Slapping Your Forehand and Backhand

Feel Tennis (Tomaz Mencinger) posted several YouTube videos on slapping or smacking the ball on the forehand and backhand. The idea is that the wrist bends backward (wrist extension) during the takeback when the racket lags the arm then the wrist straightens as the racket moves forward to make contact but does not go into wrist flexion (bending forward). The coach likens it to beating a rug to knock out the dust. 

Here are the links. (There is a fourth video that is accessible only to people who subscribe to his members-only channel.)

https://youtu.be/9BQBRkYHpq0?si=qY3-5GVHspjNhdbV

https://youtu.be/5rTG-uxWmsg?si=u_vviAvQ55GOt9cT

https://youtu.be/2D7UlPQHce4?si=ctScS2NuT_VOrFBc

I think the movement Coach Mencinger recommends increases the racket head speed because it lags the wrist at first then catches up at impact. Most of the people with whom I play keep their wrist locked during the swing. (I did too until trying this idea.) Swinging with a fixed wrist does make that the racket tip move faster than the wrist, but the additional wrist movement used in Mencinger’s tip should increase the racket speed even more.

When I incorporated this into my groundstrokes they do have more power. I use the TennisKeeper app which picked up a few mph change in speed. I think the actual speed increase is higher because the app (which tracks movement of my Apple Watch) measures wrist speed, not racket head speed or the speed of the ball coming off the strings.

It took a while to get used to this technique because timing of the wrist movement can affect when the ball is contacted. The first few times I tried it some of my shots sailed a bit long. But once I made this adjustment, I believe my shots have more zip on them. The TennisKeeper apps confirms this, plus I’ve noticed that my opponents are having a harder time dealing with my shots.

Try it and see if it works for you!

How to Whip your forehand for more speed by One Minute Tennis Coach

This video by Stephen Bourne ("One Minute Tennis Coach") offers a way to increase the whip of the forehand. As usual, Bourne provides a different take on tennis technique and with a clear explanation. In this video he shows that the professionals hit their forehands with more power than us amateurs because they're rotating around the left shoulder (if they're right-handed), not their right shoulder. He shows how they tuck their left (non-racket) hand in a way that causes their body to pivot around the left shoulder, not the right, thus increasing the length of the swing. (I don't know if this is the same reason mechanically but I've noticed that many professional football quarterbacks make the same motion with their non-throwing hand when they throw the ball.)

I recommend Bourne's YouTube channel. Many of his tips provide a unique -- and useful -- perspective.

Doubles Strategy: On Which Side Should the Stronger Player Play?

One of the topics that comes up on tennis forums and in coaching videos is this: where should the stronger doubles partner play? One theory recommends putting the stronger player on the ad side because four of the six game ending scores occurs on the ad side: 40-0, 0-40, 40-30 and 30-40. Only two occur on the deuce side: 40-15 and 15-40. So the idea is that the stronger player can either close out the game if his or her team have a lead or can prevent losing the game if they're behind in the game. Having the stronger player on the ad side also puts their overhead and forehand in the middle (if they're right-handed).

Recently I've experimented with playing on the deuce side if I'm the stronger player. I've noticed that one advantage means my team has a better chance of being ahead in the score (15-0, 30-15, 40-0 or 40-30) because I'm more likely to control the point. I have a better backhand return of serve than some of my partners and therefore can handle the opposing server if they consistently serve up the center on the deuce side.

I know this puts the weaker player on the ad side but it also puts their forehand in the center; most players have a stronger forehand than backhand. Having them on the ad side put their backhand on the outer quarter of the court rather than in the middle.

I'm not saying this is a hard-and-fast rule. Sometimes I play the ad court depending on the strengths of my partner and how we match up with the opposing team. For instance, I'll play the ad side when faced with a left-handed player who is able to hit a severe slice serve that breaks to the returner's left and pulls them off the court. Because I've worked hard on having a solid backhand I can handle this serve.

Change in Scope - Again

When I started this blog way back in 2007 it focused on soccer because I was coaching it at the time. In 2014 I changed and expanded the scope to cover other sports. I did this because there are lessons we can learn things like mental toughness and how to overcome challenges by studying how champions in other sports perform.

The main focus moving forward will be on tennis, primarily because I'm currently playing every day (sometimes twice). I also coached a local boys high school varsity team for six years. When I'm not reading related to my other blog, Thinking Objectively, I'm reading about tennis and watch the Tennis Channel almost all of the time. My goal is to continuously improve my game.

My goal with this blog is to share ideas that I come across in YouTube or books. Occasionally I'll share an insight that is all my own!

The Power of Unlearning: Serena Williams' Story

The Power of Unlearning: Serena Williams' Story

Here is a key paragraph.

Unlearning is the process of letting go, reframing, and moving away from once-useful mindsets and acquired behaviors. It’s not forgetting, removing, or discarding knowledge or experience; it’s a conscious act of letting go of outdated information and actively taking in new information to inform effective decision-making and action.

I have some experience with this from surgeries. In 2012 I had rotator cuff surgery then double knee replacements in June of 2018. In both cases I was unable to play tennis for several months. When I returned to practicing I used this as an opportunity to work on aspects of my game. I think it worked because people commented on how my tennis had improved from the last time they played with me.

Rafael Nadal on Doubt

The Tennis Channel previewed an upcoming 60 Minutes interview of tennis player Rafael Nadal by Jon Wertheim, Tennis Channel commentator and Sports Illustrated executive editor. Nadal ended 2019 with a number 1 ranking in the world and with 19 Grand Slam titles, only one behind Roger Federer. The clip starts with Wertheim asking Nadal to talk about the importance of doubt in his game. Nadal: “If I don’t feel doubt I’m going to be in trouble. Doubt is very important to my success.” Wertheim expressed surprise at Nadal’s answer because Wertheim thought top performers wouldn’t claim doubt as their strength. Nadal’s reply: “If you don’t have doubt it probably means you’re being arrogant. I think it [doubt] is good for me because I feel alert. Tennis is a sport where things can change very quickly.”

I think what Nadal refers to isn’t doubt in oneself but doubt in the outcome, maybe even doubt in how well you will perform that day against that opponent. I also think Nadal is saying that you can’t assume you’re going to win a match against someone whom you’ve beaten before. By avoiding overconfidence you stay alert and not allow yourself to be lured into complacency. As is commonly said in professional sports that’s why the games are played: the outcome is not guaranteed. The underdog can sometimes win if they’re having a good day and the presumed winner is having an off day or doesn’t adjust to something their opponent is doing differently.

In an interview after the 2017 French Open Nadal also said that doubt drives him to improve the weaknesses in his game. This reflects his belief in an growth mindset in which you think you can improve with thoughtful effort as opposed to a closed mindset which believes our talents are set in stone and can’t be expanded. You think either you’ve got what it takes or you don’t. Nadal applied this open mindset when he changed his service motion before the 2019 Australian Open to boost the speed and penetration of his serve.

On the other hand if the doubt we feel reflects a fundamental lack of belief in one’s abilities it would undermine our performance in the heat of competition. It can make it even more likely that we will choke under pressure.

I’d summarize it this way. Doubt about outcome keeps us on our toes while competing and drives us to improve. However doubt in ourselves makes it more likely we won’t step up to the challenge.

Learning is optimized when we fail 15% of the time -- ScienceDaily

Learning is optimized when we fail 15% of the time -- ScienceDaily

As a junior varsity high school tennis coach I tell the players that they should look at losing matches as an opportunity to learn what they can do to improve their game. (I tell myself that too when I play tennis matches.) If the players can learn from losses they still win in the long run even though they lost the latest match. (I’d also say they can also learn from wins by looking at what they can improve. I do this by keeping a journal in which I rate whether I improved in technique, tactics and mental parts of my game and rate what needs to be improved.)

The Science Daily article links to a paper titled The Eight Five Percent Rule for optimal learning that is fairly technical. The Science Daily article summarizes:

Educators and educational scholars have long recognized that there is something of a "sweet spot" when it comes to learning. That is, we learn best when we are challenged to grasp something just outside the bounds of our existing knowledge. When a challenge is too simple, we don't learn anything new; likewise, we don't enhance our knowledge when a challenge is so difficult that we fail entirely or give up.

So where does the sweet spot lie? According to the new study, to be published in the journal Nature Communications, it's when failure occurs 15% of the time. Put another way, it's when the right answer is given 85% of the time.

So we optimize our learning if we fail about one out of six times. Good to know!

I believe these results parallel what it takes to achieve a state of mind that is called Flow, a concept identified by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian-American psychologist. The Wikipedia entry describes flow as “the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by the complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one's sense of space and time.”

I say that there is a connection between optimal learning and flow because achieving a flow state requires facing a task that challenges you without being daunting. The Positive Psychology website explains: “an optimal Flow state was created when people tackled challenges that they perceived to be at just the right level of ‘stretch’ for their skill sets. In other words, neither too tough nor too easy as to be boring.”

Putting together the findings on optimal learning and flow it appears that both need a “Goldilocks” challenge: one that stretches you to achieve flow and reveals what you need to improve for the next time.