Lesson #18 with Eldon

6/1/09  Monday  9:30 A.M.

Chico Racquet Club

 

Today Eldon and I had time to take a look at the progress of my new forehand and backhand and then work on the return of a dink serve looking to follow into the net to take a volley for a winner.

 

Here’s what evolved:

 

The Forehand Drive

 

I started out hitting too hard and being a little tight in the upper body especially my hand and forearm.  The result was balls landing long and short into the net.  Also, Eldon commented that those balls had little pop or pace.  After a few balls hit like that I realized I was hitting too hard and tight and began to swing more freely with less control.  Guess what?  My balls started to land in the court while crossing over the net two to three feet high.  And there was such a nice pop to them with a penetrating pace that carried my balls to the back fence.  It felt so good.  I was also getting a good extension through the ball with my forearm especially down the line.  Eldon was pleased.  So was I.

 

The keys:       

 

1—–    Warm up loosely; 

2—–    Work on timing, stepping into the ball;

3—–    Let your racquet head speed develop on its own without much effort on your part;

4—–    Don’t try to control too much with your hitting hand, arm or upper body. (Don’t over hit. You’re trying to create a whip-like action so you need to be loose.  Exerting too many muscles is counterproductive);

5—–    Keep your non-hitting arm out in front of your body for balance and to keep your shoulders level throughout your shot.

6—–    Take the ball well out in front with an extended forearm;

7—–    You may accelerate your swing after you are feeling the ball well on your strings and you are sensing good timing and rhythm.

 

The Backhand Drive

 

After hitting some backhand feeds either long or into the net, Eldon stopped and made a pertinent observation concerning my footwork:  I was crossing my lead foot too far over and parallel to the baseline.  This was affecting my ability to drive through the ball  and hit out effectively to my target.

 

The cure:       

1—–    Keep the lead foot pointed at forty-five degree angle into the court and

2—–    Avoid an exaggerated closed stance. Utilize a neutral stance.

 

This was a great observation by Eldon.   I then hit a series of backhand feeds utilizing Eldon’s suggestion.  Wow! What a difference.  I must have hit 30 to 40 balls all good.  That one little correction was amazing!  I had been wondering why my backhand had been off lately.  (I later went on the ball machine and found the same success hitting my backhands by pointing my lead foot at a 45 degree angle.)

 

Hitting the dink serve and following to the net

 

1—-     Aim for the service line.  Remember you are shortening the court as you step in to take a dink serve.  Going for the service line helps you keep the ball in the court and not hit too long.

2—-     Take the ball at the top of its arc if possible.  Dink serves are easy to miss hit since they drop at such an acute angle. A non-accelerated swing will basically take the ball into the net because of that acute angle which is similar to a ricochet down to the ground repeating the angle at which the ball is coming down on to your racquet strings.

3—-     Use an abbreviated backswing and step in to create forward momentum and pace as you swing.

4—-     Try to land your ball near the service line.  This gives your opponent fewer options.  He will have to hit up giving you a volley.  If you hit back by the baseline he has the option of lobbing you besides passing you.

5—-     Stay low when you approach the net.

6—-     Keep your form compact when you volley.

7—-     Try to avoid becoming overly excited and losing your form as you make your move on the volley.  You have to keep everything together.

8—-     Take the volley out in front 

9—-     Keep your volley crisp and short.  No big backswing!     

 

Miscellaneous:

 

1—-     Use a continental grip on an overhead smash.  This gives you adequate spin to control the shot.

2—-     When you have returned a defensive ball deep that bounces high a good tactic is to get up to the net.  Your opponent often doesn’t see you or if he does he may be surprised and miss hit.

3—-     When you don’t have time to get under an overhead, let it bounce to smash it.

4—-     The loopy topspin forehand can be hit with the same extended forearm as on the forehand drive just go more low to high to achieve it.  Hitting with a bent elbow should be saved for defensive purposes or neutralizing shots that keep you in the game.  Eldon says you can slice a ball that has gotten to close into you and you have to take it with a flexed elbow.

5—-     The basic difference with hitting with an extended forearm versus a flexed elbow is that you take the ball further out in front of you.

6—-     The toss on the kick serve does not have to be behind your head.  But it does need to be to the left of your head in order to get that twisting motion on it.