Modern Tennis Tips by Oscar Wegner

[Wegner]

Transference

I have tested, for decades, an interesting experiment that has proven helpful to a lot of players, from amateurs to pros.

Rather than trying to position your body at a certain distance from the ball, track the ball with your playing hand or hands as if you were trying to catch it.

Now comes something that is instinctive, dictated by your intention of driving the racquet to your favorite end of the stroke. For example, you track the ball with your hand, you see it right where you want it, with a bit of back and forth hand movement you then accelerate your racquet diagonally, that is, up for topspin and across your body for control. You finish the stroke pointing the butt of the racquet to where you sent the ball.

It is an easy transfer of focus where you transition from catch to hit with no doubts or reservations in the blink of an eye.

You may even have your racquet quite loose.

It may seem too simplistic, too left to chance. But by keeping both hands on the racquet while tracking the ball, your playing hand will determine the timing necessary and the details of your stroke. Just make sure you finish the stroke all the way.

Focusing initially on the hand, rather than on the racquet, can develop several abilities. One is something that you most likely learned at a very young age: the skill to catch a moving object while YOU are on the move as well and then throw it away.

Another resulting advantage is the simplification of the thought process.

There is a hand and there is a ball you want to catch. Nothing else matters. I’d like to venture that there is no thought necessary at all. You are free to go about it as you please.

It is nothing complicated, nothing rushed. Your lower body may be in an emergency, running fast. It will tend to look for efficiency to help you execute your primary intention, which is your stroke. Let your body teach you. Feel it and don’t force it in authoritarian ways.

Give it your best try and let me know the results.

[Wegner]

The Finish

There is a good drill that works marvelously on shaping groundstrokes.

If you are a right-hander, on the forehand finish, touch the left cheek with the back of your right hand.

On the two-handed backhand, touch your right cheek with the back of your left hand.

The butt of the racquet, at the finish, will be pointing towards where you aimed the shot.

Do it gently but consistently. It will improve your stroke.

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by sureshs

If you are already rotating around yourself, and allow for more rotations, it might make a difference. A diver starts a rotating jump, then curls in, and reaps the benefits of extra rotations.

If you are only partially rotating, and sometimes not the whole body, and you are looking for an increase in speed in the millisecond before impact that you are pulling in your arm (which you are not actually, since you are hitting out on the ball), I don't think the increase in speed in the millisecond into impact is going to make a difference.

Well the whole upperbody with racket and all is turning (uncoiling), so I wil have to disagree.
And I am not looking for anything, just stating my opinion. And if the ball is comming from the direction of your left shoulder, pulling in is actually hitting out against the ball, and across.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by Wegner

Transference

I have tested, for decades, an interesting experiment that has proven helpful to a lot of players, from amateurs to pros.

Rather than trying to position your body at a certain distance from the ball, track the ball with your playing hand or hands as if you were trying to catch it.

Now comes something that is instinctive, dictated by your intention of driving the racquet to your favorite end of the stroke. For example, you track the ball with your hand, you see it right where you want it, with a bit of back and forth hand movement you then accelerate your racquet diagonally, that is, up for topspin and across your body for control. You finish the stroke pointing the butt of the racquet to where you sent the ball.

It is an easy transfer of focus where you transition from catch to hit with no doubts or reservations in the blink of an eye.

You may even have your racquet quite loose.

It may seem too simplistic, too left to chance. But by keeping both hands on the racquet while tracking the ball, your playing hand will determine the timing necessary and the details of your stroke. Just make sure you finish the stroke all the way.

Focusing initially on the hand, rather than on the racquet, can develop several abilities. One is something that you most likely learned at a very young age: the skill to catch a moving object while YOU are on the move as well and then throw it away.

Another resulting advantage is the simplification of the thought process.

There is a hand and there is a ball you want to catch. Nothing else matters. I’d like to venture that there is no thought necessary at all. You are free to go about it as you please.

It is nothing complicated, nothing rushed. Your lower body may be in an emergency, running fast. It will tend to look for efficiency to help you execute your primary intention, which is your stroke. Let your body teach you. Feel it and don’t force it in authoritarian ways.

Give it your best try and let me know the results.

i tried this approach with a 40+ female beginner with no sports background this summer and it worked wonders.
i saw a video of your on youtube about how to teach a beginner the forehand within minutes by letting him catch the ball, hit it with the hand, etc. and that made a lot of difference, thanks
i am a big proponent and have been for a long time on developing the feel for the ball first and moving naturally to the ball without thinking about footwork
i believe though in the value of working on your footwork and integrating different moves and stances in your game. what i try to do is work on different strokes and present them with options on what might work better in a certain situation and why.
mind you, not all the players i work with have had good coaching in the past. some are entirely self-thaught. concepts like doing a well-timed splitstep, unit turns or more open stances need to be brought to attention i believe.

[boramiNYC]

the idea of first establishing the spatial estimate for contact by hand before setting the feet is a good one. but why and how anyone would call this 'transference' escapes me. care to explain how you decided to use that term, mr wegner?

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by sureshs

The acceleration will be down, but the speed may still increase, but probably as a consequence of the actions prior to impact.

I do not think you can have acceleration without action, as in force.

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by 5263

and the effort comes approaching contact.
Starting the effort too early spoils the hit in any dynamic sport

Originally Posted by sureshs

Too early is not getting as close to the ball as almost catching it, as it is claimed, and then accelerating.

I think you are splitting hairs. But definetly not a jerk imo (who wants to play jerky?).
But a acceleration of the racket, mainly by bending the elbow, pulling it inwards/upwards depending on which way the elbow points is what I am talking about.
I guess the main discussion here is whether this happens only because of the natural kinetic chain, or also sometimes because of applying of force. I think the acceleration and applying of force through bending of the elbow (in a controlled, not jerky way) is usefull, and is seen in the Federer video.

[luvforty]

the tracking-by-hand thing, i am surprised this being touted such a revolutionary idea? it's a good idea no doubt and good for mr. Wegner to teach it....

but come on, isn't this a bit obvious?

you lead the butt end into the ball.... I can say tracking the ball with the butt end...

to-may-to, to-mah-to

[5263]

Originally Posted by luvforty

the tracking-by-hand thing, i am surprised this being touted such a revolutionary idea? it's a good idea no doubt and good for mr. Wegner to teach it....

but come on, isn't this a bit obvious?

you lead the butt end into the ball.... I can say tracking the ball with the butt end...

to-may-to, to-mah-to

I don't think Oscar is considering this one tip or teaching pt to be revolutionary,
so much has his teaching system as a whole, which was one of the first to
depart from the classic instruction.
Watch a R Lansdorp vid with him demo'ing a swing with the racket nearly
aligned with the upper arm, lower arm and racket....all pretty much in a
straight line. Should help you to see how different things are done now,
than in the past related to instruction.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

WAnd if the ball is comming from the direction of your left shoulder, pulling in is actually hitting out against the ball, and across.

Yes, but the pulling in occurs before hitting out. There is no pulling in at impact.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Wegner

The Finish

There is a good drill that works marvelously on shaping groundstrokes.

If you are a right-hander, on the forehand finish, touch the left cheek with the back of your right hand.

On the two-handed backhand, touch your right cheek with the back of your left hand.

The butt of the racquet, at the finish, will be pointing towards where you aimed the shot.

Do it gently but consistently. It will improve your stroke.

Seems to be OK as long as done gently as advised.

For those who want further clarification, here cheeks refer to the parts of the face.

[Relinquis]

Originally Posted by sureshs

Yes, but the pulling in occurs before hitting out. There is no pulling in at impact.

it's not yanking/pulling, it's rotation

[5263]

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

or also sometimes because of applying of force. .

Right...It's pull to contact.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Wegner

Vic Braden has measured Federer's stroke, in one instance, going from 7 MPH in the racquet head drop, 17 MPH just prior to impact, and over 50 MPH in front of his chest. Very different figures.

No, you got it wrong as usual.

Vic's analysis (with his colleague) is here. The speed goes from 7 (top of swing) to 25 (lowest point of swing) to 71 near impact (in that analysis, contact was in front of the chest).

Did you really think Federer would swing at 17 mph at impact? I think even casual tennis and golf players know that the number is way too small.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLmCqGIotM

[sureshs]

The above should put to rest the myth that the pros take it slow till near contact and abruptly accelerate. The acceleration is present throughout the swing.

If one swings slowly till almost catching the ball, and then accelerates, then perhaps he will only get 17 mph at impact! Luckily, Fed did not know about such modern tennis tips and learnt to hit the ball hard.

[WildVolley]

Originally Posted by sureshs

No, you got it wrong as usual.

Vic's analysis (with his colleague) is here. The speed goes from 7 (top of swing) to 25 (lowest point of swing) to 71 near impact (in that analysis, contact was in front of the chest).

Did you really think Federer would swing at 17 mph at impact? I think even casual tennis and golf players know that the number is way too small.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPLmCqGIotM

It is possible that Wegner is discussing some other forehand, but I think that the video of the fh shown is fairly typical. As you correctly note, the racket goes from roughly 25mph at the end of the racket drop (sometimes called the 'pat-the-dog' position) to 71mph at contact. That's an acceleration of about 46mph into the forward swing.

So it is clear that the most of the pros, when hitting a hard ball, are accelerating hard out of the racket drop. They are not waiting to accelerate until almost at impact.

A question for Wegner: Do you really believe that players are waiting until the hand is almost at contact to accelerate, or is this a teaching trick to encourage players to accelerate harder with a short backswing?

The ATP players have shorter backswings (Soderling is an exception) than most of the WTA players who will have a more gradual acceleration profile. That short backswing suggest the acceleration out of the drop is going to be pretty impressive. (I could be wrong about the acceleration pattern differences, I probably should look for data when comparing ATP and WTA.)

[julian]

Originally Posted by WildVolley

It is possible that Wegner is discussing some other forehand, but I think that the video of the fh shown is fairly typical. As you correctly note, the racket goes from roughly 25mph at the end of the racket drop (sometimes called the 'pat-the-dog' position) to 71mph at contact. That's an acceleration of about 46mph into the forward swing.

So it is clear that the most of the pros, when hitting a hard ball, are accelerating hard out of the racket drop. They are not waiting to accelerate until almost at impact.

A question for Wegner: Do you really believe that players are waiting until the hand is almost at contact to accelerate, or is this a teaching trick to encourage players to accelerate harder with a short backswing?

The ATP players have shorter backswings (Soderling is an exception) than most of the WTA players who will have a more gradual acceleration profile. That short backswing suggest the acceleration out of the drop is going to be pretty impressive. (I could be wrong about the acceleration pattern differences, I probably should look for data when comparing ATP and WTA.)

see
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showt...449122&page=14
post #265

[WildVolley]

Originally Posted by julian

see
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showt...449122&page=14
post #265

I looked at those threads and am confused.

Could you briefly summarize the point you are making by referring me to those threads?

What I see is that hand accelerating hard out of the drop in an arcing fashion. I think what Wegner is referring as sudden acceleration prior to impact is the racket lag catching up with the hand as the arm straightens and the hand arcs across. Basically, the racket head is going to lag my hand as it accelerates out toward the ball in an arcing fashion.

Here's a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_6hC2qKnKw&NR=1

[julian]

Originally Posted by WildVolley

I looked at those threads and am confused.

Could you briefly summarize the point you are making by referring me to those threads?

What I see is that hand accelerating hard out of the drop in an arcing fashion. I think what Wegner is referring as sudden acceleration prior to impact is the racket lag catching up with the hand as the arm straightens and the hand arcs across. Basically, the racket head is going to lag my hand as it accelerates out toward the ball in an arcing fashion.

Here's a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_6hC2qKnKw&NR=1

I will do it in the John's Yandell thread 12 hours from now-please check from time to time
I am teaching right now

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by sureshs

Yes, but the pulling in occurs before hitting out. There is no pulling in at impact.

Originally Posted by Relinquis

it's not yanking/pulling, it's rotation

Originally Posted by 5263

Right...It's pull to contact.

Interesting. Btw, I am sure that there is more than one way to hit a ball. And that a guy like Federer can and will hit in different ways depending on the situation, and what he wants to achieve.