Part 2 after adjustments: Please critique this 7-years old

[carnaval09]

Originally Posted by ringingpeace

Hi. I saw the first video of your kid and now second video. Here is what I have noticed.

- He is hitting to close to his body in both of your videos so you should focus more on contact point to be in front and by the side.

- he straights his hitting arm too much in preparation for forehand which impacts on racket acceleration and to me it seems like ball is hitting his racket not vice versa.

Improved from the first video:

- footwork
- split step

Thanks for your feedback.
We keep trying to change the contact point.
I think he keeps his right arm straight and tight at this point to assure that the racquet stays on the right side of his body. I see that ss he gets more comfortable with his new take back he starts bending his elbow a little bit more. Although in general I strugle to teach him how to keep his arm and shoulder relaxed while holding/gripping the racquet properly.
It's like either everything completely loose and racquet wobles or everything is tight. I need to come up with a teaching method for that. Any idea how to explain it to a kid?

Originally Posted by carnaval09

Any idea how to explain it to a kid?

I do have suggestions on explaining to a kid plus some effective drills. Feel free to e-mail me hurewe@aol.com.

[NLBwell]

His forehand is now somewhat "pushy." Which, I believe, is essentially what Ash described in detail. Let him pull that racket around instead of shortening things up too much. I'd try a small hammer against the heavy punching bag. Might get him the idea of coordinating the timing of the joint movements in his arm as well as forcing him to use his body.

[carnaval09]

Originally Posted by NLBwell

His forehand is now somewhat "pushy." Which, I believe, is essentially what Ash described in detail. Let him pull that racket around instead of shortening things up too much. I'd try a small hammer against the heavy punching bag. Might get him the idea of coordinating the timing of the joint movements in his arm as well as forcing him to use his body.

Thanks for the feedback. Could you please clarify your idea of using a small hammer against the punching bag? I'm not sure I follow you here. Sorry and thanks in advance

[CaldwellYSR]

His forehand looks better than mine and I'm 21 so good for him

[NLBwell]

You could us a small hammer or a stick, maybe a ruler, or anything similar. In order for him to hit the bag at maximum speed, he will have to learn to time his arm, elbow, wrist, body, etc. movements to have all the elements line up correctly as he hits the bag - he can hear and feel the difference when the timing is correct. Since it could be a pretty violent impact, don't do it a lot, you wouldn't have him pound nails all day, just enough to get the idea.

[5263]

Originally Posted by carnaval09

I'm an engineer by trade so I take a scientific approach on stances, open stance for lateral movements, neuteral for vertical. Phisics is there to support it.

Good, you will get there eventually...just may take you longer

[carnaval09]

Originally Posted by 5263

Good, you will get there eventually...just may take you longer

Hope not long, dont get me wrong I am not oppose the open stance by any means.

[5263]

Originally Posted by carnaval09

Hope not long, dont get me wrong I am not oppose the open stance by any means.

I apologize if I seem argumentative. I just think your vid is a great example of
a very talented kid that would be way better served by working primarily from
open stance, which would IMO help develop a more stable hitting base. Once that
balanced, stable hitting is habit, then all the other stances he may be caught in
will make use of that balanced approach to swinging.
I'm not saying the other stances are bad and not to be used, but that the open
is best for developing the core rotation and stable hitting style.

Some think getting sideways helps with core, but that make little sense to me, as
it removes the core loading that is so important to good use of the core. Open also teaches the player to use the legs more correctly as well.

[peoplespeace]

Originally Posted by 5263

I apologize if I seem argumentative. I just think your vid is a great example of
a very talented kid that would be way better served by working primarily from
open stance, which would IMO help develop a more stable hitting base. Once that
balanced, stable hitting is habit, then all the other stances he may be caught in
will make use of that balanced approach to swinging.
I'm not saying the other stances are bad and not to be used, but that the open
is best for developing the core rotation and stable hitting style.

Some think getting sideways helps with core, but that make little sense to me, as
it removes the core loading that is so important to good use of the core. Open also teaches the player to use the legs more correctly as well.

U brought urself into this mess of a keen but now very stubborn pupil by being overly MTM positive about his kids ability sofar. And u go on saying that he is very talented which i highly doubt that u are able to see! I agree with the open stance point that u are trying to convey.

Carnaval, you have to trust thos who say that ur kid is arming and pushing the ball. He is way way to stiff and tight. If u have to choose between him being very loose but lacking form, and having form but being too tight it is important that u choose loose with bad form and then try to build form from there. In the last thread i suggested one way of starting that process.

If u dont know what is meant by pronation through contact then it indicates that ur knowledge is limited and from that background u seem to be doing a very decent job! But since ur knowledge is limited, at least u should give the ideas a shot even if they seem counterintuitive. This is tennis, there is so much that is counterintuitive and even hidden from the naked eye, such at eg the utter importance of being relaxed if you want to create the necessay power for tennis. And if ur first thought is that the power issue will be solved when he gets stronger, then u are again on the wrong path!

U can fix all the various obvious issues, such as late contact, punching the ball, the stretching his legs long before contact etc etc but it will all be in vein if u have a dream of him having just a very very small chance of becomming a pro!

Good luck!

Btw, u say that physics tells u that neutral stance is for vertical (linear?) movement and open for lateral, right? But how come Usein Bolt isnt using neutral stance??

[TW Staff]

This thread is now closed. Due to policy changes, we no longer allow discussion of specific junior players.

Thanks,

TW Staff