It is interesting (at least to me) that we look to these great players for some secret
that will suddenly make sense of everything and open the way to tennis success.
But, basically, every instructional video I have ever seen- every pro who has visited
our town has concentrated on the "basics". What does that kung fu panda say?- There is
no secret sauce. Oh, well.
Could your quote one of the "we" that you are referring to that looks to great players from 30 years ago for some secret? Any quotes?
Are you familiar with the story of
internal shoulder rotation and the part that that joint motion played on the serve? That was the flagship of all tennis technique secrets, the researchers finally confirmed it in 1995. It still is secret to most active tennis players.
Here is an instructional video that mentions joint motions. You can Google any term if you don't understand them.
I was particularly interested in Chris Evert for the strong points of her techniques as representative 1990 and earlier ladies techniques. Especially interesting is the weight shift linear technique vs the circular technique for forehands. These technique issues are discussed by Dan Brown. It seems like two different techniques using some of the same basics (such as 'look at the ball', 'use the
stretch shorten cycle', or 'turn your shoulders', etc.). Brown is discussing a secret from earlier tennis, the more circular forehand technique. Does the later technique have a 'secret', that the earlier technique does not? In videos, it does. Is that 'secret', a new 'basic'?
Is 'step forward shift your weight' a basic in 2021? Out of date?
