FORM WITHOUT FEAR Groundstrokes and Footwork

Transcription

1 FORM WITHOUT FEAR Groundstrokes and Footwork United States Tennis Association 2004 Community Tennis Development Workshop February 6-9, 2004 Las Vegas, Nevada Presented by Bob Love USPTA (Master Professional) INTRODUCTION 1. Growing the Game is a process that requires inspired and creative teaching at all levels of tennis. This presentation reflects over 35 years of teaching and studying tennis. I started on the public courts of Port Huron, Michigan and am committed to finding better ways of teaching and coaching tennis our SPORT OF A LIFETIME! 2. Teachers need tools! This presentation will introduce seven tools that I have found to have high-powered results. Community tennis leaders can take these home and use them immediately! They have been proven by decades of experience and are grounded in sport science. ENJOY! BL WHY FORM? 1. MINIMIZE OBSTACLES: Let s face it tennis learning is buggered by the ball, racket, net, and, often, movement anxiety. People are so focused on trying to HIT the ball over the net that they fail to learn how to use their bodies to minimize effort and maximize results. 2. MAXIMIZE RATE OF LEARNING: FORM-based teaching will accelerate the learning process by doing the following: A. Using IMAGING to acquire skills is easy and fun for students new to tennis. By carefully defining the image desired, teachers can promote sound strokes, and students will achieve success at a high rate! B. PLAYERS WANT TO LOOK GOOD! FORM-based teaching promotes this at every level, and students can see and feel their positive results. They LOVE it! 3. PROPER BIO-MECHANICS: Safety, efficiency, and economy can be promoted at every level FEAR OF WHAT? Players coming to tennis can have many fears including some of the following: 1. Getting hit by the ball: Not only does it hurt, but serious eye damage can result from a hit! 2. Tracking confusion: Judging and following the path of the ball can be very confusing! 3. Environment: Getting hit by another player s racket or falling on the court can be scary! 4. Losing: Don t even mention it! We must be POSITIVE at every level of teaching! 5. Failure: Failure usually occurs when SUCCESS is poorly defined or misunderstood! 6. Movement: People feel lost and out of sorts by the demands of footwork! Movement anxiety is a significant impediment for tennis learning!

2 TOOL 1: The CLAP TEST GOAL: To introduce the novice player to the concepts of using the lower and upper body during groundstrokes and have a POSITIVE learning experience! OBJECTIVES: Following the Clap Test lesson the PLAYER should be able to do the following: 1. From a sideways stance, rotate his/her hips to a position parallel to the net and clap the hands together with the upper arms horizontal to the ground. 2. Have FUN and quick SUCCESS while learning a new concept! TIME: The CLAP TEST usually takes less than five minutes per student. In a group situation, the per-student time will be greatly reduced METHOD: 1. Student stands at T, turns sideways, and stretches arms. (Figure 1) 2. Command: TURN AND CLAP YOUR HANDS! COACH NOTE (CN): This step will allow you to learn how well the student responds to VERBAL instruction. 3. MANY students will respond like Figure 2 in which the back foot is NOT rotated, and the hips remain sideways. Upper arms NOT horizontal. 4. SOME students will turn like Figure 3 in which the back foot has been partially turned and the hips are still not parallel to the net. Upper arms NOT horizontal. CN 5. AT THIS POINT, it may be necessary for you to MODEL the desired form as shown in Figure 4. Stand in front of the students and let them be your shadows while going through the motions of Figures 2, 3, and 4 so they understand where they ve been and EXACTLY what the desired behavior is. CN: This provides an opportunity to see how well students respond to modeling! 6. RESULTS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS IMMEDIATE, and the students will be able to repeat the desired form with ease. YEAH! FIGURES: Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Sideways, ready Incomplete turn. Not fully turned. FIRE THE HIPS! To turn and clap! Back foot still. Upper arms NOT Back foot fully rotated. Hips not rotated. Horizontal. Pelvic girdle (hips) parallel To net. Upper arms horizontal. LOOKING GOOD!!! TOOL 2: The HIGH-FINISH FOREHAND

3 Q:WHY DOES A TENNIS BALL GO OVER THE NET? A: BECAUSE IT HAS TO!!! GOAL: To introduce the novice player to the concepts needed to generate sound groundstrokes using correct timing, contacting the ball in the strike zone, and swinging in a low-to-high pattern. OBJECTIVES: After using this tool, the student should be able to do the following: 1. Demonstrate a shake-hands forehand grip. 2. Demonstrate the finish of a HIGH-FINISH forehand. 3. Demonstrate HIGH-FINISH forehand groundstrokes using BACKWARD CHAINING. 4. Demonstrate the use of the ELEVATORS (knees) to create the low-to-high path TRADITIONAL METHOD In traditional tennis teaching, the player is taught to move to the ball, (A) take the racket back, (B) swing through a point of contact, and follow through to the (C) finish. This is thought of as an A-B-C connection. BACKWARD CHAINING 1. The backward-chaining model has the student first learn the FORM on the (C) FINISH. Figure 4 shows this finish which is an extension of the CLAP TEST as the hips are fully rotated ( FIRE THE HIPS! ), and the upper arms are horizontal. The wrists are high and in front because the racket is touching just behind the crest of the shoulder. (NOTE: In older, bigger players the side of the racket will touch the crest of the shoulder.) 2. The player is instructed to move to the ball, take the racket back and SWING TO THE FINISH! (The BASIC teaching instruction of BACKWARD CHAINING.) This creates a C-A-B-C linkage but eliminates (B) the point of contact as a locus of anxiety. Given a comfortable backswing, the stroke will create a natural low-to-high path, and the ball MUST go over the net! Q: WHAT IF THE STROKE STILL GOES IN THE NET? REMEMBER The ball goes in the net because YOU HIT IT THERE! The path is not low-to-high enough. Usually, your legs are fully extended BEFORE you initiate the stroke, and the path will not rise enough. FLEX YOUR KNEES! A: SOLUTION USE YOUR ELEVATORS (knees) to create a low-to-high path. Figure 1 shows the desired knee position as the player gets ready to initiate strokes FIGURES SWING TO THE FINISH! Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 The ELEVATORS (A) Backswing (B) Stroking through the (C) The HIGH-FINISH Flexed to create a Comfortable to allow ZONE OF CONTACT Forehand. SWING Low-to-high path. Easy rotation. With head focused. TO THIS FINISH! TOOL 3: VERBALIZATION

4 CONCEPT: VERBALIZATION is the technique of having students say OUT LOUD what their decisions are when moving to a shot. This greatly accelerates the rate of learning. PROCESS: This concept can be used many ways. Examples are as follows: (NOTE: Players MUST verbalize BEFORE the ball bounces on their side of the net.) 1. STROKE CHOICE: Call out the type of FINISH you want to use based on the height of the ball coming towards you. Choices would be HIGH, LOW, or LOB. 2. PLACEMENT: Players say X before hitting cross-court, DL before hitting down-the-line, M before hitting in the deep center, AWAY when hitting inside-out. 3. PLACEMENT: Use statements about DEPTH as above. 4. DRAW SERIES: (intermediate level) Chip a shot to draw your opponent to net and then call out your shot placement based on where the approach hits on your side of the net. Out of a corner, you would hit DL or LOB, preferably over the high backhand. From the center of the court, hit at the opponent s BODY or LOB. RESEARCH: Pros and coaches have used these techniques for many years, but it only during the past decade that researchers were able to support the concept that there is an INCREASE of the area of the brain used when one VERBALIZES actions TOOL 4: CONTACT THEORY BASIS: These concepts were introduced in 1974 by Timothy Gallwey in his book, The Inner Game of Tennis. He addressed issues of tracking balls and training players to heighten their awareness (senses) as well as several other key concepts. TEACHING PROBLEM: What do you do if the student just swings and misses, even on softly-thrown, short balls? SOLUTION: Use verbalization to overcome initial TRACKING problems. This method is also discussed in the USA TEAM TENNIS book, Learn to Rally and Play A Coaches Guide. RESPOND TO PHYSICAL STUMLI: Say BALL, BOUNCE, BACK, HIT, JUMP when you actually SEE the ball hit the ground! ANTICIPATE ACTION: This is the technique shown above in TOOL BASICS: 1. Say BALL when you SEE the ball hit the ground or racket. 2. Say HIT when the ball is at the peak (hitting position) of its bounce. 3. Per Jim Loehr, say YES as you are stroking through the ball. 4. For more detail, say and JUMP when you see the ball hit your opponent s racket, BACK and take your racket back when you see the ball bounce on your side of the net, and YES when making your beautiful stroke! MAJOR BENEFIT: If a player makes the call AFTER the bounce, s/he will almost certainly make an error. This validates the necessity for developing stimulus-response skills! TOOL 5: The HIGH-FINISH BACKHAND Q:WHY DOES A TENNIS BALL GO OVER THE NET? A: BECAUSE IT HAS TO!!!

5 GOAL: To introduce the novice player to the concepts needed to generate sound groundstrokes using correct timing, contacting the ball in the strike zone, and swinging in a low-to-high pattern. OBJECTIVES: After using this tool, the student should be able to do the following: 1. Demonstrate a two-handed backhand and one-handed grips. 2. Demonstrate the finish of a HIGH-FINISH backhand. 3. Demonstrate HIGH-FINISH backhand groundstrokes using BACKWARD CHAINING. 4. Demonstrate the use of the ELEVATORS (knees) to create the low-to-high path PART A: BACKWARD CHAINING for the HIGH-FINISH TWO-HANDED BACKHAND 1. The backward-chaining model has the student first learn the FORM on the (C) FINISH. Figure 4 shows this finish which is an extension of the CLAP TEST as the hips are fully rotated ( FIRE THE HIPS! ), and the upper arms are horizontal. The wrists are high and in front because the racket is touching just behind the crest of the shoulder. (NOTE: In older, bigger players the side of the racket will touch the crest of the shoulder.) 2. The player is instructed to move to the ball, take the racket back and SWING TO THE FINISH! (The BASIC teaching instruction of BACKWARD CHAINING.) This creates a C-A-B-C linkage but eliminates (B) the point of contact as a locus of anxiety. Given a comfortable backswing, the stroke will create a natural low-to-high path, and the ball MUST go over the net! Q: WHAT IF THE STROKE STILL GOES IN THE NET? REMEMBER The ball goes in the net because YOU HIT IT THERE! The path is not low-to-high enough. Usually, your legs are fully extended BEFORE you initiate the stroke, and the path will not rise enough. FLEX YOUR KNEES! A: SOLUTION USE YOUR ELEVATORS (knees) to create a low-to-high path. Figure 1 shows the desired knee position as the player gets ready to initiate strokes SWING TO THE FINISH! FIGURES FOR PART A: THE HIGH-FINISH TWO-HANDED BACKHAND Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 The ELEVATORS (A) Backswing (B) Stroking through the (C) The HIGH-FINISH Flexed to create a Comfortable to allow ZONE OF CONTACT Backhand. SWING Low-to-high path. Easy rotation. With head focused. TO THIS FINISH! TOOL 5: The HIGH-FINISH BACKHAND (continued) PART B: BACKWARD CHAINING for the HIGH-FINISH, ONE-HANDED BACKHAND

6 1. The one-handed backhand finish is shown in Figure 3. FINISH POSITION: The arms finish in a T position with five elements as follows: A. The racket hand finishes above the rear hand. B. The upper arm at or slightly above horizontal with the ground. C. The rear hand goes straight back with the fingers together, the thumb extended, and positioned above the rear heel. D. The head STAYS in position until the player KNOWS the ball has left the racket. E. The knees are used as ELEVATORS to create a low-to-high path. 2. GRIP: The dominant hand is on top of the racket handle. 3. FINISH: PRACTICE THE FINISH (Figure 3) and swing TO it many times to make it natural. REMEMBER the FINISH is position C in our BACKWARD CHAIN. 3. LINKAGE: Use comfortable backswing (A) with racket next to hip like a sword in a scabbard; Extend the racket (from INSIDE to OUTSIDE) through contact zone (B), and reach to your FINISH (C). SWING TO THE FINISH! FIGURES FOR PART B: The HIGH-FINISH ONE-HANDED BACKHAND Figure 1 (A) Figure 2 (B) Figure 3 (C) Backswing with racket in Swing INSIDE TO OUTSIDE. The T FINISH with scabbard like a sword. Rotate hips and RELEASE racket hand above rear KNEES BENT! racket IN FRONT of body! and palm down. FREEZE HEAD! WHY THE T POSITION? There are at least four good reasons for the T finish! COUNTER-TORQUE: A rotating body will tend to continue rotating so the actions of the opposing arms will stabilize the shoulder line and prevent the stroker s curse circling! BALANCE: Once the rotation is completed, out-stretched arms give the stoker needed balance and allow easy follow-up to the next shot. NOTE: The palm down helps! POWER: Arms moving in horizontal opposition generate a great deal more power than merely extending one arm away from the body. IT LOOKS GOOD! Pros finish their backhands this way SO SHOULD YOU! COMMON BACKHAND GROUNDSTROKE ERRORS There are three errors that frequently show up in novice players. The following figures illustrate the errors so coaches can effect change as shown above.

7 Problem: EARLY HEAD Problem: HIGH-TO-LOW Problem: FRONT FOOT TURN CAUSES CIRCLING SHOULDER LINE creates PARALLEL TO NET creates Cure: Look THROUGH netted shots. a hip block and prevents the shot by turning your head Cure: REPEATEDLY swing rotation., after the ball crosses the net. to the finish in Figure 3 above. Cure: Turn foot towards ball TOOL 6: LOW-FINISH GROUNDSTROKES Q:WHY DOES A TENNIS BALL GO OVER THE NET? A: BECAUSE IT HAS TO!!! NEEDS: 1.The ball is hit short into the forecourt area, and a HIGH-FINISH stroke will result in the ball going long and out. 2. A ball is hit deep and the player needs to hit the ball on-the-rise. Again, the HIGH-FINISH stroke results in a long, out shot. 3. WANTED A stroke that will allow players to hit short and on-the-rise shots with confidence. 4. IN OTHER WORDS, a stroke that generates a low-to-but NOT-TOO-HIGH path. RESPONSE: LOW-FINISH groundstrokes with the lower arm horizontal (parallel to the ground) will generate a path to accommodate the above needs. TEACHING METHODS: The following figures show the two steps in executing the forehand and backhand LOW-FINISH groundstrokes in the FORECOURT area. 1. Have the student start about 10 feet back from the net in a ready position. 2. DROP the ball about 5 feet from the net and have the student move in to stroke it. (Figure 1) 3. CUE PHRASE: PUT THE BUTT OF THE RACKET ON THE TOP OF THE NET! 4. The student creates the proper path and finishes properly. (Figure 2) 5. REMEDIAL METHODS: If the student is having a contact problem, use CONTACT THEORY and/or TAKE THE RACKET OUT OF THE PROCESS and have the student CATCH the ball as shown in Figure 3. FORECOURT LOW-FINISH GROUNDSTROKES

8 Forehand Figure 1 Forehand Figure 2 Figure 3 Joe Cool moves to hit THE LOW FINISH with REMEDIAL METHOD: a short forehand. Takes the butt end of the racket Have the player move to his hands TOWARDS on the net. Forearms the ball and catch it with the ball. horizontal. both hands. Backhand Figure 1 Backhand Figure 2 Joe Cool moves to hit a short THE LOW FINISH with the butt backhand. Takes his hands end of the racket on the net. TOWARDS the ball. Forearms horizontal ON-THE-RISE GROUNDSTROKES ON-THE-RISE STROKES require a LOW FINISH. Players need to take a low back swing and FIRE THE HIPS with the racket path finishing as shown in the figure at the right. NOTES: 1. The hips are nicely rotated and the lower arms (forearms) are horizontal. 2. The same stroke can be used when moving in and taking a ball on the rise. TOOL 7: BASIC L FOOTWORK

9 INTRODUCTION: NOW-we are ready to teach our students a basic style of footwork designed to do the following: 1. Teach elements of reacting, taking the first step, moving to the ball, preparing the racket for the appropriate stroke, stepping NEXT to the ball with the final step, stroking TO THE PROPER FINISH, and following up for the next shot. 2. Use the L model to promote safety and sound bio-mechanics. 3. OVERCOME MOVEMENT ANXIETY! Extend the model so students can have SUCCESS and develop CONFIDENCE! Frequent Questions: Why isn t this TOOL 1 instead of TOOL 7? Why now--not earlier? Bob Love s Answers: 1. ONLY GO TO THE TABLE IF YOU KNOW HOW TO EAT! 2. Ultimately, the most important factor in a person learning tennis is the PERCEPTION of success. If students run to the ball and make a terrible stroke, they will perceive the process, including footwork, as a failure. By equipping them with well-formed strokes, the likelihood of positive results will be greatly enhanced. Good footwork will complement their strokes, and they will perceive success! THE FOREHAND L METHOD To begin, have the student stand near one of the many L s on a tennis court. (When teaching during the dry run (without hitting) phase, as many as 10 students can be trained on the same court, but it is best to confine the training to one side of the net.) Then follow these steps: STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 At an L, stand in a balanced Pivot and step TOWARD With the right foot, step AT the position with toes touching the the ball with your racket ball and touch the sideline with line. Look at the ball. in a comfortable position. your toe, plus take your racket back parallel to the sideline. THE FOREHAND L METHOD (Continued)

10 STEP 4 STEP 5 REMEDIAL Step NEXT to the ball to SWING TO THE FINSH Instead of actually hitting prepare to FIRE YOUR HIPS and keep your balance. the ball, catch the ball on and SWING TO THE FINISH. (NOTE: Hip rotation) the grip with two hands DEVELOPMENT DRILLS TOSS MOVE CATCH: As shown in the above REMEDIAL photo, have the player quickly move to the STEP 4 position and CATCH the ball on the handle of the racket with the off hand. CHANGE THE STARTING POSITION: Move the STEP 1 position further from the side line for a series until success is achieved and then move further towards the center mark. FOLLOW-UP SHIFT: Upon completing STEP 5, side step back to the STEP 1 position as quickly as possible to repeat the drill THE BACKHAND L METHOD STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 4 STEP CONCLUSION: I hope this presentation has been helpful. If you need any further information please contact USTA Community Tennis for assistance. Thanks! Bob Love RESOURCES Learn to Rally and Play: A Coaches Guide. USTA, White Plains, NY 2003 Gallwey, W. Timothy. The Inner Game of Tennis (Revised Edition) Random House, NY 1997.