Wide stance return of serve? Watching Aussie Open

[moopie]

Don't forget that Djokovic is Gumby-man. If you're not as flexible as him, getting that wide will only rob you of explosive power.

[TheCheese]

I don't see any advantage to either way, as long as you're getting to the wide stance after your split step.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by TheCheese

I don't see any advantage to either way, as long as you're getting to the wide stance after your split step.

... besides the fact that starting wide and doing a smaller step takes less time and less energy to execute and you're guaranteed to land on bent legs and less chance of mistiming and being in the air longer than desired while the ball is heading towards you and curving away .

[TheCheese]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

... besides the fact that starting wide and doing a smaller step takes less time and less energy to execute and you're guaranteed to land on bent legs and less chance of mistiming and being in the air longer than desired while the ball is heading towards you and curving away .

True, it's a slight advantage, makes timing the split step easier.

[dominikk1985]

Originally Posted by Cheetah

... besides the fact that starting wide and doing a smaller step takes less time and less energy to execute and you're guaranteed to land on bent legs and less chance of mistiming and being in the air longer than desired while the ball is heading towards you and curving away .

well there is no time constraint in the return since you split step slighly before contact.

for beginners however that might be true.

[Cheetah]

Originally Posted by dominikk1985

well there is no time constraint in the return since you split step slighly before contact.

for beginners however that might be true.

Huh?
..........

edit: oh i see what you mean. but you're not supposed to be landing at time. usually jumping or coming down at that point.

[vegasgt3]

Borg had a very wide stance too and had a pretty fair ROS at one time!

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by TheCheese

I don't see any advantage to either way, as long as you're getting to the wide stance after your split step.

This is my thinking. For myself, I find the moderate stance moving to a wider split easier to implement. I do not have very good static flexibility but do have a fairly decent dynamic flexibility -- it is rather difficult for me to assume a (static) wide stance but I find it relatively easy to take a step and then split wider (as shown in the Murray link I provided previously).

[julian]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

This is my thinking. For myself, I find the moderate stance moving to a wider split easier to implement. I do not have very good static flexibility but do have a fairly decent dynamic flexibility -- it is rather difficult for me to assume a (static) wide stance but I find it relatively easy to take a step and then split wider (as shown in the Murray link I provided previously).

Greetings,
Li Na does a combination of a split step plus another step
Another step looks like a "shuffle" step
Is it efficient?
regards,
Julian

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by julian

Greetings,
Li Na does a combination of a split step plus another step
Another step looks like a "shuffle" step
Is it efficient?
regards,
Julian

I have not really watched Li Na closely on her ROS so I'm not sure what your description of her ROS footwork really means. Do you have a link that show this (or are you expecting me to watch her final against Vika)?

I did come across the following video of Li Na but it seems a bit different from what you have described. It looks a lot like the Berdych ROS footwork that I described in post #11. It looks like she performs a couple of preparatory mini-bounces followed by an actual split-step. I assume that the latter happens at/near ball contact and the 2 prep mini-bounces are probably happening as the server tosses the ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITe4a2aw8D0

[julian]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

I have not really watched Li Na closely on her ROS so I'm not sure what your description of her ROS footwork really means. Do you have a link that show this (or are you expecting me to watch her final against Vika)?

I did come across the following video of Li Na but it seems a bit different from what you have described. It looks a lot like the Berdych ROS footwork that I described in post #11. It looks like she performs a couple of preparatory mini-bounces followed by an actual split-step. I assume that the latter happens at/near ball contact and the 2 prep mini-bounces are probably happening as the server tosses the ball.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITe4a2aw8D0

I do NOT have a link

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by julian

I do NOT have a link

Does the link of Li Na I provided look anything like what you have seen her doing recently on the ROS?

[julian]

The link is the way I teach.
The semi-final footwork was different (the second half of the footwork)

[SystemicAnomaly]

Originally Posted by julian

The link is the way I teach.
The semi-final footwork was different (the second half of the footwork)

I did not see her SF and only watched a little bit of the final. I saw a few footwork variations on Li Na's ROS footwork sequence. Most seemed to be variations of her footwork in the video link. I also recall some variations with the similar Berdych footwork. Djoko, whose ROS footwork was a bit diifferent from these 2 exhibited some variations as well.

The Murray ROS footwork (post #20) is similar to what I use and teach. While I do insist that my students perform a properly-timed split-step, I do not insist that they perform the sequence exactly the way I do it.

[julian]

Originally Posted by SystemicAnomaly

I did not see her SF and only watched a little bit of the final. I saw a few footwork variations on Li Na's ROS footwork sequence. Most seemed to be variations of her footwork in the video link. I also recall some variations with the similar Berdych footwork. Djoko, whose ROS footwork was a bit diifferent from these 2 exhibited some variations as well.

The Murray ROS footwork (post #20) is similar to what I use and teach. While I do insist that my students perform a properly-timed split-step, I do not insist that they perform the sequence exactly the way I do it.

I have found an article/video on youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bupA0ut9oe0
More to come on this subject

[julian]

I have sent you a CORRECTED LINK to the Youtube video

[SystemicAnomaly]

^ Here is the link for the rest of you. (Not yet watched all of it):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBjzOeAP6Lg

[LeeD]

A difference of return philosophy might account for the differences in stance.
Women often return much more aggresively, since the serve isn't nearly as fast, so they need a stable hitting platform.
Men serve much faster, and most big servers target the body to freeze the returner from reacting out wide. So it's a more defensive return of serve in men's tennis.
Wide stance allows a quicker wide movement, and allows the returner to pivot off one leg and defend body shots with turned shoulders.