buttcap at the ball

[gasquetfan]

does it really matter if you point at the ball with the buttcap or not?

[Bagumbawalla]

What matters is that you should not really think about the buttcap of your racket facing the ball.

Yes, people say that, if you have good form, you will start your stroke that way- and that gets people thinking that they need to concentrate on the position of the buttcap before their stroke.

But, not really. You should forget anyone ever totd you that, because thinking about it will not help your stroke, and will probably just make you self-conscious and negatively affect your game.

What "they" should stress is that in a good, unforced, fluid, smooth stroke (the kind we aspire to) it is easier to get the racket moving/overcome inertia by pulling it along its long axis --rather than start the process with the racket sticking straight out away from your body.

So, yes it is true that in a good stroke the racket frist begins its motion with the buttcap (pretty much) facing the ball. Do you need to think about thiat or even know about that to have a good stroke? not really.

On the other hand, if you want to check up on your form, look at your buttcap just as you begin the stroke, if its pointed toward where the ball is coming from as you "pull" it into motion, then you are OK and never have to look again.

[EricW]

I completely disagree. That piece of advice has improved countless forehands. Of course you could get right to the point and tell them to completely relax their wrist, but that's a huge jump for most players who are in need of this piece of advice. How else do you advise a player who doesn't lay their wrist back? "Point the buttcap at the incoming ball" and "pull the racquet's handle forward" seem to be most effective phrases.

[Tennisguy777]

Does this apply for the backhand and forehands cause I've never heard of this before although I do it on the backhand side but not on the forehand. You guys just got me thinking.

[rosewall4ever]

what matters is not about the butcap its self but what that concisous action is encouraging the player to do - that is the raquet is points behind the player to provide the proper alignment as it begins the forward and upward swing. What it doesn't specify however is the alignment of racquet face - classic eastern its perpendicular to net and low, about waist or knee level; western it parallel to the ground.

Rember this is just the initial phase and doesn't mean this is a fixed position that should stay throughout the swing. as you pronate obviously the ball wont face the butcap..if it did you wouldn't be hitting it with the strings now will you? hahaha

[smoothtennis]

What matters is that you should not really think about the buttcap of your racket facing the ball.

Yes, people say that, if you have good form, you will start your stroke that way- and that gets people thinking that they need to concentrate on the position of the buttcap before their stroke.

But, not really. You should forget anyone ever totd you that, because thinking about it will not help your stroke, and will probably just make you self-conscious and negatively affect your game.

What "they" should stress is that in a good, unforced, fluid, smooth stroke (the kind we aspire to) it is easier to get the racket moving/overcome inertia by pulling it along its long axis --rather than start the process with the racket sticking straight out away from your body.

So, yes it is true that in a good stroke the racket frist begins its motion with the buttcap (pretty much) facing the ball. Do you need to think about thiat or even know about that to have a good stroke? not really.

On the other hand, if you want to check up on your form, look at your buttcap just as you begin the stroke, if its pointed toward where the ball is coming from as you "pull" it into motion, then you are OK and never have to look again.


Yeah - I hear the idea behind why you say this, however---------

There is really nothing wrong with exploring the butt cap position while on a practice court to work on one's game. To learn technique, sometimes a person does have to break the components of a stroke down, and 'feel' what the intended motion feels like.

Once they mess around with the idea, sure, they realize and feel that the wrist has to relax and lay back to accomplish this motion. The end game, is that that they learn to feel how the racket and related muscles move, and they no longer 'think' about the butt cap. It goes in stages for most of us.

Then they can add another layer on top of that once they feel it for a few weeks. ie, the position of the racket head prior to pulling forward and allowing the butt cap to lead the stroke - and this can vary the 'feeling' depending on whether they take the racket back with the tip up, aka, Roddock, or take it back more towards the back fence.

Looking down at the butt cap - now I don't recommend that while trying to hit a ball. This can be done using shadow swings.