Getting too close to the ball, aka getting "handcuffed"

[Bungalo Bill]

Another quick little discovery here while jumping around in the office with my racquet doing shadow tennis: Split stepping with weight evenly on both feet does not seem good, esp. if the split step is supposed to be in conjunction with a decision about what side of the court to move to (is it). In fact, then it's just a bounce up and down that serves to delay the eventual decision. It seem that the ideal split step would have the weight coming down slightly on the outside foot (right foot if you want to move left etc). as this seems to facilitate dropping the left foot under to go out to the side.

Split stepping too soon may also impede my ability to see the ball. Bouncing scull and eye balls is not conducive to tracking a distant tennis racquet movement. Would it be useful for beginners to consciously delay the split step to after the person has hit, even if it's way late so as to promote split stepping somewhere eg right left forward or backward.

Yes, you split-step to move, you dont split-step to split-step. The split-step should be performed right before when you are reading which direction the ball is going. It is an unweighting of your body weight over your feet so it is easier to change directions almost immediately.

If a player is shufflling back to recovery position but the opponent is about ready to hit the ball, the player needs to insert a split-step to be able to move quickly in any direction.

Also, the eyes bouncing in their sockets is a common thing amongst players who have never learned to steady their head over their movement. Again, you are moving to get into position and your eyes are the key part of the body that allows information to flow to the brain for decision making.

If your eyes are bouncing around, it is hard to stay focised and get good information. This is especially true amongst S&V's.

DRILL: When executing movement drills, pretend you are balancing a glass of water on your head while you are moving. The key is to make your lower body work hard while your upper body remains quiet.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

http://www.**************.com/recovery-position.html

This link got broken in the post somehow...

Peder, this "broken" link is due a flawed/overzealous algorithm that the TW message board uses in an attempt to censor certain words. I believe that the link that BB was trying to display was the following:

How To Find The Correct Recovery Position


I noticed that you never acknowledged my spatial reference suggestion on page 1 (#14) of this thread or the follow-up question on page #2 (post #39). I strongly urge you to use this technique. You may be surprised how effective this seemingly simple technique can be.

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

^ Rats, that attempt to provide the link did not work either! In place of **************, type in the following without the spaces: Tennis Mind Game

www. tennis mind game.com/recovery-position.html


.

 

[Bungalo Bill]

^ Rats, that attempt to provide the link did not work either! In place of **************, type in the following without the spaces: Tennis Mind Game

www.tennis mind game.com/recovery-position.html

.

lol, I had hope but then I got this...


Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage




Let's see 3w's.**************.com (nope, didnt work)

www.tennis-mind-game.com (type without the two hyphens).

www.tennismind-game.com (type without the one hyphen).

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

^, Yeah, I actually "fixed" that previous post, after you had already quoted it.

 

[pondus]

I noticed that you never acknowledged my spatial reference suggestion on page 1 (#14) of this thread or the follow-up question on page #2 (post #39). I strongly urge you to use this technique. You may be surprised how effective this seemingly simple technique can be.

Yes, I started using it today for the first time, and it REALLY works. I'm still overrunning the ball, but and getting misaligned, but I'm going to stop worrying about my strokes and only focus on this and hope that I can fix this problem permanently within 6 months.

Now what to use as a reference point on the backhand side and short balls

 

[pondus]

Are those the courts at Riverrain?? (North River Rd)

You mean River Rd in Ottawa? Yes it yes. How can you tell? Do you play there?

 

[Deleted member 25923]

Time to try the non dominant arm that BB suggested!

 

[Garvy]

You mean River Rd in Ottawa? Yes it yes. How can you tell? Do you play there?

Perhaps a time or few Nice to see someone analyzing their game from the area. Generally play under the bubble at Carleton (winter) or at Rideau.

 

[pondus]

Perhaps a time or few Nice to see someone analyzing their game from the area. Generally play under the bubble at Carleton (winter) or at Rideau.

Wow, cool - what a strange co-incidence. I'm a new member at Rideau. Would you mind dropping me an email, I'd like to talk to you about getting the possibility of setting up a drills league for fellow 'tennis nerds'. You can reach me via pjakobsen AT gmail DOT com

Thanks -- and looking forward to hitting with you perhaps

Peder

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

Yes, I started using it today for the first time, and it REALLY works. I'm still overrunning the ball, but and getting misaligned, but I'm going to stop worrying about my strokes and only focus on this and hope that I can fix this problem permanently within 6 months.

Now what to use as a reference point on the backhand side and short balls

Great to hear that you've tried it. Keep using it to make it a habit for your FH shots. The more you do it, the better you should get at judging FH balls.

For the BH side, you'll need to grow a 3rd arm, I'm afraid.

Actually, there are a couple of other alternatives to this. Keep practicing the technique on the FH side. -- as you improve your judgment on the FH side, the BH side may very well get better as well. Another option is to develop a good 1-handed BH slice for situations where you are not in the optimum position for your 2-hander. The 1-hander has much greater range than the 2-hander: low balls, high balls (no, not the alcoholic kind), wide balls and balls that jam you.

You can also use a semi-open stance for your BH when you get jammed altho' a fairly neutral stance for the 2-hander and either a closed or neutral stance for the 1-hander is normally preferred.

 

[pondus]

This great article is answering a lot of my questions, and proposing more specific solutions.

http://www.**************.com/inner-game-tennis-drills.html

I want to thank everyone here for your generous help. I'm glad I discovered this forum, i have a feeling it will essential in my 5 year project to learn how to rally very consistently .
(not too interested in match play just yet, that will be project #2)

Peder

 

[pondus]

Hmm, those damn links. What happens when you put a PRE tag around it;

Let's see: <pre>http://www.**************.com/inner-game-tennis-drills.html</pre>

 

[SystemicAnomaly]

^ This is the Tennis Mind Game site again, correct?

www. tennis mindgame.com/inner-game-tennis-drills.html

(Copy/Paste and delete the spaces)

 

[ShooterMcMarco]

Since this is a footwork thread, I thought I'd show some fast footwork by CR7:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOUyFrevDHM&feature=related

That makes tennis drills look a little more simpler don't ya think

I know if I was doing that I'd break an ankle by tripping on the ball.

 

[10sfreak]

SystemicAnomaly, could you elaborate more on using the non-dominant hand as a spatial reference for the incoming ball? Thanks!