Footwork and Sanchez-Casal Academy

[worldsbesttenniscoach]

I enjoyed the comments about the Spanish emphasis on the practice drills of basket-feeding & self-dropped balls.

My old coach, the great Peter Scott, used to make sure his students learned how to drop & then stroke balls well. The students would practice this drill a lot, for all their various strokes. Also, Coach Scott emphasized the importance of balls well fed out of a hopper or cart. If the coach can't feed balls skillfully, the students' time & money are somewhat wasted.

Coach Scott produced many individual & team champions at the state high school & national collegiate levels. Many of his teaching ideas were well ahead of their time.

[don_budge]

The Feed...Infinite options

You know, interesting how you talk about a coach feeding balls skillfully. Sampras said his American coach Landsdorf was terrific in feeding balls. I have a hitting pro who plays with my kid, and that's what I tell him, challenge and stretch her as far as you can. Make her hit balls you, me and the kid don't believe they can hit. Then you'll have progress.

I wonder why I can't find anything anywhere on proper ball feeding techniques for coaches. Perhaps a guy like Landsdorf is doing a few things instinctively better than anyone else. I hear he has old man's strength, however, this was interesting quote:

"By having Maria Sharapova hit her forehand over and over again, she’s able to handle it because she’s seen hundreds of thousands of balls come to her at 100 miles per hour. I can hit them out of a basket a foot inside the line, a foot from the baseline, 100 miles an hour, over and over. Then I can change the pace all of the sudden. It’s just constant work and making sure that the drive is clean and through the ball."

Its funny, I have my eight year old give lesson's to four, five and six year's at our facility, and she has to feed them balls. She mentions it's really hard work to feed correctly! It's interesting to watch my eight year old give a lesson, because you can quickly see the holes she has in terms of knowledge. We then enter in, fill in the gap, advise her what she needs to study and see what she figured out. Of course, we make it seem like everything is her idea, and let her figure out things on her own, so she see's them as her own, and values it more.

I feed balls off of the short bounce with a half volley stroke. I can put the ball anywhere in the court off of this motion and by using my whole body and every single swing I hope that I am saving wear and tear on my arm or on any specific body part. So far...so good.

I see people feeding balls out of the air and it never looks right to me. Bounce the ball and meet the ball on it's way up from the bounce...that way you are using the speed on the ball that is already in the ball. Hit the ball on the rise. At the same time you can hit underspin, flat or overspin and vary your speed of delivery.

Different speeds for each and every student depending upon what the point of the lesson or any particular shot might be. One of the more interesting aspects of being a tennis trainer is the subject of feeding. The intuition that it takes to perceive how much speed or spin or trajectory that challenges each individual varies from student to student. A good tennis trainer gets instant information from each individual regarding their capabilities. Each feed ball represents a question mark...what are we trying to accomplish with this ball. The funny part about it is when you mess up a feed ball...sometimes the student will look at you as if you have insulted them. They get so used to the perfection of the feed.

I use the progressive four step drill called "steps" where the player gets a ball on their baseline that I am feeding from the far baseline. The next ball is to their approach shot zone and the next is a volley and the next is a smash. All of the permutations and combinations required or available for such a drill is nearly infinite. It's an amazing accomplishment in a lot of respects and testimony to the repetitive nature and capability of a tennis trainer. Impervious to boredom!

Much like competitive tennis players can read and analyze their opponent in the ten minute warmup even if they have never seen them before.

[stotty]

Basket feeding...more than meets the eye.

Years ago I was dead against basket feeding and would label coaches as lazy if they conducted whole lessons like this. These days I have a much different view. Skillful basket feeding can test good players far more than other feeding methods. You can also make it incredibly specific. Also, as I am getting older and find it more difficult to keep up with young stallions, basket feeding really makes sense.

Where I became much more skilled at feeding was at a course run by the Sanchez-Casal Academy. Sergio Casal, no less, showed me the relevance of basket feeding and how to put really good players through their paces AND coach relevant points at the same time. He made clear EVERY sequence of feeds has to relate to typical scenarios that happen in a match. He also made clear that the coach should not stand in one position to feed but must move into the relevant positions of cover, as an opponent would in a game, as he delivers feeds to different areas of the court.

Sergio had four other Spanish coaches assisting him on the course. Myself and twelve other British coaches spent the whole day learning the art of basket feeding. Often the most vigorous drills were where the coach hand feeds on the student's side of the net, dropping balls while standing just a short distance the player, usually these related to intense footwork drills.

[johnyandell]

10sPlayer,


I've spoken directly to Emilio about doing some articles and he is amenable. Chris has asked Luis the same with the same response. The logistics of making that happen? I would say eventually, probably... And thanks for the A grade.

[10splayer]

10sPlayer,


I've spoken directly to Emilio about doing some articles and he is amenable. Chris has asked Luis the same with the same response. The logistics of making that happen? I would say eventually, probably... And thanks for the A grade.

Thanks John.

[worldsbesttenniscoach]

hockeyscout: Great idea of yours to let your daughter teach & feed balls to younger tennis students. Yes, your daughter is learning new things about tennis as she does this.

[hockeyscout]

It's basic

Thanks. You know tennis worldsbestcoach.

[tntenniswhiz]

10sPlayer,


I've spoken directly to Emilio about doing some articles and he is amenable. Chris has asked Luis the same with the same response. The logistics of making that happen? I would say eventually, probably... And thanks for the A grade.

John, I am ecstatic about the possibility of Emilio and Luis contributing to Tennisplayer. I personally believe both the website and this combo is revolutionary, and bringing them together is fantastic!

[johnyandell]

Greg,

Thanks. Emilio is probably more doable. Luis has said he is coming to the states, but... Everyone who is really good tends to end up here eventually...Don't look for it this year, but eventually!