Question on Wonder Wedge

[Indiantwist]

I have been using wonder wedge for about 2 months.
I would say it did help a bit in terms of my strokes. However my serve is way off whenever i do it with WW.
Iam not sure what is going wrong here. I use continental grip and i hit a flat first serve and a kick like second serve. I seem to be hitting the net all the time.

I did not cut the WW as indicated in their manual/website. Iam not sure if that is the root cause.

any help please?

 

[Tim Tennis]

Hi Indiantwist,

Thanks for the question. Hopefully I can give you a little guidance.

You said, "However my serve is way off whenever i do it with WW.
Iam not sure what is going wrong here. I use continental grip and i hit a flat first serve and a kick like second serve. I seem to be hitting the net all the time."

What may be happening, at least on the kick second serve is that the Wonder Wedge has caused you to close your racquet face slightly as compared with the standard shaped handle if you are using the Continental grip. In addition to this, the increased leverage and traction will cause you to impart more spin to the ball. At first, you will draw the ball into the net. I always make this predication to first time users of the Wonder Wedge that tell me they use the Continental grip and hit a spin or kick serve. They always seem to be amazed and say, "How did you know that?"

What you don't realize is that the gift is right there in front of you, in the net. You have to make the slightly more closed racquet face and increased leverage and traction work for you. You have to practice and experiment with your mechanics to generate, as I like to call it more forward/horizontal
energy. A great drill to help you realize what is going on is to take a basket of balls or whatever you have, practice you kick serve but try to power it all the way to the other base line. Pay attention to the spin and action you are getting on the ball. You will have to be aware of what adjustments in your mechanics you made to accomplish this. Don't be judgemental, just let it flow. In this learning, understanding situation, the only bad thing you can do is hit in the net.

Check list:
How smooth is my service motion?
Is it restricted or do I have a full range of motion loading all the muscle groups? (You must be relaxed to fully load the muscle groups.)
How good is my shoulder rotation?
Am I making full use of my triceps and wrist and powering through the ball?
How good is my follow-through?

When you understand and adjust your mechanics to master the new points of leverage and traction you will be amazed at the improvement in your serve.

You got to love the game.

Ed http://www.tennisgeometrics.com

 

[mattm]

I have been using wonder wedge for about 2 months.
I would say it did help a bit in terms of my strokes. However my serve is way off whenever i do it with WW.
Iam not sure what is going wrong here. I use continental grip and i hit a flat first serve and a kick like second serve. I seem to be hitting the net all the time.

I did not cut the WW as indicated in their manual/website. Iam not sure if that is the root cause.

any help please?

I DO think trimming the wedge will help with the serve. I really like the way the continental grip feels with my first finger hooked over the beveled end of the wedge. This really seems to help my grip on the serve. Seems to help me keep my grip relaxed. Definitedly worth trying.

best,
m

 

[Tim Tennis]

I DO think trimming the wedge will help with the serve. I really like the way the continental grip feels with my first finger hooked over the beveled end of the wedge. This really seems to help my grip on the serve. Seems to help me keep my grip relaxed. Definitedly worth trying.

best,
m

Mattn.

Good point, I agree, if you don't cut the Wonder Wedge to accommodate the index finger on the continental grip you are missing one of the great benefits.

Ed

 

[andirez]

Mattn.

Good point, I agree, if you don't cut the Wonder Wedge to accommodate the index finger on the continental grip you are missing one of the great benefits.

Ed

Really, you *have* to cut the WW to match your hand size. It was only after I trimmed my WWs, I really started "feeling" what the WW is doing and I felt comfortable with it. I also found it to be much easier for serving and using an eastern forehand grip (your palm can rest on the beveled tip, yielding a very good "connection" to the handle shape) . For me, the ideal length is when my index finger rests on the bevelled tip when applying a continental grip, it also gives you a good indication where your hand is on the grip apart from the butt cap.

 

[Indiantwist]

I have a question here. When i Serve i hold the racquet way below. Ie i can feel part of my palm under the butt cap. Since i hold in down, it kinda acts as if racquet is longer and it gave me a better leverage in Serving. I use continental though.

So what is my ideal length now?.Because if i cut it to just accomodate serve then will it becomes much shorter when i play ground strokes? ..help please.

 

[andirez]

I have a question here. When i Serve i hold the racquet way below. Ie i can feel part of my palm under the butt cap. Since i hold in down, it kinda acts as if racquet is longer and it gave me a better leverage in Serving. I use continental though.

So what is my ideal length now?.Because if i cut it to just accomodate serve then will it becomes much shorter when i play ground strokes? ..help please.

When I determine the length of the WW, I use the following parameters:
---
* Eastern backhand grip: Index finger should preferably rest on the bevelled tip, but not as much as continental (I can always move my hand down a notch to feel the bevelled tip)
* Continental grip: Index finger has to rest on beveled tip
* Eastern forehand grip: Thumb and index finger should be able encompass the racquet handle (so these are slightly above the bevelled tip) with the bevelled tip being underneath the palm of my hand. I don't mind a shorter WW for my eastern forehand. Longer however I do not like.


Now for your case:
---
I would suggest that you examine all your grips and make a compromise to what suits you best. Don't be afraid to experiment with the WW. Just don't start cutting it right away Move it down the handle and attach it without cutting it (you don't have to pull it as strongly as you'll do when you make your final attachment) so you can feel how your racquet handle feels (of course also attach the overgrip). I would start with your index finger on the bevelled tip when you have a continental grip ready for serving (so with your hand quite low on the handle as you told us in your post). Now see what this does for your backhand and forehand grip. You don't have to hit balls, just try out the grips and see if it is comfortable or not. If you feel like there is something wrong, move the WW up a bit until you find the best solution for your situation. It is trial and error, but before you know it you'll find what suits you best.

If you have made a desicion on the length, keep the WW as long as possible: cut it so that the end of the WW comes together with the end of the butt cap. This way, you can always move it up a bit if you feel that this is necessary after hitting a couple of days (my experience is that you don't notice if the WW is located a bit higher than the end of the butt cap).

Hope this helps!

 

[Tim Tennis]

I have a question here. When i Serve i hold the racquet way below. Ie i can feel part of my palm under the butt cap. Since i hold in down, it kinda acts as if racquet is longer and it gave me a better leverage in Serving. I use continental though.

So what is my ideal length now?.Because if i cut it to just accomodate serve then will it becomes much shorter when i play ground strokes? ..help please.

Very interesting. I would cut the Wonder Wedge to accomodate your serve grip so your index finger will wrap around the beveled tip. A lot of people do hold the racquet the way you described above. This seems to encourage a lot of whipping action with use of the wrist. A great advantage in using the Wonder Wedge in this situation is that the beveled tip and the distinctive ridge it creates by increasing the size of bevel 2 and 4 will make the racquet so much more secure in your hand vs a standard shaped handle. You will feel like you can really rip it. I would recommend placing a couple of extra wraps of tape on the end by the butt cap. As a side benefit by building up the Power-V shape on the end of the butt cap, it will fit perfectly underneath the base of your thumb for the Semi-Western grip. It is a natural fit. In fact this link will show you just exactly what I am talking about. Great photo, it also shows part of your hand off the handle like you described on your serve.

http://www.tennisgeometrics.com/SemiWestern_power_forehand.html

See how your hand just wraps around the handle. You got it.

You got to love the game.

 

[Indiantwist]

You guys are spot on. I did not cut the WW yet. However i was a lil more determined and practised a bit. My serves are in with a decent kick on them. I was so happy as i havent seen that kind of kick so consistently. Thanks WW

Now comes my other problem (nothing to do with WW as such). How do i get more pace on my serves. My opponent was initially surprised but he made his adjustments (by staying far back) and was able to neutralize the high jump of the bounce.

 

[Tim Tennis]

IndianTwist,

I can't tell you how happy that makes me. Have to thank Andriez for making the point about cutting the Wonder Wedge so well.

How do i get more pace on my serves. My opponent was initially surprised but he made his adjustments (by staying far back) and was able to neutralize the high jump of the bounce.

By staying back he will neutralize the faster serves but when he does this he will open up the angles. Take him him wide, create those angles, if he does not hit a great return you should be in complete control of the point. That is the next skill level. More power, get the shoulder rotation, triceps, and wrist all working together, You got to load to explode, turn those shoulders.

You got to love the game.

Ed

 

[Indiantwist]

I didnt really give that kind of attention to the GRIP until off late.
Earlier i installed WW on my regular racquet as opposed to my spare. It only took a couple of serves to realize that when i really hold my racquet with Continental grip on serve good things happen.

It did feel awkward at first. I did hit into neighbouring courts. I hit long. I hit short.All in a span of 10-15 minutes. Then things started falling.it just took one serve that kicked so high that i was like "vow..did i do that". When i repeated that feat consistently i realized that all this is happening because of i was holding the Grip correctly and i got better leverage both due to WW.

I am sure i will get better with my pace on serves. The season has just began!.

 

[andirez]

I am sure i will get better with my pace on serves. The season has just began!.

Visit the "Tennis Tips / Instruction" part of this forum and look for posts by Bungalo Bill and Mahoob Khan regarding the serve. Can't go wrong with their advise.

As what the WW does to my serve: it gives me mainly more consistency and a better curve (increased spin). It doesn't really give me more speed at first sight, but I am able to hit my serves with more margin for error. So in the end, I can push it a bit more and as a result hit harder.

 

[bounce-hit]

Length of your WW after Trimming

I am wondering how long your WW is after you trim it so your forefinger can hook over the beveled edge. I cut about 2" off so now mine is 4.25 inches long. I have a medium-sized hand and I have cut off more than was recommended for my hand size (1.25") on the website. How long is your trimmed WW? Thanks.

 

[The Pusher Terminator]

I have been using wonder wedge for about 2 months.
I would say it did help a bit in terms of my strokes. However my serve is way off whenever i do it with WW.
Iam not sure what is going wrong here. I use continental grip and i hit a flat first serve and a kick like second serve. I seem to be hitting the net all the time.

I did not cut the WW as indicated in their manual/website. Iam not sure if that is the root cause.

any help please?

Hi Indian,

Everything will be off at first! It took me six months to a year. Stick with it. The problem that you are having is that the wedge completely changes the angle of the racquet. If you thought you were hitting with a continental before....then the wedge is an extreme continental. It took me a long time to hit with continental using the wedge. Instead, try and hit eastern...this will be closer to your old continental...but will have much more power. Then once you have mastered using the "wedge eastern" (which is really closer to a normal continental) then you can move on to the "wedge continental",,...thats when the fun will really starts! Wait till you see your new found awesome one handed backhand volley! Let me know what happens. Also remember...you now have increased power so you do not need to hit it as hard as you used to.

Finally, I also cut off way more than what was recomended. its an individual thing. Whatever works for you is the right answer.

 

[Tim Tennis]

Hi Guys,

The recommendations on the site as to how much to cut off are very conservative and are just approximations. Two people with the exact same hand size can grip the racquet totally different. The reason is you can always go back and cut some more off and fine tune the length but if you cut too much off you are out of luck.

http://www.tennisgeometrics.com/attach_tennis.html