We lost: 0 to 2.
More bad news: waiter’s tray is still there – it has been months and many double faults. I’m a little discouraged 小崩溃
One fellow player on FB left me this long help note:
Irene, I have to ask exactly what are you after? The post indicates elimination of double faults and frustrations, which in and of themselves are great goals. However, watching your clip I’m struck by the fact that your motion, at least in this clip, is NOT dynamic at any point of the motion. Another observation is that your ball toss is both erratic and has an inconsistent release point. If I was forced to compare your service motion to a professional, past or current, I’d point to Francois Durr. That is not bad, after all she did play professional tennis and did have success BUT …. you have a major relationship with the western grip. Others have already touched on this, but the western grip is not intended for balls above your head. The main reason being is that ANY rotation of your shoulder, bend to your elbow, or rotation at you wrist or change in grip pressure will change the angle of incidence/contact with the ball. A good way to think about the service motion is not so much throwing a football, as that is not a universally understood skill, but rather reaching for an item on a high shelf. Most people when they reach for items on a high shelf move to a position with their hip as close to the shelf as possible to allow them to have a full or complete EXTENSION of their arm and torso to touch and grasp the item. The same is true for the service motion, the more you are reaching for the ball the better the extension, more power, consistency, spin and less frustration. So how to think and train for a better service motion. The simplest manner to train for consistency is to start with the grip. Stand at the service line and put your racket flat against your leg with the bow of the racket touching the ground. grasp the racket handle so that your hand is parallel to your leg, THAT is a continental grip. With this grip firmly in mind move to a fence with a windscreen. Place your non-dominant hip and shoulder against the fence and emulate your service motion toward the apex of the motion, the contact point. You will notice as you do this your body will want to turn into the fence, this is called pronation. This position is where 100% of successful players make contact with the ball, this is what you need to emulate. As you progress and move back to the court this motion will allow you a better angle to the opposite court and as an added bonus when you execute properly it will help your body to embrace proper mechanics and “pull” you into the court as you strike the ball. If you review your clip once you finish your motion you are still behind the baseline. A proper service motion should naturally “pull” you forward, almost making you feel like you are falling into the court. At this point I must emphasize that a step into the court is both natural and important. If you are not stepping into the court after contact your motion is not a complete motion. The next issue you need to address is the ball toss. The term toss is a misnomer, it should be though of as you “placing” the ball at a specific place every time for your motion. Thinking to the service motion process we discussed above you need to place the ball at a consistent height. The best way to think of this is as a formula; Your Height (H) + length of arm above your head level(A) + racket length (R) + gravity (G) = the optimum height to place the ball for a proper service. I will use my specifics as an example: I am 6’2″, the part of my arm above my head is 24″, the length os my racket is “27” and the force of gravity, that is the distance a ball will drop anywhere in the world while I’m swinging to the contact point, is 28″ . (H)74+(A)24+(R)27+(G)28 = 153″ or 12.75 feet high. the next ideal to grasp is that the ball must be placed in a position forward of your body to allow proper pronation into the ball as we trained for against the fence/windscreen. Many instructors speak to some place one racket length ahead of your non-dominant leg, depending upon your range of motion that location can and will change. The best mental picture for this process is to imagine standing in the doorway from a room into a hallway. The ball you are “tossing/lifting” you are placing into the hallway outside of the doorway you are standing in at the moment. Another benefit of this thought process is that it helps to remind you to step/walk through the door into the hallway/court. If all of this seems like so much wet spaghetti the one take away you should focus upon is ball toss and height of toss. Even with your current motion and grip those two alone will greatly improve your results. If you are not going to play competitive tournament tennis seeking radical change may not actually be for you. Just consistent may be what you should be seeking… but only you can make that determination.
… Thank you so much!
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