So, okay, I've been having another major re-think about how I play tennis - can't really be avoided I guess, because I keep injuring various different parts of myself with over-ambitious techniques and 'power-play' (yeah, right, like I've got the physical coordination to do that.) The thing is, after quite a bit of research, I'm wondering if I might have been looking at things very wrongly all these years.
So now, I'm going to try something completely different for me. I'm going to try applying the tender touch when I play - I am going to discipline myself to swing at the same controlled speed regardless of which stroke I am employing and focus completely instead on -
1.Getting my weight transfer right, i.e. getting my body moving into the shot, my waist and shoulders rotating properly through it and finishing with my weight 'falling' forward into the court.
2."Caressing" the ball instead of swinging at it. The term "caressing the ball" was actually employed to describe the way Ken Rosewall played and after looking carefully at the few available videos of him playing, I can see why that was so. Rosewall was such a smooth stroke-maker he never tried to get power by swinging a little harder or faster - instead, he got it from timing and technique with a very controlled swing. While I can't claim even a hundredth of his talent and coordination, I can and should try to do the same thing. My reasoning for that is very simple -
a).Like all club players, I lose more points through unforced errors than win them with wild swinging.
b).Staying focused on doing things exactly the same each time means I have to really think about where to hit the ball strategically - it just isn't enough to bang the ball and hope it doesn't come back or go out, any more.
3.Judicious use of spin to add 'weight' and control to my shots. Just adding a little more spin to my fairly flattish strokes will give the ball a less regular bounce and make it feel heavier on my opponent's racquet. I believe that's going to be better for me than trying to hit a very hard, fast ball.
4.Simplifying my volley techniques to get more angles and control instead of trying to swing at the ball - this is going to be really hard for me because it's going to require some major changes to how I approach the ball and finish with it. But I can do it.
So now, I'm going to try something completely different for me. I'm going to try applying the tender touch when I play - I am going to discipline myself to swing at the same controlled speed regardless of which stroke I am employing and focus completely instead on -
1.Getting my weight transfer right, i.e. getting my body moving into the shot, my waist and shoulders rotating properly through it and finishing with my weight 'falling' forward into the court.
2."Caressing" the ball instead of swinging at it. The term "caressing the ball" was actually employed to describe the way Ken Rosewall played and after looking carefully at the few available videos of him playing, I can see why that was so. Rosewall was such a smooth stroke-maker he never tried to get power by swinging a little harder or faster - instead, he got it from timing and technique with a very controlled swing. While I can't claim even a hundredth of his talent and coordination, I can and should try to do the same thing. My reasoning for that is very simple -
a).Like all club players, I lose more points through unforced errors than win them with wild swinging.
b).Staying focused on doing things exactly the same each time means I have to really think about where to hit the ball strategically - it just isn't enough to bang the ball and hope it doesn't come back or go out, any more.
3.Judicious use of spin to add 'weight' and control to my shots. Just adding a little more spin to my fairly flattish strokes will give the ball a less regular bounce and make it feel heavier on my opponent's racquet. I believe that's going to be better for me than trying to hit a very hard, fast ball.
4.Simplifying my volley techniques to get more angles and control instead of trying to swing at the ball - this is going to be really hard for me because it's going to require some major changes to how I approach the ball and finish with it. But I can do it.
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