Lesson #11 with Eldon

2/25/09  10:00A.M.

Chico Racquet Club

 

Eldon wanted to look at the progress of my forehand stroke and also work on my forehand volley in this lesson.  We warmed up with some mini-tennis, hit some forehand strokes, played a five point game incorporating strategies and finally worked on the forehand volley.

 

The following are the main points of instruction covered in this lesson:

 

1.         The forehand drive.  Eldon suggested that I think about my shot in terms of the inside of the elbow extending out towards the oncoming ball.  This will help me to avoid leading with the outside of the elbow where the elbow can start to fold before contact with the ball is made.  In the proper technique the elbow should fold on its own after impact as the arm follows through toward the left shoulder.  He said in general, though, that my forehand stroke was moving more toward the correct form, the form that is going to produce more penetrating shots.

 

2.         The follow-through.  We talked about where my racquet should be ending up on the follow through.  Eldon is still telling me he wants me to end up high by my left shoulder.  I don’t have a grip (mine is eastern.) which would allow me to follow through lower, more of a wrap around the chest like many pros.  Semi-western grip players who want to create a lot of spin will employ that kind of follow-through.

 

3.         Squeezing the racquet handle.  I told Eldon how the technique of squeezing the handle through impact is starting to get easier and that in practice I have been having considerable success.  I have noticed that when the ball sails long on me it is because I am squeezing the handle, but then not making a complete follow-through with the racquet head.   I have also noticed that the sound of the ball with the squeezing technique is different, more of a crisp popping sound and fairly loud.  Another difference is that my strings don’t seem to move as much.  Eldon says that this is due to the fact that the squeezing technique, which applies more resistance, allows the ball to seat itself deeper into the strings, or to be grabbed more by the strings.

 

4.         The forehand volley. 

A)        Keep the elbow tucked in.

B)        Move the left foot over as you step into the shot.

C)        Allow the left hand to move with the right hand as the shot is made

D)        On high volleys keep the left hand up high with the stroking hand.  Pulling         the left hand down will often result in dumping the ball into the net.

E)        Keep the stroke concise.  It’s about timing, squeezing the racquet handle        and taking the ball out front with a short concise stroke through the          ball.

 

5.         Strategy.  There is a tendency for two opponents to play in tandem.  When one player applies pressure by hitting penetrating shots, for example, his  opponent will often respond defensively by moving a few feet further behind the baseline to return those balls.  This is the natural tendency.  When one moves up the other moves back and vice versa.

 

In our five point game in this lesson, I was doing well by hitting a lot of deep balls to corners, applying pressure, getting short balls and winning points, but then Eldon made a change.  He started to move up into the court to take my balls more on the rise.  I, in turn, began to hit loose balls.  My timing was thrown off.  I was basically hitting balls late and they were going wide and sometimes long.  Eldon eventually stopped and suggested something to me.  I can’t remember what he said exactly.  We played some more and all of a sudden it began to turn around for me.  I was hitting good shots and winning points.   As we finished our point game Eldon then asked me what I had done differently and I said I began to move forward into the court to take some of his shots when I could. 

 

So Eldon explained that what I had done was to counteract his movement forward into the court with my own movement forward into the court, thereby disrupting his strategy and going against the force of tandem play.  In essence, Eldon suggested to me that one can be aware of this type of tandem movement in a match and break through it.  One doesn’t have to play with the tandem response, but instead can counteract it with a different strategy.

 

6.         Progress.  Eldon is pleased with my progress.  He explained how he liked what he saw over the weekend in a match that I lost.  He said he likes my energy level and my willingness to keep going for my shots even though I may be losing.  He was very pleased with the way I was setting up points, moving forward into the court and getting up to the net.  He says it’s better to lose now and keep learning in the process.  The winning will come.  He says that within two to three weeks I will be beating these 3.5 players 6-2, 6-3.