds singing in the background.

why down together, up together? gonzales didn't do it? what is HGH?

[don_budge]

Serve and volley...

Good action on the volley...nice and simple. Left foot meets the ground precisely at the same time the ball is meeting the racquet.

I watched the serve many times. I feel that you have the proper physique and a nice combination of flexibility and strength to hit a nice serve. All that is lacking is the motion...the right mechanics. See how the left hand goes up immediately with the toss. Down together, up together.

How adaptable are you to change?

Maybe a spot of HGH wouldn't hurt either. I like the sound of the birds singing in the background.

[gzhpcu]

OK Steve and Don,
I am going back to serve and volley....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY0u59ArtoI

Don't have to run as much...

[don_budge]

Too late tennis_chiro...nobody cares!

I, for one, will sign on for the campaign to limit the "progress" of tennis equipment. But I doubt such a movement will ever amount to a hill of beans. Actually, I'm a little depressed.

don

Too late tennis_chiro...there has been a lot of kool-aid being drunk in the last 30 years.

I would also like to verify the drug testing...I suspect that some of that increased athleticism that some posters are referring to may be the result of another technology boost...that of performance enhancing drugs. There have been a lot of rumors. Shhhh...

[tennis_chiro]

Check an old thread

Interesting article about the state of Serve and Volley Tennis

http://essentialtennis.com/spotlight/2011/05/313/

I find it a little sad that serve and volley tennis seems to be a dying art, at least at the pro level.

I have been using the serve and volley pretty successfully at the 4.0 NTRP level. I am aspiring to eventually get to the 4.5 level. Does anyone have any experience with successfully serving and volleying at this level?

Blake

Check this thread, Blake. Damn, that article bummed me out!

http://www.tennisplayer.net/bulletin/showthread.php?t=1104

don

[tennis_chiro]

Great summary

this article really crystallizes all the elements. And I'm afraid it's true. I still hope for the Safin sized/talented player who develops the volleying skills necessary to use the s&v tactic at least a good portion of the time on first serves. hard to believe, but we served and volleyed all the time, first and second serves.

But when you look at the confluence of different items that are enumerated in this article: rackets, balls, surfaces, and finally strings on top of the development of better athletes and better ground strokes, it's pretty clear: it's going to take something pretty amazing to bring back just a little of the serve and volley.

Golf limited the size and rebounding qualities (COR) of the driver as well as strictly limiting characteristics of golf balls. Perhaps the governing bodies of tennis needed to be a little more aware of the changes that were taking place in strings. As long as there are matches like the Roddick/Federer final and the Isner/Mahut serving marathon, Wimbledon is unlikely to speed up the courts or the balls. The data that is being revealed by articles like the stinging article this month is relatively new information.

I, for one, will sign on for the campaign to limit the "progress" of tennis equipment. But I doubt such a movement will ever amount to a hill of beans. Actually, I'm a little depressed.

don

[don_budge]

Geee...

Geee...I am not alone after all.

"After this conspiracy of factors had successfully killed the last great serve-volleyers, what remains of serve and volley going into the new decade?"

This is a quote in the article...it's a conspiracy theory. Hmmm...right up my alley.

Thanks for the article, Blake. More thoughts to come.