(click the title to see the video)
Karen thinks that Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man is the right music for this video.
Video with Copland
Karen came along for my weekly tennis lesson on Thursday, 4.4.2024. She took some photos and video. I boiled the 60 minute lesson down to 90 seconds. Saif Syed is my coach. I’ve taken lessons with him since March 2018. He is the best teacher of any topic in my whole life.
A typical lesson starts with a few minutes hitting balls from the midcourt, softly. Then, Saif feeds balls to me at the baseline, first to the forehand and then to the backhand. This usually takes up 5-10 minutes. Then he stands at the net to the side of the center line and feeds me balls diagonally to the far corner. This develops a very rapid back-and-forth hitting with him volleying my groundstrokes. It’s all about focus and moderate hitting.
For the last few months, we have been working pretty intensively on my backhand top-spin and slice strokes. Now we are 30 minutes or so into the lesson. We always practice volleying at the net. This requires keeping the racquet in front with a firm grip and very little racquet motion. The energy comes from taking a step towards each incoming ball. The body motion produces the energy, not the arm swinging the racquet. Overhead practice follows.
In recent time we spend serious time working on my return of serve, my weakest stroke. The lesson always ends with a round of serves. The big development here has been tossing the ball at least 18″ over the top of my reach with the racquet. This allows me to reach up and hit down and through the ball. I now hit flat serves on most first serves and slice on the second.
Major themes are:
- Keep my eye on the ball until the racquet strikes it. The pros do this almost universally. For me the practice slows the ball down in my attention and I don’t lift my shoulders up until after striking the ball.
Classic Roger Federer still looking towards the ball after it has already left. - Toss the ball on serve at least two feet over your top reach. This gives you a relaxed moment to go through your motion and reach up to hit up on the ball. This continues to be a struggle for me.
- Footwork to assure that I am moving towards the ball. Don’t let the ball play you. This has been very effective on my return of serve. My practice now is to watch the server and take a step forward when I see the tossing arm begin its upward trajectory. Even if I guess incorrectly about where the ball will land in the service box, I am in motion. That means I am better able to respond. BTW – I’ve never been able to do the split step at the strike of the served ball. That is the most common recommendation for return of serve.
- Footwork is like a dance with the ball. You have to dance around to get in the optimal position to strike the ball.
- Hit at 70% pace as the norm. Don’t overhit.
- Get the ball over the net. Points are over with the ball in the net. A ball over the net, even if apparently destined to fly out of bounds, is still in play. Magical things happen. With topspin strokes, you can safely hit the ball three to four feet over the net and still have the ball land in nice and deep.
- In doubles, follow the ball, especially when you are not the player striking the ball. It’s all about being in the cone of action.
The lesson is at Total Tennis in Saugerties, NY.