January 15, 2010
Do you love playing tennis at night?  Do you love playing tennis at night? Do you find that the feel and smell of nighttime air on a tennis court causes an unspecific joy to well up inside? Imagine this – an energy-efficient tennis lighting system that offers more light and saves you money. No need to imagine. The Tennis Optics Advantage Series provides higher lighting levels with lower wattage bulbs, meaning you see the ball more clearly and you save. Click here to learn more.
"What's New" Product Video - from Tennis Warehouse - Prince EX03 Black Racquet
Signup for TennisOne Membership Today – FREE Video Analysis Software ($99 Value) Join TennisOne today and get unrestricted access and use of SportsCAD Home video analysis software package ($99 retail). Click here to see how to download SportsCAD. Click here for FREE Video Analysis Software.
Fling It – Sling It – The Game Keeps Changing Jim McLennan Over the years I have accumulated a substantial tennis library. Some of my favorites include Fundamentals of Tennis, by Stanley Plagenhoef, Match Play and Spin of the Ball, by Bill Tilden, Tennis for the Future by Vic Braden, and World Class Tennis Technique by Jack Groppel. And as I am more or less a visual learner, I enjoy comparing the photos and stills from different eras to see how the strokes may have been different, as well as how the interpretation of the game by those authors may also be different. The biggest changes have been wrought by racquet technology, and how the new racquets encourage the players to swing faster, and by extension to require more and more spin to ensure those bombs dive down into the court after crossing the net. Curiously Fabrice Santoro carved a fairly substantial career (with Grand Slam doubles titles and singles wins over Sampras and others) using an underspin forehand, but then again, he was called the magician. But when it comes to racquet speed, which we see in spades across the professional spectrum, players are not blocking the ball. On controlled hits, they seem to be stroking the ball but when they're trying to generate extra raquet head speed, they appear to whip or fling the racquet through the contact zone. Take a few moments with the following Federer forehand. Note how the racquet head lags behind his hand, and the closer his hand moves to contact the greater the lag. Then, at the last minute, the racquet head jumps through contact. Further, as the racquet head rotates at impact, my impression is of an extremely loose grip. And truly, to capture the flinging feeling of any implement (even a golf club), the trick is to accelerate the head at the last minute with an extremely loose action.
Consider the material of Howard Brody and Rod Cross regarding rebound velocity of fixed and freely mounted tennis racquets (I have run this by my academically inclined friends, and after a few moments thought, they do understand and reluctantly agree.). A ball machine shoots a ball at the face of a tennis racquet; in one instance the racquet is balanced vertically on the butt cap, in the other instance the handle is braced firmly in a vise. Yet, rebound velocities are identical. Repeat. Rebound velocities are identical. The explanation is as follows. The wave created in the racquet from the collision takes longer to reach the handle (and allow the vise to do its work) than the amount of time the ball dwells on the string bed. The ball leaves the string before the wave reaches the vise. This has been as hard for me to conceptualize as it may now be for you. But, out on a limb as ever, my thoughts are an extremely loose grip (watch Federer yet again) and a flinging-slinging action will approximate the nuance of the absolute best forehands in the game – and the same can truly be said of Nadal. And further, though equally difficult to conceptualize, any rotation of the racquet head at impact may not actually influence the flight or speed of the ball. As always, we would love to hear from you! Questions, comments, personal experiences all create helpful dialogue for everyone! Please click here to send us your email.
Copyright Notice: The contents of the TennisONE web site and contents forwarded to you by TennisONE are intended for your personal, noncommercial use. Republishing of TennisONE content in any way, including framing or posting of these materials on other Web sites, is strictly prohibited. See our full copyright statement If you wish to be removed from our newsletter list, please send an email to newsletter-unsubscribe@tennisone.com and leave the subject line blank. A confirmation email will be sent to you, and you will be removed from our newsletter list once you reply to that confirmation.
|
|||
