Notice the compact nature of the swing and easy power Andrey achieves. The key components are keeping your non-dominant hand parallel to the base line creating a full shoulder rotation, and the “loose flexed wrist” at the top of the swing. This leads to great lag and snap of the ball. It’s fun to try! youtu.be/hgt1mU9J4w8
Here’s another video that again stresses how the strings face down during the preparation phase of the swing. youtube.com/shorts/GSU5pcXDopw?feature=share This is a practice video with his coach: youtu.be/6nz2xILzmc8 These clips show Rublev, Nadal, and Gasquet hitting shots with quick repeated loops in slow motion. What I like about this type of repeat is that you can notice different aspects of the shot through repetition which is different then watching slow motion exclusively. My eye is drawn to different key aspects of the shot: movement, balance, technique, timing, in a match setting which is telling! Enjoy! youtu.be/Ct0fZzUe4tU Andrey is Russian. It’s been my observation that tennis is a unifying sport across the world. It’s sad to think that a war has caused so much suffering. This fine young man is trying his best to live a tour life with battles much more serious going on with his country.
0 Comments
This is a great compilation of two of the greatest one hand backhands in the world. To summarize the components:
1. Unit turn with the proper grip. 2. Keep your left elbow (righty’s) high and the racquet tip up as if to balance a coin on the edge of the tip. 3. Drop down with left hand holding the throat til the racquet meet meets the left pocket area (right pocket lefty’s) then separate the hands at that point. The racquet keeps the same wrist angle throughout the swing. 4. When the separation occurs, the racquet is in a slightly closed position. 5. Swing inside out lifting the racquet up for maximum power. This is the video link: youtu.be/9thZ6ayMNzI Check out this secret little gem regarding backhand adjustment to fast balls to the backhand with Pavlov Tsitsipas, the younger brother of Stefano: youtube.com/shorts/02wh2q7d2s8?feature=share There’s a few things noteworthy regarding their cooperative hitting session. The forehand swings generate power deep drives with tight spin on the ball. Carlos sometimes comes off the ball with a helicopter follow through. Both he and Andrey come off their forehands quick with fast racquet speed. Both players hit from a strong athletic base and their timing is clean and crispy. Both of their two-handed backhands are simple take backs with the racquet above the wrist and simple release through the ball. When going out to hit try to hit deep to your partner and you both will develop that fun rally timing. youtu.be/cOIrsc7xFf8
Low Balls: youtu.be/q9MsG0GhCuk
High Balls: youtu.be/nkUpjKTzYec How to handle the high one-handed backhand from Intuitive Tennis YouTube.be/LrquoUhcqTg Medium Balls: youtu.be/jjQ5Pw76v8s This video shows in great detail how to get the feel for a solid forehand volley with control. Notice that the volley is an outside to in shot with the elbow. The elbow starts away from body then closes in from right to to left for a right handed player. Jeremy’s forehand volley video is one of the most insightful revelations I’ve ever seen.
https://youtu.be/xhejB6vRRUc This is a great video of how to stay loose on the forehand, and that not everyone swings “like” Roger Federer. This video shows how to keep your eye on the ball and the order of the moving parts of the body for the forehand. The serve segment shows how to distribute weight shift and the proper use of leg drive.
youtu.be/PJ875KQ9ATE The fluidity of the forehand volley is surprising. From the graphic video shown below I see total relaxation in the preparation of the volley where the racquet tip raises to the height of contact, then pushes to the ball as the “tip of the racquet naturally kicks back with lag.” This little movement creates amazing feel, relaxation and trust as the hand movement forward creates effortless power with little spin on the ball. Watching this video over and over will give you the feel of how the forehand volley is consistently placed well throughout a match. Enjoy it. This schematic was used by Vic Braden a great coach whom I had the pleasure to work for back in the 80’s when he brought his tennis camp to New Seabury on Cape Cod. When it rained we came to the club that I’m at now—The Falmouth Sports Center.
Enjoy! youtu.be/WFykxnY52NE Roger has the ability to handle anything high or low, fast or slow, at the body, or wide, using a wide variety of shot selections based upon how much time he has to prepare for the return. Notice that he hops up on the serve at contact so when he lands he is “already moving with his body fluidly” to the direction he needs to make the return. He also “faces” the forehand return of serve straight on! with little or no shoulder rotation (this is on fast serves or first serves). He is very open in his stance and keeps it and crosses over with the leg that was closest to the middle of court, then “crosses over” dynamically and fluidly to the the outside of the court. all the while keeping his shoulders square to the net! This keeps his motion compact, efficient and balanced. On second serves he opens up his swings to apply more power to the ball. He can run around his backhand in the ad court and wrap it down the line using a directional or fire inside out to a right hander’s backhand. In the deuce court he can run around his backhand and fire in any direction. He also can slice backhand returns on some second serves and he then positions himself back a few feet from the baseline behind the center line to play a neutral point. He also will step in and drive some backhand returns closer to the baseline on second serves that are higher up in the shoulders which is not an easy shot to make! On First serve backhand returns he tends to compact counter drive with an eastern grip.
His backhand and forehand returns can be driven up the line! If placed well, they are out right winners. He uses compact movement to square the contact point. As if this isn’t enough, he can sneak in and attack a return, and approach the net!!!!!! His technique in those returns are still the same. He may chip the forehand wing on a second serve and approach. youtu.be/eSa0nqS0PR0 https://youtu.be/QU_MFbUAIik youtube/eSa0nqS0PR0 youtu.be/SR07vYJnk8k
These guys serve very consistently and locate serves to set up points. If I could only practice one shot this would be the one. Notice how compact their motions are for the loading phase. Personally, after experimenting with many different styles of serve, I find compact motions have led to better outcomes. The main reason is that the ball is easier to time with all the various links that need to smoothly launch and “find” the ball. youtube.com/shorts/MRUiC4Kppg8?feature=share
This clip is a great view of where the ball is tossed and how Federer opens up the court on a wide inside-out pitch that kicks into the stands. Power is not the priority here. It’s placement. And the ball clears the highest part of the net with a great bend. All of his body is used to generate this shot with seemingly effortless movement. Also, for this kind of kick he uses a slightly more exaggerated serve grip past his first serve grip to create more spin. Aiming for a target in the service box and working on a “kick right” bounce is a great way to practice this technique. |