My Pro Used The Contraption On Me

[Tennis_Monk]

does this thing even work?

[jswinf]

Originally Posted by LeeD

Maybe I got the same thing....
Last week, ordered and this week received a yellow tripod thingy, long slender main body, H shaped RoboCop11 looking arms, tilt adjustment, wheel raising cable capacity, black rubber protectors for me and the floor, locking wheels, 11' max height capabilities, to lift drywall to the ceiling.

Can it teach you to put topspin on that drywall?

[eidolonshinobi]

LOL what will they come up with next?

[UCSF2012]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

I had a lesson this morning. When I arrived, my pro left the court and went out to his car. When he returned, he was carrying The Contraption.

It was a yellow, metal thing sitting on a fixed triangular base. It reached upward, and it had a tennis ball mounted and suspended about three feet over the ground. The tennis ball was on a rubberized appendage so that if you hit the tennis ball the arm would bend forward and then return to its upright position. The tennis ball rotated freely.

Anyway, pro explained that the contraption was going to help me improve my topspin. He demonstrated his FH, putting the tennis ball in his contact point and hitting/brushing up on it. The idea was to get a lot of brushing and little forward movement. If you drove through the ball, it would whip violently forward on its rubberized appendage, and that is bad. He was trying to get more of a windshield wiper motion out of me.

He had me hit multiple reps, with him watching closely and making little adjustments until everything was perfect. Then I hit real balls.

Dang.

I have been struggling with controlling topspin and producing a ton of it when I need it most -- short angles. I just couldn't get the hang of whatever needs to be done to get sick topspin and really shape the ball trajectory at will, especially when close to the net.

After a few minutes with The Contraption, I was doing it. From the baseline off of live balls, I could rip short angles that I didn't think possible.

We then repeated the whole drill on the BH side. This was a little less successful, but there was measurable improvement.

Has anyone ever used The Contraption as a student or as a teacher? 'Cause I don't know what he paid for it, but that thing is worth the money!

All anyone really has to do is to drop a ball to the ground and hit it across the court. That way, you can examine the net clearance and how much the ball jumps off the court. Practicing underspin is practically impossible thou.

[dominikk1985]

I think she got the name wrong.

maybe she should ask her coach again next practice or make a photo.

[ProgressoR]

Originally Posted by Sintherius

YES. FINALLY SOMEBODY UNDERSTOOD AND LISTENED!!!!

take a chill pill, your blood pressure is too high

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by Sintherius

Trust me it's the same thing. My tennis pro showed it off last summer and said it would help us deploy topspin and also concentrate on the ball more. Said it was called the eye coach. His was also yellow and black, the exact way you described it.

The contraption, according to my pro, is called HAL (for Hit and Learn).

So it is not the same thing.

I could not find a pic on the internet. Perhaps they do not make it anymore. As I said, he bought it some time ago in Florida.

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by UCSF2012

All anyone really has to do is to drop a ball to the ground and hit it across the court. That way, you can examine the net clearance and how much the ball jumps off the court. Practicing underspin is practically impossible thou.

No, this contraption had a lot of value that drop feeding does not. I have spent hours drop feeding, and I never could get the same breakthrough.

The cool thing about the contraption is that you can freeze or go as slowly as you want, and he is standing 3 feet away able to make corrections.

I'm a big fan of drop feeding, though, so when the weather clears I will go out and see try to get some muscle memory on what I learned.

[dak95_00]

As a teacher (not of tennis), a coach (not of tennis), and a parent; I find teaching devices interesting. This thread led me on a 15 minute search and the results are........

The HAL!
http://partners.cardiotennis.com/PDF...IN1CTFLYER.pdf

It is the same thing as THE EYE COACH! Sintherius, you are RIGHT!

If you need more proof, click on the link in this article for the HAL.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...em.html?cat=14

I guess you could also just go to http://www.haltennis.com

[Cindysphinx]

Ah, OK. It's odd that they market it under two different names, though. I have to say, eye coach is kind of lame. They should stick with HAL. It's certainly a better name than "The Contraption."

Anyway, I'm kind of surprised that the Eye Coach video has this little girl whacking at the ball like that. I guess "Parents who like their kids to whack at things" is one target market, I suppose. I'd never buy something like that for my kid to practice with, as it reeks of something the kid would use for 2 minutes before getting bored, requiring me to keep it in the basement.

I did think it was terrific for working on stroke mechanics with a pro.

[NLBwell]

A year ago or so at one tournament on TV they were talking about some kind of device that the tournament was sponsoring (maybe Charleston?). Seemed like they were saying it was going to be the next big thing and pros or maybe the USTA were talking it up. Never really heard any more about it, though. Is this device (HAL EyeCoach) the same thing?

[yemenmocha]

Creepy thread. Was wondering when we were going to start hearing about some sort of strap-on or whatever.

[weksa]

Cindysphinx, so is this the old or the new teaching pro? Sounds like the lessons are going well.

[Ajtat411]

Ohh, it seems that someone could go down to Home Depot and fashion one of these devices with a few springs and such.

sounds like this lesson had a happy ending.

[Cindysphinx]

Originally Posted by weksa

Cindysphinx, so is this the old or the new teaching pro? Sounds like the lessons are going well.

This is New Pro.

New pro is very interesting. He has another 3.5 female student, and he has been coaching her for a long time. She's a big fan of singles. She has joined my tennis team.

Well, she and I played singles a few weeks ago. She was whipping me, but good. I look up during the second set, and New Pro is sitting there in the viewing window, watching. She had told him when and where we were playing, obviously.

I think his watching me take a beating led in part to his bringing The Contraption to our lesson. He got a chance to see how I play, and he must have seen how much I struggle finding angles on short-ish balls and how my topspin failed me quite often.

Anyway . . . I went out today and did some drop feeding to work on this WW element of the stroke. When I get it, it is amazing. Gotta keep working on it . . .

[sureshs]

I would be cautious if New Pro quietly starts attaching add-ons to the Contraption with different uses ......

[Sintherius]

Originally Posted by dak95_00

As a teacher (not of tennis), a coach (not of tennis), and a parent; I find teaching devices interesting. This thread led me on a 15 minute search and the results are........

The HAL!
http://partners.cardiotennis.com/PDF...IN1CTFLYER.pdf

It is the same thing as THE EYE COACH! Sintherius, you are RIGHT!

If you need more proof, click on the link in this article for the HAL.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...em.html?cat=14

I guess you could also just go to http://www.haltennis.com

HAH. VICTORY IS MINE. APOLOGIZE.

[TheIrrefutableOne]

the training device was invented by Dr, Ben Aun over 20 years ago. I have seen it used at The Aspen Hill Club in Silver Spring Maryland .

I helps teach spin.

[TheIrrefutableOne]

NO EDIT option ?


It helps teach spin