Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction

ETI 044 Topspin and the Racquet DropDownload this podcast – You may need to right-click and select Save Link As to download the file to your computer Consider the critical 24 inch hitting zone when creating topspin on a forehand or on a serve – to create this spin the racquet must be swung up from beneath the ball (12 inches) but carry upward after impact (another 12 inches) to create the rolling spin that more and more of us want in our games. But before you hit up on the ball you MUST accelerate from beneath it.  Therein the concept of the “racquet drop.”

ETI 043 Point of Contact Area of ContactDownload this podcast – You may need to right-click and select Save Link As to download the file to your computer Ball control – ours is a game of accuracy, of consistency, but equally it is a game of timing for the opponent will send us shots of varying spin, speed, length and difficulty. Timing describes the relation between the incoming ball and the swinging racquet – and certainly the entire game revolves around the moment of contact – but there is a way to lengthen, ever so slightly, that moment of contact such that the racquet moves through a 6 inch area without altering it’s face or path creating an area of contact.

https://dg2e30wx7kvei.cloudfront.net/eti_podcast/ETI_042_Measure_Twice_Cut_Once.mp4 The carpenter measures twice to cut once, to make sure the cut is accurate, for if too much is cut off that mistake cannot be undone. In tennis consider measuring as preparing first to the side for the incoming ball, but then to measure precisely the height of the backswing such that the racquet is not dramatically above or below the ball. Far too often players prepare without measuring the second time to find the height of the ball as it approaches the contact zone.  Perhaps that means carpenters make good players – or is it the opposite?

Many interesting parallels have been drawn between the tennis serve and the golf swing. Once the tennis player (or golfer) gets the feel for the mechanical elements of the serve (or golf swing) then rhythm becomes the overriding issue. Does the swing build smoothly and gracefully? Is there economy of effort? Can the server (golfer) swing easily yet hit hard? Are the body parts coordinated so that the force from the legs moves to the hips, and then to the torso, and then to the shoulder, then the arm, then the forearm, then the hand, and finally the fingers?

ETI 040 The X Factor Download this podcast – You may need to right-click and select Save Link As to download the file to your computer Imagine an overhead view, you are at the baseline practicing your open stance forehand, with your hips parallel to the net. Power will come from the twisting of your torso, such that when you turn your shoulders to wind-up you are creating (from this same overhead view) an “X.” Golfers work to create just such an Xfactor and the tension from the coiling of the torso and shoulders away from the hips creates a spring like effect where the turn into the ball occurs with more force. The post ETI 040 | The Xfactor appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction. The post ETI 040 | The Xfactor appeared first on Jim McLennan's Essential Tennis Instruction.

A few years ago I was encouraged to take a class in improvisational theater. It took me months to find the courage (stage fright and more) but I finally enrolled and then thoroughly enjoyed this class within the Stanford continuing studies program.

The 3 R's of tennis - ready, read (where the ball is going) react! As to your reaction - what precisely is your first move? What moves first, what initiates your preparation? Really an important question.

80% of the points in professional end with an error, 20% with a winner. As regards unforced errors, if your opponent never misses and is patient as the day is long, would you consider missing a routine forehand in the 12th shot of a rally a forced or unforced error. I am now believing that errors are simply errors, and the distinction is unnecessary.

Intention and Direction – your first Move(s)

Three factors control your tennis shot - not your feet, not your eyes, not your balance (though all of those do help) but the only three elements are; Angle of the racquet face, Swing Path and Tempo.

Swing path, type of spin, power, 3d playback (with Zepp) but perhaps the most interesting as well as the most useful is the data that shows where you make contact on the racquet face. And before going further, one of the most important (IF NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT) skills in the game of tennis is concentration, focus, and closely and continually watching the ball.

Take a few moments with the following report card - a method to either evaluate your own skills, or use this with your coach or regular practice partner. The idea is to take a deeper look at your "Use" - the broader issues that influence all you do on court, your awareness, the elements that make you a strong player, but equally perhaps the element that is holding you back.

Consider the elements in a strong and fluid overhand throw - and how the actions of the hand and elbow can be used or even copied in the modern forehand as well as certainly the serve. Once when racquets were heavy and wooden, we could see (and still see now and then) a type of pendulum swing - back and forth with little whip or acceleration. Interestingly McEnroe still uses such a forehand to truly devastating effect.

An excellent book, Man''s Search for Meaning, written by Victor Frankl, serves as a useful guidepost in living but equally when playing on court. When Andy Murray hooked up with Ivan Lendl to capture his two grand slam titles, he was working at the same time with a sports psychologist (the same one who had worked with Lendl years before) to improve his attitude - to improve his emotional responses to the challenges he faced (and still faces) on court.

One of Northern California’s legendary teachers, as well as a dear friend and mentor to me, Fred Earle penned the following 5 keys – that he expected his players to answer with a resounding yes, each and every day at the end of practice or a game.