Before I get into the speed training for your tennis game, I just want to share a little of my recent trip to Tucson, Arizona. I was able to watch several matches of the ITF PAZ Hilton $75,000 women's event. This type of event is for players ranked usually between 100th and 300th in the world so sometimes one will be able to see some up and coming players at these events.
I got to watch the one of the semifinals for the singles and both semifinals for the doubles. Interestingly enough, on the singles side, the two women in the finals were petite girls that had decent power but mainly moved well. Juliana Fedak from Ukraine was the eventual winner and at 22 years old, you might say that she's a veteran. Very positive, mentally tough, quick, and hits the ball very well on the run.
Juliana Fedak hitting a forehand
Her opponent in the semifinal was Bethanie Mattek, who was much taller, probably 20 lbs heavier, hits the ball a little harder, but could not keep up with the consistency of Fedak during the longer rallies. She was not as quick and often blooped topspin balls back when out of position or on the run whereas Fedak would hit the ball just as hard on the run. The blooper balls sometimes caused Fedak to be impatient and try to hit winners by catching the ball on the rise, which resulted in some errors. But by the end of the match, Fedak's superiority won out.
In the final, Fedak beat 16year-old Vania King from the U.S. Like Fedak, Vania was on the petite side. Too bad I didn't get to see the singles final but I did get to see her play doubles. She has quick hands and an attacking all-court game like Justine Henin-Hardenne but doesn't have anywhere near the power. She loves to come to the net at every opportunity to rob her opponent of time but doesn't have outstanding power of the top pros to overwhelm her opponents.
Here's Vania attacking a short ball.
This tourney showed that power doesn't always win the battle but in my opinion, it will win the war. Juliana Fedak has been ranked as high as 76th in the world but it would seem that her ceiling would be around there due to her lack of power to play with the big girls like the Williams sisters, Davenport, Cljisters and the rest of the top 10 players. At the time of this tournament she was ranked 115th.
As for King, she's ranked #162 in the world and one wonders if she could move up into the top 100. It would probably depend on how much more power she can develop.
Anyway, while Fedak was closing out her semifinal match against Mattek, I heard the loud blasts of someone hitting the ball really hard in the court behind. I tried to look over but couldn't get a glimpse of whom it was but I could see the back of the head of a guy hitting volleys. So after the Fedak match was over, I walked over to the other court and saw that the guy was hitting volleys to two women, one of whom was Viktoria Azarenka. She was just flat out blasting those groundstrokes so hard and flat that I know it would have been scary to be up at the net volleying. She had that kind of power.
Viktoria Azarenka ready to pound one on the run
As it turns out she and her partner Tatiana Poutchek were warming up for their semifinal doubles match with Amy Frazier and Vania King. The veteran Frazier was ranked 55th in the world at the time and has been ranked as high as 13th in the world back in 1995. But even Frazier had some difficulty in handling the pace of Azarenka during the match. Her partner, King, had even more difficulty with the hard-hitting Azarenka and as the match wore on, the power proved to be the difference.
Only 16 years old, she stands about six feet tall and hits the ball as hard as some men pros. However, when I checked the tournament draw sheet, I discovered that she was only ranked 144th in the world and had lost in the first round of this tournament. That was quite surprising to say the least. After returning to my hotel later that night, I did more research on her and found out that she was the #1 ranked junior girl in the world. She won the Australian and U.S. Open Girls 18's singles titles as well as the Australian, French and Wimbledon Girls 18's doubles titles this year. So it is obvious that she's well on her way to making big news on the professional level as well. Her power and ability to hit the ball hard while on the run hard shows she's capable of competing with those at the top of the WTA.
So how does one develop the power to hit the ball like the pros? It's a given that they're bigger, stronger and faster than you are, but how can you be the best that you can be?
There are three aspects of the game that I would like to share with you: racquet speed, fast preparation and hitting on the run. As I have played tennis for over 30 years, I have not seen articles pertaining to these topics or if there were, they were not addressed properly.
Developing racquet speed
First, you must develop higher racquet speeds. The only way to hit a ball hard is to generate high racquet speeds. The laws of physics dictate the speed of the ball and there is no way around it. But how do you measure racquet speed? Get a Swing Speed Radar from Al Dilz at Sport Sensors. If you can position the radar at the height that you swing the racquet, you'll be able to measure your racquet speed.
The men pros are able to hit some groundstrokes around or close to 100 mph, which would mean their racquet speeds are probably in the range of 75-85+ mph. One must develop the racquet head speeds in order to hit the ball hard with enough topspin to keep it in the court. The advantage behind more racquet speed is that you can hit with a little more topspin while generating a higher ball speed.
So how does one create more racquet speed? :Measure, measure, and measure some more. If you have feedback on how fast you're swinging during workout sessions, you'll be focused on what is most important... racquet speed.
To help develop that racquet speed, obtain a simple underload device. Get an old tennis racquet that is approximately 10-20% lighter than your current racquet and swing that for speed. If it is difficult to find such a racquet, just take one of similar weight and cut the strings off. This will give you a good underload device. The stringless racquet will be about a half ounce lighter and have less wind resistance when swung to allow your muscles to "learn” to move faster. Either way it will suffice.
Here's Blair doing 80 mph on his forehand with the light racquet
Then swing that racquet fast. It is as simple as that. Swing fast, rest and swing even faster. Take 30 to 50 swings per day, and then also swing your regular racquet at top speed as well. Keep a record of how fast you swing each day and you'll start to see progress out on the court. All you are trying to do is get your neuromuscular system fired up to explode on every shot.
Prepare early or prepare fast?
Traditional tennis teaching suggests that groundstroke preparation should be done early. While that may be true, top pros not only prepare early but more importantly, they prepare fast. In studying tapes of the top pros, one can clearly see that while they see the ball coming at them, their racquet preparation usually starts just before the ball hits the ground. This gives them between 4/10ths of a second to 6/10ths of a second to take their backswing and still swing in time to hit the ball. This is not something taught, this is just way that great athletes do things.
In comparison, recreational players take 8/10ths of a second or more to prepare for a shot. They either lack the ability to prepare fast or idea that they should. More likely it is the latter. They may try to take the racquet back early but because it is too early, their swing lacks the rhythm and use of the stretch shorten cycle. Remember, muscles that are loaded or stretched fast, unload faster. Conversely, muscles that are loaded slowly will unload slower.
Also, a racquet taken back too early and must wait or pause creates a situation where the muscles are losing its elastic energy. This is no different than the person trying to do a vertical jump but inserts a pause between the bend of the knees and the ensuing jump. That person will not jump as high when he pauses.
But that is not the worst effect of the early yet slow racquet preparation. The worst effect is when playing against someone with power; the slow racquet preparation will cause the player to be late on the hit. This is the more obvious flaw of the recreational player. If this is your problem, try working on a faster racquet preparation.
The Sport Sensor Radar with the Tempo Timer can also be used to measure this racquet preparation time. Since I use it for golf, I tried it out for measuring the time it takes to do the tennis stroke from take back to impact. Amazingly, it worked. One can find out if their stroke preparation is fast enough or not. Your goal is to get your stroke time down to around 6/10ths of a second to match the pros, even shorter if doing an abbreviated stroke. You will be rewarded with more power and the satisfaction of being able to handle players that hit much harder.
Hitting on the run
Something I've learned only in recent years from golf, but has its application in many sports, is a relatively obscure and unspoken method of creating power. Great athletes use this method for power and most are unconsciously using it.
But nevertheless it is utilized and for lack of a better term, I'll call hit hitting against your body. For example, you're running as fast as you can for a forehand and can barely get to the ball, how does one hit the ball? You resist with your core muscles and it gives your arm something firm to hit against.
Here's Roger Federer showing how he hits the ball hard while on the run. If you look at the position of the hips you realize that he is not opening his hips as in a typical forehand shot. His hips have remained perpendicular (and resisted from turning) to the baseline rather than opening to face his opponent. His weight cannot possibly shift towards his opponent since his inertia is carrying him toward the doubles alley. And his core is definitely contracting to stabilize while his lower body is working in the opposite direction in order to give his arm something solid to hit against. Take a look at his rear leg moving towards the net as hit strikes the ball.
Justine hitting the modern forehand. Notice her hips are parallel to the baseline.
Contrast that to his typical forehand. Justine Henin-Hardenne has her hips opening up, weight transferring forward and she's facing her opponent already. In this shot, she can push off the ground normally. But when on the run, one must be able to create a solid base to hit against when there's nothing to push off from.
On the backhand side it is no different. The left picture shows Andre hitting a typical backhand. The right picture shows Roddick hitting one without being able to push off towards his opponent.
The main thing to understand is that these are two distinctly different ways to hit a ball. Anyone can hit a ball when it's coming right at him or her. They can set up and step into the shot.
But not everyone knows how to do use their body to create power by hitting against their body. While this may not be easy, it can be learned and trained.
First, think about these examples of how great athletes use their body this way in other sports:
The shortstop that fields a ball to his right, then throws to first base without planting the right foot to push towards first base.
The hockey player shooting a puck finishes the stroke similar to Federer on the run. Ice is too slippery to get any push off.
The quarterback that rolls to the right then throws back to the left.
A water polo player throwing the ball
Even in golf, professionals use this method of deriving a solid base to hit from and are how they hit with quiet legs.
If you're not a great athlete and are having a hard time picturing this, think of the last time you pulled a heavy sliding glass door from right to left. As you did this, your core muscles tighten and give your arm and upper body the support it needed to move the door.
Second, try these simple exercises to learn the movement and coordination of your body. Of course while these exercises can be done with a SpeedChain or Torso Burner, it can also be done with a medicine ball as in the pictures below.
The key is stepping in with your left foot as if you're running parallel to the baseline to do a forehand, and then throw the ball against the wall as hard as you can. Keep your hips and stomach from turning towards the net.
Flip-flop the steps for the backhand side.
Hopes this helps your tennis game. Next month I'll give you some thoughts on the serves and volleys. Also, Tennis SpeedChain and Torso Burners will be offered at a 30% discount to Hawaii Road Runner subscribers until the end of February. You can contact me at mailto:hyga@lokahi.com?subject=Feedback from AroundHawaii.com for more info.
Thanks to Via at Via's Tennis Photos for use of the photos. You can also see more photos at viatennis.smakdesign.com.au/vtp/vtp.htm
