Technique

[shindemac]

This is a post about how important technique is. The example I use specifically relates to footwork or actually the footspeed component of footwork, but it can be applied to strokes such as forehands or serves.

I was doing some research on footwork, and I came across an article saying how important technique is to sprinting. They even mentioned the kinetic chain, and how energy flows from the ankle to the arms. But wait, what do the arms have to do with anything -- this is sprinting and it's not like we're holding a racket. Well, the movement of your arms control the frequency of your legs. They also said having perfect form is important. Your arms should move only forward and back; There should be no lateral movement. Any sideways movement of your arm will mean energy is dissapated and wasted. This last statement really caught my eye.

You can imagine how this can be easily applied to tennis strokes. We get a lot of people coming in here and asking 'how do I get more power on my forehand/serve', 'do muscle or strength matter', 'how does the skinny guy get so much power!?', etc. If having your arms stray just a little is such a big deal in sprinting, then how much of an effect does having bad form in tennis mean when we already know that having good form is really important?! That's something to chew on.

 

[JCo872]

This is a post about how important technique is. The example I use specifically relates to footwork or actually the footspeed component of footwork, but it can be applied to strokes such as forehands or serves.

I was doing some research on footwork, and I came across an article saying how important technique is to sprinting. They even mentioned the kinetic chain, and how energy flows from the ankle to the arms. But wait, what do the arms have to do with anything -- this is sprinting and it's not like we're holding a racket. Well, the movement of your arms control the frequency of your legs. They also said having perfect form is important. Your arms should move only forward and back; There should be no lateral movement. Any sideways movement of your arm will mean energy is dissapated and wasted. This last statement really caught my eye.

You can imagine how this can be easily applied to tennis strokes. We get a lot of people coming in here and asking 'how do I get more power on my forehand/serve', 'do muscle or strength matter', 'how does the skinny guy get so much power!?', etc. If having your arms stray just a little is such a big deal in sprinting, then how much of an effect does having bad form in tennis mean when we already know that having good form is really important?! That's something to chew on.

What a great post!! It's all about transferring the maximum amount of energy into the ball. Extra unnecessary motion will "dissapate and waste" the energy transfer. That is why you hear pros say things like "I'm hitting the ball very cleanly". Or Lindsey Davenport is such a "pure ball striker".

The more motion you have, the more chance there is to waste and lose energy. This is why I love Blake's forehand. So simple and compact. Pure energy transfer. Coria and Ginepri are like this as well. So little motion and so much power.

And yes, if having your arms stray just a little in sprinting affects time, then you can imagine how entire unnecessary movements in tennis can destroy a stroke.

GREAT post!!