Cindysphinx
G.O.A.T.
My sister is a 3.0, and she was in a 3.0 clinic. The topic was overheads. The pro was teaching overheads in the standard way -- telling the players they need to turn sideways. It was not going well -- lots of missed overheads and frustration.
After a while, he called them all together and said something like this (as relayed by my sister):
"OK. The correct way to hit an overhead is to be in Continental grip and turn sideways. You ladies are struggling because you are in your forehand grip instead of Continental grip. If you use a forehand grip and turn sideways, you will be directing your ball off the court.
"You have two solutions for your overheads. You can use Continental and turn sideways. Or you can stay in forehand grip, but you will need to remain facing the net and not turn sideways."
My sister reported that when the ladies began hitting their overheads while facing the net in forehand grip, they were able to hit stronger and more consistent overheads. My sister wanted to know what I thought of this.
I said I thought it was horrific advice and this pro should have his teaching certificate yanked. Better, I said, is to emphasize all of the reasons why these relative beginners should get in the habit of using the correct grip. I said that hitting overheads while spreadeagle to the net will prevent the ladies from moving backward for overheads safely and effectively. It will reinforce the idea that the forehand grip is appropriate when moving inside the court when the Continental is the better choice. If they later start volleying correctly in Continental, they will develop grip confusion when the ball starts moving faster at the higher levels and they don't have time to toggle between Continental and Eastern. And it will prevent them from learning all sorts of transition shots that use Continental -- transition volleys, half-volleys, low volleys, slices.
What do you think? Is the pro's advice a reasonable work-around for 3.0s who are struggling with overheads? Or should he have continued to urge Continental + sideways?
After a while, he called them all together and said something like this (as relayed by my sister):
"OK. The correct way to hit an overhead is to be in Continental grip and turn sideways. You ladies are struggling because you are in your forehand grip instead of Continental grip. If you use a forehand grip and turn sideways, you will be directing your ball off the court.
"You have two solutions for your overheads. You can use Continental and turn sideways. Or you can stay in forehand grip, but you will need to remain facing the net and not turn sideways."
My sister reported that when the ladies began hitting their overheads while facing the net in forehand grip, they were able to hit stronger and more consistent overheads. My sister wanted to know what I thought of this.
I said I thought it was horrific advice and this pro should have his teaching certificate yanked. Better, I said, is to emphasize all of the reasons why these relative beginners should get in the habit of using the correct grip. I said that hitting overheads while spreadeagle to the net will prevent the ladies from moving backward for overheads safely and effectively. It will reinforce the idea that the forehand grip is appropriate when moving inside the court when the Continental is the better choice. If they later start volleying correctly in Continental, they will develop grip confusion when the ball starts moving faster at the higher levels and they don't have time to toggle between Continental and Eastern. And it will prevent them from learning all sorts of transition shots that use Continental -- transition volleys, half-volleys, low volleys, slices.
What do you think? Is the pro's advice a reasonable work-around for 3.0s who are struggling with overheads? Or should he have continued to urge Continental + sideways?
