Some more tennis strokes
August 7th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
A chop stroke is a shot where the angle towards the player and behind the racquet, made by the line of flight of the ball, and the racquet traveling down across it, is greater than 45 degrees and may be 90 degrees. The racquet face passes slightly OUTSIDE the ball and down the side, chopping it, as a man chops wood. The spin and curve is from right to the left. It is made with a stiff wrist.
The slice shot merely reduced the angle mentioned from 45 degrees down to a very small one. The tennis racquet face passes either INSIDE or OUTSIDE the ball, according to direction desired, while the stroke is mainly a wrist twist or slap. This slap imparts a decided skidding break to the ball, while a chop “drags” the ball off the ground without break.
The rules of footwork for both these shots should be the same as the drive, but because both are made with a short swing and more wrist play, without the need of weight, the rules of footwork maybe more safely discarded and body position not so carefully considered.
Both these shots are essentially defensive, and are laborsaving devices when your opponent is on the baseline. A chop or slice is very hard to drive, and will break up any driving game.
It is not a shot to use against a volley, as it is too slow to pass and too high to cause any worry. It should be used to drop short, soft shots at the feet of the net man as he comes in. Do not strive to pass a net man with a chop or slice, except through a big opening.
The drop shot is a very soft, sharply angled chop stroke, played wholly with the wrist. It should drop within 3 to 5 feet of the net to be of any use. The racquet face passes around the outside of the ball and under it with a distinct “wrist turn.” Do not swing the racquet from the shoulder in making a drop shot. The drop shot has no relation to a stop-volley. The drop shot is all wrist. The stop-volley has no wrist at all.
Use the chop, slice, and drop, merely as an auxiliary to your orthodox game. They are intended to upset your opponent’s game through the varied spin on the ball. If your looking for more tennis tips have a look at my tennis website for tennis tips
Benefits of Playing Tennis
July 31st, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Ok you may enjoy playing tennis, but here are some benefits that you get and didn’t realise.
You stay sharper: The demands that tennis puts on your body and brain means that new connections are created in the brain.
You could live longer: If you play tennis for a total of 3 hours a week, you could cut your chance of a premature death by half!
You’ll lose weight: Ok and obvious one, but one hour of competitive tennis could mean you burn 750 calories
Most of all you will feel better, as it was found that tennis players measured lower for anxiety, tension and depression and had higher self esteem and were more optimistic than other athletes.
So what’s stopping you, get out on that tennis court.
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Footwork in Tennis
July 16th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed
Footwork is weight control. It is correct body position for strokes, and out of it all strokes should grow. In explaining the various forms of stroke and footwork I am writing as a right-hand player. Left- handers should simply reverse the feet.
racquet grip is a very essential part of stroke, because a faulty grip will ruin the finest serving. There is the so-called Western or Californian grip that is a natural grip for a top forehand drive. It is inherently weak for the backhand, as the only natural shot is a chop stroke.
The English grip, with the low wrist on all groundstrokes, has proved very successful in the past. Yet the broken line of the arm and hand does not commend itself to me, as any broken line is weak under stress.
The Eastern American grip, which I advocate, is the English grip without the low wrist and broken line. To acquire the forehand grip, hold the racquet with the edge of the frame towards the ground and the face perpendicular, the handle towards the body, and “shake hands” with it, just as if you were greeting a friend.
The handle settled comfortably and naturally into the hand, the line of the arm, hand, and racquet are one. The swing brings the racquet head on a line with the arm, and the whole racquet is merely an extension of it.
The backhand grip is a quarter circle turn of hand on the handle, bringing the hand on top of the handle and the knuckles directly up. The shot travels ACROSS the wrist.
This is the best basis for a grip. I do not advocate learning this grip exactly, but model your natural grip as closely as possible on these lines without sacrificing your own comfort or individuality.
Having once settled the racquet in the hand, the next question is the position of the body and the order of developing strokes.
In explaining footwork I am, in future, going to refer in all forehand shots to the right foot as R or “back” foot, and to the left as L or “front.” For the backhand the L foot is “back” and R is “front.” All tennis strokes, should be made with the body’ at right angles to the net, with the shoulders lined up parallel to the line of flight of the ball. The weight should always travel forward. It should pass from the back foot to the front foot at the moment of striking the ball. Never allow the weight to be going away from the stroke. It is weight that determines the “pace” of a stroke; swing that, decides the “speed.”
Let me explain the definitions of “speed” and “pace.” “Speed” is the actual rate with which a ball travels through the air. “Pace” is the momentum with which it comes off the ground. Pace is weight. It is the “sting” the ball carries when it comes off the ground, giving the inexperienced or unsuspecting player a shock
of force which the stroke in no way showed.
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