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Saturday, July 28, 2007

Approach Shots: Forehand and Backhand




Q. How do you hit it a forehand and two-handed backhand approach shot while moving forward to the ball at the service line (and making contact just below the net)? Do you slow down and twist? What stance is best?

A. In a perfect world, you don’t want to be moving. You want to be stable. If you are moving, try to have a solid foundation and be as still as possible. This is a key to making good contact. For the forehand, good racquet preparation, combined with good footwork, will give you the best chance to execute properly. Since the ball is below the level of the net—soft hands and good racquet head speed are keys to generate topspin. Accelerate the racquet head up-and-out, use bold or italics for emphasis] but focus on the contact, not the forward movement afterwards. Your stance is a personal preference, but it should emulate your forehand from the baseline as much as possible. The backhand side is trickier. Moving forward and hitting a two-handed backhand can be tough. Again, try to stabilize your foundation as much as possible and let the off-hand help accelerate through the ball. This will add heavy topspin, increasing the safety of your shot. Hit the shot aggressively, and make sure to use your other hand to help create an offensive and safe approach.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

The Backhand Lob of Justine Henin

The Belgian uses perfect disguise for maximum effectiveness.



Justine Henin is a big player for such a small woman. I first saw her play when she was 10 years old and it was apparent even then that she was tremendously talented. Her signature
shot, the one-handed backhand, was well on its way to becoming the beautiful stroke it is today. There’s nothing Henin can’t do with her backhand. In this sequence we see her produce one of the most difficult shots in the game, the backhand topspin lob.


1. Disguise is key for an effective topspin lob and there’s nothing about Henin’s preparation that signals that she’s about to hit one. Instead, she gets directly behind the ball and positions herself as if she’s going to hit any other passing shot. The racquet is up behind her head and her shoulders and hips are turned, which is critical on a one-handed backhand. You can’t see it in this photo, but her left hand is cradling the racquet at the throat to assist in her shoulder turn. She’s also bending her knees and loading her weight on her back foot.

2. Henin begins to drop the racquet head under the ball. Her left hand is just coming off the throat, which gives you an indication of how much she uses it to guide the racquet. She has an extreme grip as opposed to the classic Eastern backhand grip. I’d call it a semi-Western backhand, because her hand is so far around on the handle. Her balance and posture are excellent, and her head is very still as she begins to transfer her weight to her front foot.

3. Only now can you tell that Henin is going to hit a lob. Her racquet head has dropped very low so it’s well under the ball. She’s going to bring her racquet up quickly to brush behind the ball and lift it over her opponent’s head. Her hitting arm is extended out and she’ll make contact well ahead of her front foot. Her head has not moved since the fi rst frame.


4. If you compare this frame to the previous one, you can see Henin’s sharply vertical swing and how she’s rotated her arm to produce the topspin she wants. She can do that because her extreme grip keeps her racquet face more closed than a conventional Eastern. I also like how her left hand stays back to counterbalance her hitting arm. She has fully transferred her weight to her front foot and sent the ball on its way, yet her head is virtually in the same place it was in the fi rst frame.

5. The momentum resulting from Henin’s extreme upward swing path and the extension of her hitting arm has carried her slightly up onto the ball of her front foot. But Henin has maintained perfect posture and balance, showing that she has excellent technique and strong core muscles.

6. It’s interesting to see that Henin has kept the same 90-degree angle between her racquet and forearm in the last three frames. Instead of using her wrist to fl ick the racquet as you might expect, she rotates her forearm and shoulder to produce a sharp upward sweep. Though we can’t be certain, this may be because she decided to hit the lob at the last instant. Either way, she disguised and executed it perfectly.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Maintaining a Lead

Daniela HantuchovaHow to keep focus after winning the first set.


It was just minutes ago that you won a hard-fought first set 6-4. Now you’re down an early break in the second. You’re starting to tighten up, and you feel as if you’re losing the match even though you’re ahead on the scoreboard. The momentum should be on your side, but it’s slipping away. You ask yourself what happened. This scenario plays out time and again at all levels of the game. Why? It’s in our nature to escape the un-pleasant feeling of excessive stress. In a close tennis match the stress on the player in the lead increases as he progresses toward the conclusion of a set and, ultimately, the match.

After winning a difficult, tense set there’s often a conflict between your logical mind, which tells you to keep applying pres-sure and close out the match, and your subconscious mind, which suggests that you temporarily escape all this stress by easing up and taking a well-deserved mental break. With a set under your belt, now feels like as good a time as any.

Big mistake. On the other side of the net, your opponent knows that he has to bear down or he’ll soon be leaving the court a loser. So he tends to maintain or increase his intensity level. Couple that with your own tendency to let up at this stage and there’s a momentum change just waiting to happen.

How do you prevent it? In this situation, forewarned is forearmed. If you win the first set, take a few moments to collect yourself and pump yourself up. Then redouble your efforts at the start of the second set. It often helps to play games with your mind. Try to convince yourself that the match is starting over and that you have to jump out to an early lead. Be even more aggressive, resolute, and focused than you were in the first set. Concentrate on each point to minimize your errors and show your opponent that he’s in for a long and painful afternoon if he wants to win.

Your opponent, trailing in the match, may be on the brink of despair. Your immediate objective should be to break his spirit by being tough. Don’t let him back into the match. Remember that your opponent is looking for some sign of weakness on your part to convince him that the first set was a fluke. If you let up even the slightest bit, you might give him hope. As the second set begins, keep the door shut—or, better still, slam it on your opponent’s foot.

Friday, July 20, 2007

Jump start your warm-up

We’ve all done it –at the court just minutes before our match starts, do a couple of knee bends, and then think we’re ready to play. After dropping the first three games of the set we scratch our heads, wondering why we’re playing so lifelessly. If you want to come out firing bullets instead of blanks, you’ve got to come on the court warm and excited to play. The best scenario would be to practice a half-hour before you play, but you’re not always going to have the opportunity. So at the bare minimum you should try to get your heart pumping before you take the court. That way your blood is flowing, your muscles are loose, and you’re ready to compete. A quick and effective way to do this is jumping rope. A jump rope is inexpensive, ready for travel, and easy to use. You don’t have to go at a Rocky-like pace, but several minutes of steady jump rope will prepare you for a match in important ways because it:

Simulates Running – During warm-ups you tend to hit the balls directly at each other. This may help with your strokes, but during a match how often are balls hit in that fashion. Work the rope up to a good speed and you’ll feel like your sprinting for a drop shot.

Heats You Up – Watch a professional in any sport and you’ll see they start a contest already sweating. Jumping rope helps get a lather going. For those worried about tiring out, a moderate amount of jump rope will actually energize, not weaken you.

Entire Body Exercise – Jumping rope utilizes the wrist, forearm, shoulder, and whole leg, which are all crucial for playing good tennis. It also increases coordination and balance, two things a player can never have enough of.

So if you suffer from early match flatness, you can skip it by jumping rope.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

The 12 Step Program for Tennis

Whenever our strokes fail most of us assume our swing is to blame. But my observation is that the majority of errors in tennis occur when players stop moving their feet as much as they normally do, forcing them to use their hands in unpracticed ways to compensate for their poor positioning. And all too often the predictable result is a ball that goes into the net or outside the lines.

Tennis is a game of movement and good preparation. The best players know this and pay special attention to their footwork. Need evidence? Consider this. The pros average about 10-12 steps between each ball they hit in a rally (around 8-10 if they get into a crosscourt exchange where the ball is hit too deep for the opponent to change the direction without a high risk factor); strong high school players and fair college players about 8-10; 4.0-4.5 players about 6-8; 3.0-3.5 players about 4-6; and 2.5-3.0 players only take an average of 2-4 steps between shots in a point.

Want to raise your level of play? Clearly, one way to do it is to add more steps to your preparation. In fact, if you aim for an average of 12 steps between shots your level of play will sky rocket. Guaranteed. Oh, by the way, if you think this doesn't apply to you because you play doubles, think again. The Bryan brothers often take 20 steps between shots when they play.

Lob or Not

Here’s the scenario. You’re under attack from your opponent at the net. You reach his shot in time to have a choice of whether to lob or go for a passing shot. Which do you chose?

For most recreational players the decision should follow a simple rule of thumb: lob if you’re behind the baseline, and go for the passer if you’re in front of it. Why? If you’re standing in back of the baseline and attempt a passing shot your opponent will have time to pick off all but your best shots. It’s best in that case to try and push him back with a lob. On the other hand, if you’re in front of the baseline the odds of your passing shot succeeding are improved, and even if you don’t hit an outright winner you stand a strong chance of forcing a weak reply that you can deal with on your next shot.

So the next time you’re under fire from a net-rushing opponent use this basic guideline—lob if you’re behind the baseline, pass if you’re in front of it—to make your shot selection in this situation virtually foolproof.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Andy Roddicks Serve

Monday, July 09, 2007

High Five: Federer ties Borg with Wimbledon win

By Kamakshi Tandon

Roger Federer
Roger Federer won his 5th consecutive Wimbledon title as the weather finally turned bright and clear during the final weekend of the Championships.

© Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Wimbledon began with rainy and ragged weather, but it finished with a day of sunshine that bathed the men’s final in a glow never possible until this year’s roofless Centre Court opened the stadium to the skies.

The tennis also shone, a five-set battle between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal that turned Federer’s way just when it looked as if the title might be slipping from his grasp.

He won the last four games to close out the match 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2, falling to his knees in trademark style before collapsing onto his back in relief. The victory gives Federer his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, tying him with Bjorn Borg as the only player to achieve the feat in the Open Era.

Federer also tied Borg's (and Rod Laver's) mark of 11 Grand Slam titles, putting him behind only Roy Emerson (12) and Pete Sampras (14) in the all-time list of men’s champions. At 25, he hopes he has time to move up the list. “Obviously it’s on my mind,” he said. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up, but I definitely feel like I’m mentally and physically still fit to go on for many more years to come.”

Borg made a rare appearance at Wimbledon to watch Federer equal his record. The two spoke afterwards in front of the champions’ honor roll, where both their names are carved so many times.

Several other legends were also present for the final, and the Swiss world No. 1 looked like a vintage presence himself during the trophy ceremony, wearing a white jacket and long pants. “It was a huge occasion for me, huge pressure – “Bjorn Borg sitting there, Jimmy Connors sitting there, John McEnroe sitting there, Boris Becker sitting there,” said Federer.

With his latest win, he’s on his way to eclipsing them all. The only significant hole in Federer’s record is the French Open, where Nadal has ruled for the last three years.

Federer wasn’t the only one trying to match Borg on Sunday – Nadal was attempting to become the first player to win the French Open and Wimbledon back-to-back since the Swede did it in 1978. Appropriately enough, sitting beside Borg in the Royal Box was Manuel Santana, the only Spanish men’s champion at Wimbledon so far.

But the 21-year-old Nadal drew comfort from coming ever closer to winning the title he says he covets above all others. Federer and Nadal have now played the French Open and Wimbledon finals back-to-back for two years running, but Nadal can say he has come closer to toppling Federer on his turf at SW19 than Federer has against Nadal on Parisian clay.

“I play very good level, playing against one of the best in history in this surface... I’m playing at a similar level,” said Nadal.

The two had taken very different paths to get to the final – not least in the time spent on court. Nadal had played almost six more hours coming into the match, including two five-setters early in the week when the tournament was playing catch-up because of rain. Federer, meanwhile, had received a five-day break in between thanks to the weather and the injury withdrawal of his fourth-round opponent Tommy Haas

Nadal still managed to push Federer to five sets – the first time that’s ever happened in a Grand Slam final – and the world No. 1 knows his younger rival presents a growing challenge. “I’m happy with every one I get now, before he takes over,” Federer told the Centre Court crowd.

For Nadal, it's the first time he's lost in a deciding fifth set in over two years. But he too spoke about his opponent with typical graciousness. Talking about Federer’s quest to top the Grand Slam list, Nadal said, “[Whether] he going to win 14 or 16 or 13, in my opinion [his] tennis level is the best of the history.”

The mutual praise was a pleasing epilogue to a hard-fought and draining match that had given both players reason to believe they might triumph. "Maybe if we have to find any difference, maybe the difference is the serve," said Nadal when asked what had determined the outcome. "He serve better than me and that's important in every surface, but in this surface more."

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal, trying to become only the second Spanish man to win Wimbledon, had four chances to go up a break up in the fifth set.

© Chris Young/AFP Getty
Federer agreed. "From the baseline... I always thought he had the upper hand for some reason and I couldn't really play that agressive like I wanted," he said. "But my serve kept me in, and I definitely won the big points today, which was most important."

The first set was decided in a tiebreak that mirrored the rest of the set – Federer beginning with an early lead and Nadal coming back; brilliant play slowly giving way to more nervy errors.

The second set appeared to be chugging steadily to another tiebreak conclusion when, without warning Nadal found a set point at 4-5 and leveled the match with a superb backhand pass down the line.

Both players lifted their level in the third, but Federer managed to deliver the first strike often enough during the tiebreak to nose ahead. But it was Nadal who struck first in the fourth, finding winners from all over and breaking Federer twice to go up 3-0.

While securing his second break, Nadal left Federer visibly rattled when he used Hawk-Eye to successfully challenge a call. Earlier, a Hawk-Eye challenge from the Spaniard had overturned a point that would have won Federer the first set.

“How could that ball be in?” Federer plaintively asked the umpire during the changeover. The normally-unflappable Swiss was so disgruntled with the system that he wanted it turned off. “It’s killing me,” he told the chair.

Afterwards, he admitted that the emotion of the match had got to him. “I was just frustrated because already I got broken first up and then to be broken this way was for me very irritating,” he said. “So it took me a few games to kind of forget about it and I was ready for the fifth, thank God.”

Nadal called the trainer mid-way through the fourth set for treatment on his right knee. He did not appear to be unduly hampered, however, closing out the fourth set and twice going up double break point early in the fifth. After managing to hold both times, Federer suddenly lifted his game as if the reprieve had given him release.

“It was a tough moment to be in. I was nervous,” said Federer. “But I served well and played smart, took the right decisions.

”I was so happy when I came out of it because I knew that now he probably missed his chance. If I get one [now], I’ll probably make it. That’s exactly what happened.”

Nadal also felt he had blown his opportunity. “I know if I have the break in the fifth I have very good chances for have the title,” said Nadal, who until then had not been broken since his first service game of the match.

Instead it was Federer who stood the victor after three hours and 45 minutes. He improved his record against Nadal to 5-8, and has now won four of their last six matches.

Standing on court afterwards, he found one more reason to relish this year’s victory at Wimbledon. “It’s the only one without a roof, so I’m glad I took it,” he said, clutching the trophy as it gleamed in the sunlight.