TennisOne Lessons

Body Works: Getting the Body into the Shot

Doug King

In my mind the fundamental difference between how the game is played today versus how we have always taught the game is the shift of power out of the racquet and into the body. We have always been told, “Get your body into the shot,” but I would suggest that the commonly held principles of how this happens are quite misunderstood. In fact the conventional wisdom of getting the body into the shot often produces the opposite effect. Instead of getting the body into the shot, the commonly recommended techniques simply get the body in the way of the shot.

In the first part of this series on Body Mechanics we will look at the body from a structural perspective, how power is generated, and how we use this energy in a manner that produces the correct response of the ball on the strings. In the second part we will look at the dynamics of body motion and its implications to balance and perspective.

The Nature of Contact

Before we go any further let’s take an overview of the general picture of how a ball is stroked in tennis. We will start with the essence of the stroke - the precise moment of contact between the ball and the strings.

The nature of contact is spring. When a ball is hit the ball compresses and deforms both the string bed and itself. After deformation the string bed and the ball spring back to their natural states. These objects are by nature “elastic” and it is in this elastic collision and the ensuing transformation out of and return back into natural shape, that energy is exchanged.

In this relatively short period of time (approximately 5/1000ths of a second) a tremendous amount of change occurs between the ball and the strings. There is a trampoline effect between the ball and string bed during this collision. The ball squishes into the strings, pushing them backwards and flattening out the ball in the process. The strings then spring back, shooting the ball out while the ball springs back into shape.

During this process energy is exchanged between the ball and the strings. The whole purpose in stroking is to manipulate this exchange of energy. The hand and wrist is the first place this exchange can be managed, but the entire body plays into the energy exchange in very significant ways. The secret to stroking lies in this spring exchange between the ball and the strings and being able to get the entire body, through feel, timing, and technique, to mimic and manage this response.

The Nature of the Game