Your Strokes: Eva So: Forehand

[10splayer]

She might have improved her backswing slightly but she will still be late on shots and exert a lot of effort to hit the ball - because she is still hitting with the arm.

Her mental image is that she needs to turn to prepare and then hit the ball with the arm.

The correct mental image is to turn to prepare and then turn/rotate to hit the ball and in the last part just before the contact allow the arm to work with the energy supplied from the rotation.

In her case the rotation of her body lags behind the arm - which means she initiates the move forward with arm first. That will cause many late contacts. Telling her to prepare early won't fix that.

Agreed, this is a case of the arm leading torso rotation. The body is a big, cumbersome machine, and takes time to wind and unwind. If the arm "leads" in the intial part of the forward swing, the body will be left behind to follow. In fact, in almost all cases with high caliber players, the body starts to "unwind" it's position, as the racquet is being laid down in the backswing.....which will give it sufficient time to lead the arm.

[10splayer]

I see many players with their racquet closed at the begginning of the stroke and Eva starts with the edge(I suppose she has more of a continental grip), to get to the closed, pat the dog position, would it not be more beneficial to start with racquet closed?

I agree, that even in the new position the arm is still rotated externally, there will be no "flip" in this action.

[johnyandell]

Vaughn,

Thanks for the post...I think I understood several parts! Keep working on translating your thoughts into matter of fact language. That's the transition that makes new ideas accessible.

[Tenniseye1]

John
Thanks your reply and new log in.
I'm sorry I don't think my explanation was clear enough. I think my understanding of the science of movement in function is a little better than my ability to communicate it.

The deceleration I mentioned is part of the stretch-shorten cycle that muscles need for the load to explode in movement. Thinking about an elastic band is, for me, the best way to understand it. As you stretch an elastic band, the stretch slows as you reach it's end range to avoid snapping. Muscles do the same which must mean that the pace of backswing slows just before the forward swing starts (in the Transformational Zone or when direction changes). The injury risk is increased there or as likely in some other part of the kinetic chain like the lower back, as the body will try to find compensations if the movement is not authentic. I had a look at your archive footage of Connors and can see both external and internal rotation at the shoulder as well as the more obvious flexion and extension in the sagital plane(front to back)in all his strokes.

If I were working on bringing Eva's contact point further forward I would be looking to increase her range of movement in the left hip, by using a balance reach and lunge matrix, especially in the transverse (rotational) plane. Eva has a problem with her left hip(maybe anatomical certainly functional) and these exercises will increase her range incrementally. I would look at her range of movement at the shoulder and encourage movement in all three planes either by moving the arm in a swing matrix and/or moving the body to create the required movement in the arm. It seems that her extension forward in the sagital plane starts before the rotation in the transverse plane completes. This inhibits here ability to get the arm low enough and also forward enough in the sagital plane and might explain why her body compensates by moving up and to the right in the forward swing. I would also look at her range at the elbow and wrist on the same basis.

John, sorry for long windedness, but you might sum up the difference in our method this way. You would have a better contact point in mind for her which she would achieve over time with practice.
I would work on her body's range of motion with exercises that build on her success, enabling her to make contact as far forward as her body can achieve with authentic movement, at any given time in her training.

John my interest is in understanding what movement science in function can do in helping to coach technique and help avoid injury.( I was interested to note what don_budge had to say about her body's engagement to play tennis- it seemed to be all about her lack of movement)

John, hope I haven't confused or bored you too much as I am probably an over zealous convert to Applied Functional Science. I must add that it has transformed my tennis. My game had deteriorated along with my body after 30 years of coaching and playing without functional training. It works for me as a player and is helping a wide variety of my students.
As I said, Nike are promoting Applied Functional Science in Golf and a Premiership Football Team, here in the UK, have a A.F.S. consultant.
It is becoming an accepted teaching method in more sports and will reach tennis in time. Video and slow motion have revealed more of the truth of function, than it was possible to know when most of the theories and practises used today, were put in place. This is changing fast.
Sorry John, did mention my tendency to over zealousness.
Thanks
Vaughan

[don_budge]

Backswing in an hour...

Good deal for her. Her body is not engaged to play tennis. From ready position to the finish of her swing. She needs a lot of training in movement...I believe she would really benefit from Mark's training videos.

She doesn't look connected as a coach once said to another coach in Florida on a bright sunny day. Strongly recommend the training program for a month and tell her to come back. That will make all of the difference. She may not come back one with the universe but she will be ready for phase two...commitment to the shot.

Chest on the ball. Weight on the front foot. Left hand...oops right hand (she´s left handed) actively engaged and not passively falling by the way side. Hips and legs thrusting into the "path" of the ball or the "path" of her swing. Energy not dissipating up and to the right in thin air. Lean on the ball through your racquet head!

You need one more hour. You fixed her backswing in an hour. One more hour for the journey forwards. Maybe two...for that moment that is betwixt and between. The Mad Hatter's moment. The transition...when it is all hanging in the balance. Good work. Nice article. Excellent presentation and video support.

Do you have any room for an apprentice? Will work for food.

[johnyandell]

Vaughn,

Just not sure there is any significant deceleration in the backswing--my primitive understanding is that it stays about the same or increases--so no I am not really worried about that from the injury point of view. Straight backswings all in all aren't a problem and can work at even high levels. I still love the simplicity of Mac and Connors in that respect.

I would like to see her close her racket face a little more in Brian's position.

But my main concern (injury as well as effectiveness) would be to move her contact more forward. In the neutral stance her torso should be about 45 degrees at contact.

The main point of the article was to show how one position that was new to my teaching had an amazing ripple effect in less than an hour. It was just by chance that I got a chance to work with Eva but if it happens ago I might update.

[johnyandell]

Stotty, Vaughn,

Great to have two LTA coaches posting! Vaughn since Stotty has a few hundred posts what I'd like to do is give you a different login to avoid confusion--hopefully you'll be making more posts but it's too weird to have both of you under the LTA login. Email me what you'd like for a login ok? videotennis@metricmail.com

John Yandell

[johnyandell]

db,

That all happened in less than an hour. Pretty much real time.

[bottle]

For Alexandra

I'm not sure that anyone really tried to answer Alexandra's question, perhaps because it seemed rhetorical; i.e., Alexandra already knew that a closed racket opening as a feature of forehand forward stroke is easier to produce well than an open racket closing in a somewhat similar but more dissimilar way. Stotty is a person who has discussed this same subject compellingly regarding the one-handed backhand of J. Donald Budge.

But I'd like to contemplate a third forehand possibility: forward swing that retains the initial setting of its pitch right up to slingshot. This would be basic Roger Federer before he gets into all of his extreme variations. How does he do it? With a connected, i.e., solid swing.

Solid swing will never change pitch (exception: If hips suddenly angulate like an Austrian skier crying "Hoopla"). Neither will scapular adduction (slow or "the slingshot" so long as this shoulder housing spring is parallel to the court). Neither will a weak but wide, independent sweep of the arm. Pitch only opens when arm takes an underhand solo as in a bowling alley. To counter such opening if one must, one can use adjustment roll by the arm, but why choose something that in most instances is unnecessarily complex?

I'm learning from one-handed backhand that one can apply both kinds of independent arm travel at the same time for all kinds of variation so long as a basic inside out swing exists. I think of the two-- scapular retraction (A) and shoulder ball motion within the shoulder housing that's most likely "bowling" (B) as corollaries that vary in inverse proportion. Want to steer these shots better? Adjust the corollaries.

Basic inside out swing never crosses-- in either direction-- a mental line to the target and is an even arc that coincides briefly with that line before leaving it. One can nudge (prolong) the coincision a little. This is best done from the gross bod since no one wants to inhibit the arm.

[stotty]

Eva's Forehand

John
I agree with you that if certain positions are right the rest falls into place.
The only difference in approach would be that for me biomechanically right is the objective with both performance and recreational players. I am an Applied Functional Science novice with about 15 months study and some direct experience with my own game and the players I coach. (Nike have just teamed up with the Gray Institute for AFS to launch a Golf programme)

As I understand it Eva's take back on her forehand is straight back at the shoulder with no external (backwards) rotation which would be the preferred way for the body to slow the backwards movement (lengthening to decelerate) prior to moving forwards (contracting to accelerate). You can see this external rotation in Federer's movement and it is clearest as he moves through the flip into the slot (Brian's terms). The forward movement should involve internal rotation at the hip as well as straight line movement and internal rotation at the shoulder. In Eva's case the hip follows the arm and the internal rotation is only clear to see form the elbow to the wrist at the end of the motion as her body tries to decelerate the forward swing. ( does she have any lower back stiffness and aches after playing.) These movements occur throughout the arm and there are other movements at the elbow and wrist which I won't detail now for clarity.
I am working with some players with similar profiles to Eva and with similar technical problems. I have worked on simple exercises to extend their range of motion at the hip, shoulder, elbow and wrist which have helped them achieve sounder technique and helped with some stiffnes and aches (lower back) they were experiencing after playing.
It has been my experience recently that the most significant barrier to learning good technique is an individuals' range of motion. I can teach good technique but if my player has a limited range of motion in key parts of the kinetic chain he or she will be unable to reproduce it. Training the body to extend a range of motion in all three planes, in function, has worked with all my players whether they are older with less responsive bodies or younger and need to learn how to move.
I hope you have stayed with me as it can be a bit dry to read but once you try functional training the results speak for themselves. The routines are simple and easy to do and have helped me regain good biomechanical function for everyday activity and tennis at 60.
If you are interested to understand more u can see my youtube channel tenniseye1 or visit the Gray Institute site who have pioneered Applied Functional Science in the States for the last 30 years and are now working with Nike in Golf. It will be Tennis next but the process works for all activity, as it is based on the principles of how the body is designed to work in function.
Thanks
Vaughan

[johnyandell]

Vaughan,

Thanks for the thoughts. I tend to think that if certain key positions are right, the rest will take care of itself. When I see Eva again I paln to work more on the image of the contact point, see what that does and take it from there. I still see her contact as late and maybe still too far to the side.

Can you clarify what you mean and translate the biomechanical terms? I am not seeing clearly what you are talking about.

[stotty]

Eva's Forehand

John
Admire your work and your tie up with Brian Gordon, slow motion and biomechanical function are a powerful combination.
From my limited knowledge of biomechanical function, I might suggest that Eva's left shoulder and left hip would be causes for concern, not only for her forehand technique but possibly for greater injury risk there and possibly her lower back. (What does her Husband Ken say?)
My focus is to find functional remedies that enhance performance and reduce injury risk for the recreational players I work with.
Her old and new take backs include little obvious external rotation at the shoulder and her forward swing before and after appears to be unaided by much hip movement or internal rotation and enough extension at the shoulder.(her rotation in the forward swing seems to start at the elbow. Does that mean her deceleration of the movement only starts there and what does it mean for the muscle and joints further up the chain that are not being decelerated.)
She is not using her body's range of motion in all three planes, possibly through previous injury or a combination of lack of use or training.
Correcting these biomechanical dysfunctions with simple exercises in function might be the simplest way to permanently improve technique and reduce injury risk. I try to do this for myself and my clients by using routines based on Applied Functional Science and they appear to be making a lot of difference, but are a work in progress.
John, I would welcome your comments on my videos on "Improving your Range of Motion in Function" on my YouTube channel Tenniseye1.
My forehand video will be up in a few days but the serve video gives an explanation of method.
Look Forward to your comments.
Vaughan Ebrahim
Licensed LTA Senior Club Coach
GI Foundation Applied Functional Science

[don_budge]

Question Johnny Boy (Mean Streets, Robert DeNiro character)...

Would love you hear your thoughts on "Your Strokes: Eva So: Forehand"!

How many hours were invested between the before and after results? Just curious. Loved the music video! Lots of love in the process...isn't there?

[stotty]

Cool

This really is a great article about a regular club player. A great lesson for all coaches. Reducing excessive backswings in both adults and youngsters can produce dramatic results. It nearly always leads to greater consistency and more controlled power.

Tennisplayer is widely respected here in the UK. Many coaches have become switched on to the idea of creating type 3 forehands...they have become familiar with the work of John and Brian Gordon... reducing excessive backswings has become a key thing....especially in junior girls, where it's widespread.

Word spreads fast...

I wonder how long it will be before the majority of the women's tour have forehands that resemble the type 3 model?

John is absolutely right when he says correcting Eva's backswing automatically improved other components of the stroke. I've noticed the same thing in many of my students...so many things improve as a result of just that one change. How cool is that.

[bman]

She still has that issue where the racket face is sort of open as she comes through contact. That's a tough one and I have no solution.

Also, needs to keep the left arm up longer, not just fall limply as she goes to contact.