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just a thought, Phil, -- LOL as I figure out my own serve stuff -- but might it not be your left arm --from toss to extension --- that is making the difference between your match swing and your practice swing? Its not active at all in this video....
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Yes, fer1001, I was just doing a shadow swing of the hitting arm. (This winter...) However, persistence is my middle name, and tomorrow is another day...Comment
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I recognize your middle name! Indeed, I understand. I would add here a reflection: I pointed out the left arm because of a methodological question I have -- in the forehand, for example, "we" work on the unit turn as inseparable left and right arm, shoulder hip etc. All as a unit. So, I am using this concept of unit turn to practice the serve backswing and left arm motion --all as one piece in the rollercoaster ride. Not to belabor golf, but if the first few feet of the swing are not smooth and deliberate the whole backswing falls apart. If we practice the serve in chunks -- are we helping ourselves and our muscle memory (under pressure) to perform that smooth takeaway? I am taking your video as a point of departure for a question of *how* to practice what we want to perform under pressure? it makes me wonder, furthermore, about practicing velocity and power. A golf pro I talked to once said that research shows that adult golf learners can't achieve real power in their swings because unlike kids who learn to play golf they haven't learned to let loose on their swings. This pro asks kids to swing as hard as they can --and then once they learn power he teaches them control. I digress from your video here but the question is whether that is really true that an adult learner can't achieve that kind of unleashed power or power proportionate to one's physical ability. is power-acceleration something "mental-emotional" that somehow we have as kids but are so in control of as adults that "our "(correct: mine) swings become full of effort rather than effortlessly powerful ---not simply because of technique? Say that I work and achieve a decent technically correct serve motion -- work fluid, will it naturally become powerful ....? I haven't gotten their yet. Long digression -- when I just meant to say: keep at it!Comment
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Muscle Memory versus Fluid Motion Factor...Steve Yellin
I was in the bunker practicing my sand shots today. This is the second time...I think I mentioned it in an earlier post. Interesting though. The same guy was there both times practicing. Today we started talking.
Long story short...he mentioned this fellow Steve Yellin. He said he is a tennis guy. This stuff is about golf. I make no apologies. Here's a paper...I haven't read it yet.
Here is a video that I watched. I will be looking for more on this fellow.
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Thanks, I like the concept of first toss then hit. Concentrate on one at a time. Will try it out.Originally posted by doctorhl View Post
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Great video don_budge! Stop thinking!Comment
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Yes, paralysis by analysis. That is where I am. The best match I played was years ago at the city of Zurich championships. I played against the number 5 of Switzerland and lost 3-6,3-6, but I was in the zone. When you are playing well, you do not think. You are in a Zen state. Thinking when playing screws you up.
will try letting go and letting the serve happen.Comment
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“I have met the enemy and he is me”.Comment
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You must think in practice and be able to translate those thoughts into action. This is a difficult task and one that takes a veritable Houdini to accomplish on one's own. You can get all tied up in knots...you know. Like myself for example. As I unravel the mysteries of the golf swing. Bunker play. Little swings...big swings. Everything in between. Then out to the course to face the devil. It's coming. The feel is returning in all of the parts of my body. A tip here...a tip there. Another piece of the puzzle. The Holy Grail. It's my right knee. It's my belly button. It's my left ear for God's sake. Please Lord...you are my shepherd.Originally posted by gzhpcu View Post
Once in competition and you face the devil. Your fears of losing. Of looking bad. Whatever that ails you. It's best to "think" as little as possible of your technique. The only thoughts in your noodle should be tactical shots. Knowing all of the time what the score is. Asking yourself that existential question..."What is the score?" Then playing to that score with your game plan. If you have one. You should have one by the way.
It takes faith. It is an act of God one might say. You have to be willing to make the infinite number of failures in the belief you are headed in the right direction. You must know that there is light at the end of the tunnel even though it may have been pitch black and you haven't seen the light of day around you for many, many years. In a sense you must make yourself believe in Santa Claus knowing in your mind it is impossible for a Saint Nick to exist but in your heart you die before you admit the truth.
The shots that we play in tennis and golf are like little tiny prayers. A liturgy. We rely on our pre-shot routine and our dedication to practice. We clasp our hands and look to heaven asking for an answer. Swear at the devil. You'll get the answer...with enough repetition and enough adaption. Prayers are always answered. It is the nature of the game. It if for true believers. All of the rest are the plethora of losers. Which we all are by the way.
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What I did last time I played was not think. Took a deep breath before serving, visualized myself hitting the serve and placing it, then executed the serve just as I visualized it. Never served so well. Unfortunately did not video it. But no matter, serve felt great.Comment
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"Things took place completely at random and it became, for Woody, a matter of intense effort and concentration to get the ball aloft and have it rendezvous with his racket, the head of which arrived at contact point only after a tortuous journey through an unexplored region behind his back...
Sometimes, Woody explained to me philosophically, ' I have to throw the ball up first and then start my swing, and at other times I have to start my swing first and then throw the ball up. And the worst of it is, I don't know when or why.'"
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His service remained, apparently, a permanent mystery. At the time of the Janovic match, a further complication had crept in. Suddenly for no apparant reason, the throat of his racket had begun to make contact with the back of his head-- not on every swing, but often enough to create tension. "Its very disturbing, he said in his grave, serous way ' not to know when you're going to get hit from behind. It makes it very dangerous to go for an ace!"
(From Gordon Forbes, A Handful of Summers),Comment
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Good to know we are not alone..
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This is interesting. The key is..."serve felt great". You see...there is that word feel. It probably felt great to have that ball in your hands before you even served because you "knew" the result was going to be positive. The key is to duplicate this feel and more importantly to understand what caused it to feel like it did.Originally posted by gzhpcu View Post
Usually besides the visualising as you mention there is a verbal cue. Perhaps it was even subconscious. A key swing thought. The other day...after watching this video I keyed on my setup balance before I started my swing. He makes a simple explanation regarding setup balance at the beginning. I "felt" like my swing was a natural and flowing motion. Keep in mind I was playing golf but the serve is the one stroke in tennis that we play under similar circumstances as in golf.
When you have a day of "great" serving go out afterwards and try and duplicate what you have accomplished with some simple practice serves and try to understand what it was that motivated your good performance right down to the last detail.
The visualising and breathing may have been the keys but that doesn't fully explain what physically happened. But you don't really need to know what happened. Perhaps there was a greater degree of relaxation. A fatalistic feeling of giving in to everything and just letting the darn thing happen. This is what happened with my golf swing. Good set up...good backswing and then just letting go. Get in position and relax...there is a good place to start.
You can do it. Now you KNOW that. Once you have done something as you describe it there is no reason you cannot make this your standard performance with the right amount of practice and the proper attitude. I have been practicing and I have begun to incorporate play on a regular basis. Facing the devil out on the course. Excellent results for this point in the resurrection. So I must continue to repeat the process that I have incorporated. The feel for the most uncomfortable of shots is definitely coming back. First in practice and then in play. At some point it will be time to test in in competition.
Keep up the good work. The only thing this old world understands is hard work.Comment
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I hit 200 plus balls out of the sand bunker today. It was going to be my day off...nearly exhausted. But I couldn't resist after studying this video by Nick Faldo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=_1hkM7WfG3c
It was a bit frustrating at first. But you have to stay calm and focus on the technique. It is all about technique in the sand. There is no real mystery. It's actually a straight forwards shot but the technique is a bit different because you don't actually make contact with the ball. In the end the balls were coming out of the sand like a warm knife slicing through butter.
Then there is this video with Ben Hogan..."The Most Important Part of the Swing". Hogan is fifty plus years old in this video I believe and it is amazing to study his backswing and how far back he actually gets the club. My first thought was what an effort it must be to get it that far back but then after studying it I realised that he must have such a loose, relaxed grip that the wrists hinge naturally from the weight of the clubhead. Then it was off to the range to experiment...voila. Quite correct sherlock_budge! Elementary my dear Stotty! Voila! Eureka!
It is the same idea with the service backswing...one must hold on to the racquet as if you are holding onto a live bird. That observation actually reputedly came from Sam Snead who is Hogan's partner in this video. Any tension in the grip is going to be reflected in tension in the forearms and this is going to restrict the fluidity in the motion that you are trying to accomplish.
Notice how the drive with his legs also further swings the club further into position just as the driving of the legs in the serve drops that racquet further down behind the server. The key operative word is swing which implies relaxed fluid motion. Sam Snead also has a beautiful swing...one of the best of all time. He is also well past his "prime" but manages to be supple and limber in his swing.Comment
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