Height in Pro Tennis

[BrianGordon]

Hi Jeremy93 - It has been my experience that returning favors quickness and agility in movement and preparation. Less and lower mass of the body and segments should, in theory, be useful in this regard. While this seems to support the anecdotal trend (and certainly Diego) it is highly individual and not determinative.

While I train my players extensively in both serve and return, I must admit that for those of perceived (I work with developmental kids) small stature I put relatively more emphasis on return. I hope that doesn't offend anyone, but I believe it could be a factor as I said in the article and in the interview.

[jeremy93]

Great article Brian. It is not clear to me why shorter players seem to have an advantage on return of serve. Is it because they tend to move their shorter limbs faster then tall players? Thank you.

[don_budge]

I'm getting old doctorhi.

I don't think you are getting "old"...I think you are getting "experienced".

[BrianGordon]

Interesting - when I put something out for public consumption I spend a lot of intellectual capital honestly assessing any potential flaws in my logic - and I have no problem being controversial if I can defend my position. But... the latter never even entered my mind - I'm getting old doctorhi.

[doctorhl]

A great and informative article by BG. The bigger takeaway for me is 60 minutes editing. I understand television pressure on a profile piece, but it irritates me that networks deprive the public of so much information that their algorithms screen out because of perceived low ratings, even within a segment. I also suspect that BG’s correct assumption that some subsets of elite performance are genetically determined might trigger red flag algorithms for “woke” inclined producers.

[johnyandell]

Let's discuss Dr Brian Gordon's latest article, "Height in Pro Tennis"