Improvement Focus – The Hips

[Ranger24]

The most under appreciated, under talked about and under trained body parts in tennis (and almost all sports for that matter) are the hips. We talk about footwork, swing path, elbow position, leg drive, wrist lag etc. The thing that blows my mind is that so much of this stuff comes naturally if we are doing the right thing with our hips.

The hips are the engine that drive pretty much all athletic movements. Think about it, in hockey skating stick handling and shooting are all based off hip movement. Running is firing the legs and arms in opposite directions in order to create torque in the hips. Baseball hitting/pitching. Football opening the hips is key to directional cuts and driving the hips and shoulders through tackles. If you have not watched Dak Prescott’s warm up routine, you need to see it (see link below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g95RtcpkwI – this is a great warm up but I do not recommend doing this pre-match unless you are really REALLY good! People will never look at you the same…

When I talk about the hips, I’m talking about the muscles that control the drive and rotation of the hips like the quads, glutes and abdominal muscles. The hips are the center of gravity and center of balance for all of us. Men especially, because we have strong and wide shoulders, tend to use the power we have there to cover up inadequacies and inefficiency in our hip drive. The shoulders being so far away from our center create inconsistency.

So, over the next few times you go out and play tennis, instead of focusing on small micro movements, focus on the action of your hips going into each movement.

Focus:

Shadow Swings – instead of focusing on the racket take back and follow through, focus on twisting and loading the hips down into an athletic squatting position and to allow the racket to take back naturally then firing the hips though to pull the shoulder and arm through the swinging motion.

Footwork – instead of focusing on the movement of your feet and legs, focus on getting your hips into position to drive through the shot.

Forehand and Backhand Swings – Focus on driving the hips through your shot and allowing the shoulders and arm to follow. Watch how driving the hips forward and UP create natural topspin shot.

Serve – Focus on driving the hips up and around to create a lag and snap on your serving motion.

I think this will help a lot of players. Driving the hips and using your center of gravity will improve your game. Next time you are watching clips of pros, watch how well they use their hips… All of them!

If you go out and focus on this stuff, please, post back and let me know if this helps.

 

[travlerajm]

 

[Fintft]

And making sure that you did enough of an unit turn? With the racquet waiting in the take back position before the ball bounces?
And breathing (i.e. exhaling as you start your swing)...

 

[Ranger24]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Watch Djokovic, his shoulders are almost completely square (slight twist in the shoulders) with his hips. As his racquet is going back he is "sitting down" and loading his back leg to drive through.

 

[Curious]

Totally agree on how important hips are. Hence so crucial to get them stronger which I would have expected to be mentioned in the OP.

 

[Chas Tennis]

Related to tennis terms 'weight shift' or 'step forward'.

I think it is more about a weight transfer with semi open or closed.

Sure most of the energy is rotational but still all max power sports involve a weight transfer to the front leg and then a turn around a firm front side

Shot put

Javelin

Baseball

Spinning around the back leg is simply not the best way to generate power compared to transferring weight into a front side block and turning around the front side but in tennis there are sometimes time constraints making it necessary

I have never understood the tennis stroke term 'weight transfer'. How does a slow forward body motion add to the stroke? Also, a circular body motion can be used instead of a 'step forward' weight transfer and the circular motion doesn't have to change the location of the weight of the body. What's going on?

Looking at the batter in your post and remembering a Gasquet backhand where he ran across the court and then stopped (or slowed) by planting his foot, here is a thought on 'weight transfer'.

If the objective is to rotate the pelvis with acceleration, moving forward with the body mass - as in stepping quickly forward or 'weight transfer' - allows time to accelerate the body mass to a low or moderate speed. Then when the foot is suddenly planted the leg can apply strong force to the moving hip and the pelvis will be rotated with acceleration. This pelvis rotation is then used to rotate the upper body for racket head speed.

For a circular forehand where the center of mass does not move, there is no 'weight transfer' and the pelvis rotational acceleration is from one or two legs applying forces to the hip or hips.

If you have some thoughts or information on the pelvis rotationally accelerating from planting the foot to stop the body mass, please post. Baseball or tennis.

 

[dominikk1985]

Related to tennis terms 'weight shift' or 'step forward'.

I think one Thing you need to consider is that in tennis you mostly move laterally to the ball. In theory for power generation shifting into a front leg block and turning around the front leg is ideal but if you have to range laterally it would require 1 or 2 extra steps and another 90 deg direction change which costs time and energy.

In baseball a shortstop making a throw will also plant his feet and step towards the target but if he has to range a lot to his right and throw under time constraint he will also sometimes use an open stance which means he gets a bit less on his throw but still can get the job done.

Modern tennis simply doesn't have enough time to always make that extra step and get into it from behind.

Federer for example will use the closed stance when attacking a short ball but not when he has to range to the side and hit behind the baseline

 

[Chas Tennis]

I think one Thing you need to consider is that in tennis you mostly move laterally to the ball. In theory for power generation shifting into a front leg block and turning around the front leg is ideal but if you have to range laterally it would require 1 or 2 extra steps and another 90 deg direction change which costs time and energy.

In baseball a shortstop making a throw will also plant his feet and step towards the target but if he has to range a lot to his right and throw under time constraint he will also sometimes use an open stance which means he gets a bit less on his throw but still can get the job done.

Modern tennis simply doesn't have enough time to always make that extra step and get into it from behind.

Federer for example will use the closed stance when attacking a short ball but not when he has to range to the side and hit behind the baseline

Relative to weight shift / step forward

Imagine the line between the two hips as viewed from above. If a foot is planted and the line between the hips is caused to rotate, the rotation must be in the right direction, CW or CCW, and the available angular range of the rotation has to be directed toward the shot's direction. In other words, some speed of the body mass is built up by 'weight shift' and planting the foot slows/stops one hip and the moving body mass causes the pelvis to rotate.

I saw Gasquet run laterally along the baseline and slow/stop himself and his pelvis rotate.
https://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/ind...art-forward-swing.462997/page-3#post-12917793

I see the batter rotate with one 'stride' step.

Sometimes this move-forward-plant-foot may not be available, as when the player backs up. The videos will show what is going on.

We should look for step forward, plant foot, and then if the line between the two hips turns in a favorable way to accelerate the line between the hips in a direction that helps the stroke. Applies to forehands, backhands and volleys where a step forward is seen or the player is running and stops or slows. Running gets more body mass speed.

You know a lot about other sports. See if the planted foot is always followed by a favorable direction of the pelvis turn. ? The batter seems the best example so far.

For strokes where the feet leave the ground (Nishikori) or for more circular strokes, the legs would apply forces to the hips in other ways to rotate the pelvis.

If the body mass moves at a few miles per hour and stops suddenly and converts that linear energy into rotational energy, then using the arm or arm and racket as a radius, the racket head speed goes up. This would be one source of racket head speed. The trunk twisting the uppermost body another. The pelvis turns the upper body and the trunk adds more turning speed for the uppermost body (often called 'shoulders'). The shoulder joint is also used.

The weight shift step and how it relates to pelvis turn must have been researched in the biomechanics of batters and pitchers.

 

[Ranger24]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The way I see it, you are pushing of to create force with your largest and strongest muscles, your legs. The "weight transfer" or "step forward" is to stop the mass and transfer the energy to a body part with less mass. Legs drive to create energy begin rotation of upper body through the hips. The "step forward" stops the rotation of the hips and transferring all the energy into the upper torso and shoulders. The left arm then then tucks (for a right hander) stopping the upper torso and shoulder rotation, transferring all the energy into the arm.

A big part of sports is trying to make your opponent as biomechanical inefficient as possible.

 

[Ranger24]

Wow! Javelin throwing is a crazy sport!

 

[PilotPete]

But hips aren't in contact with the ground, feet/legs are.

 

[Chas Tennis]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="

" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The way I see it, you are pushing of to create force with your largest and strongest muscles, your legs. The "weight transfer" or "step forward" is to stop the mass and transfer the energy to a body part with less mass. Legs drive to create energy begin rotation of upper body through the hips. The "step forward" stops the rotation of the hips and transferring all the energy into the upper torso and shoulders. The left arm then then tucks (for a right hander) stopping the upper torso and shoulder rotation, transferring all the energy into the arm.

A big part of sports is trying to make your opponent as biomechanical inefficient as possible.

Did you post the hockey player video to make a point?

 

[Ranger24]

Did you post the hockey player video to make a point?

Uhh… Yes?

In support of your post...

 

[Ranger24]

But hips aren't in contact with the ground, feet/legs are.

Yep, but the only function of the legs and feet are to move the hips and upper body.

 

[megamind]

Such a good song

And, thanks OP, I will think about my hips when I play today

 

[Chas Tennis]

Yep, but the only function of the legs and feet are to move the hips and upper body.

Could you explain when the hockey player on ice displays that and how it works?

To specify a frame you can note some event in the video, for example, when his left skate leaves the ice plus 18 frames. Usually the Youtube videos advance one frame every time the period key is pressed. You could also use the time, for example, the frame that the YT time scale goes from, say, 12 to 13 second, 13 sec plus 23 frames.

 

[Ranger24]

Could you explain when the hockey player on ice displays that and how it works?

To specify a frame you can note some event in the video, for example, when his left skate leaves the ice plus 18 frames. Usually the Youtube videos advance one frame every time the period key is pressed. You could also use the time, for example, the frame that the YT time scale goes from, say, 12 to 13 second, 13 sec plus 23 frames.

I'll use seconds:

At 17 seconds his left leg is driving his hips forward and down, stretching the muscles between his should and hips.

At 20 seconds (at contact) his right leg pivots in front creating the "step" and stopping (not really stopping but slowing) the rotation of his hips and transferring that energy into the shoulder rotation.

I will admit that legs are used as a balance as well.

I think that the timing is a little different because of how much a hockey stick flexes compared to a tennis racket or baseball bat. It's almost the same motion of hips, torso and shoulders as a serve (up), baseball swing/tennis forehand (side). Just the slapshot is transferring the energy down. I can't really compare it to javelin throwing because anyone that serves so hard they fall on their face I give top marks in respect.

 

[socallefty]

Whenever I think of Shakira’s hips during a match, I play better. Seems to release the right hormones. So, hips are important

 

[nyta2]

The most under appreciated, under talked about and under trained body parts in tennis (and almost all sports for that matter) are the hips. We talk about footwork, swing path, elbow position, leg drive, wrist lag etc. The thing that blows my mind is that so much of this stuff comes naturally if we are doing the right thing with our hips.

The hips are the engine that drive pretty much all athletic movements. Think about it, in hockey skating stick handling and shooting are all based off hip movement. Running is firing the legs and arms in opposite directions in order to create torque in the hips. Baseball hitting/pitching. Football opening the hips is key to directional cuts and driving the hips and shoulders through tackles. If you have not watched Dak Prescott’s warm up routine, you need to see it (see link below).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g95RtcpkwI – this is a great warm up but I do not recommend doing this pre-match unless you are really REALLY good! People will never look at you the same…

When I talk about the hips, I’m talking about the muscles that control the drive and rotation of the hips like the quads, glutes and abdominal muscles. The hips are the center of gravity and center of balance for all of us. Men especially, because we have strong and wide shoulders, tend to use the power we have there to cover up inadequacies and inefficiency in our hip drive. The shoulders being so far away from our center create inconsistency.

So, over the next few times you go out and play tennis, instead of focusing on small micro movements, focus on the action of your hips going into each movement.

Focus:

Shadow Swings – instead of focusing on the racket take back and follow through, focus on twisting and loading the hips down into an athletic squatting position and to allow the racket to take back naturally then firing the hips though to pull the shoulder and arm through the swinging motion.

Footwork – instead of focusing on the movement of your feet and legs, focus on getting your hips into position to drive through the shot.

Forehand and Backhand Swings – Focus on driving the hips through your shot and allowing the shoulders and arm to follow. Watch how driving the hips forward and UP create natural topspin shot.

Serve – Focus on driving the hips up and around to create a lag and snap on your serving motion.

I think this will help a lot of players. Driving the hips and using your center of gravity will improve your game. Next time you are watching clips of pros, watch how well they use their hips… All of them!

If you go out and focus on this stuff, please, post back and let me know if this helps.

vid all about the hips, that i could have used decades ago (vs. figuring out myself over decades)

 

[Ranger24]

Awesome video! Here is a forehand video that I really like.

"

"

 

[Ranger24]

Such a good song

And, thanks OP, I will think about my hips when I play today

I'm pretty sure Shakira is proof enough that hips are God's gift to mankind!